Neighbors Voice Concerns About Proposed Subdivision

A proposal to subdivide a roughly 1.8-acre lot located at 125 Roxboro Rd. into eight lots – on which would, if the current plan was to be approved, sit seven homes and one stormwater detention basin – was the subject of more than three hours of testimony at the Lawrence Township Planning Board meeting Monday evening (Nov. 21).

Testimony was adjourned and is expected to resume Monday, Dec. 19, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room on the lower level of the municipal building at 2207 Lawrence Rd.

Presently there is only one home – which is unoccupied – on the tree-filled property, which backs onto Fieldboro Drive.

An attorney, engineer and tree expert representing developers Edward D. Bucci and Edward M. Bucci spoke primarily about how stormwater runoff would be managed on the site – through the use of the detention basin, an underground stormwater storage system (unlike anything else currently existing on a residential property in the township), and pipes that would allow the water to flow off site – and about landscaping plans to cut down at least 50 trees alleged to be in poor health.

Several dozen neighborhood residents opposed to the proposed subdivision filled the meeting room, with many voicing their concerns that their basements and properties will be adversely affected by water – both stormwater above ground and water from underground springs – that gets diverted in their direction by construction of the subdivision. They also complained that the removal of so many trees – even with promises from the developers to replace “some” of them – will have a negative impact on the character of their neighborhood.

Several members of the planning board, including Mayor Greg Puliti, expressed significant concerns about the proposal and questioned, for example, whether the detention basin would become a “breeding ground” for mosquitoes and asking for the planning board to retain the services of an independent tree expert to provide a second opinion of which trees actually need to be removed.

The subdivision proposal was previously discussed during at least two Planning Board meetings last year – on April 15, 2010, and again on Nov. 15, 2010.   

A detailed account of Monday’s meeting has been published by The Lawrence Ledger.