The Alternative Press

CHATHAM, NJ—Therese Hough was unanimously elected to chair the Chatham Township Board of Adjustment for the second year in a row as the zoning body re-organized for the new year on Thursday.

Zoning board members also elected Francine Alcorn as their vice chair.

In addition, Alcorn took her oath for another term on the board, and Kathryn Surmay Kenny and Tom Basta were sworn in as board members.

Chosen again to serve as counsel to the board of adjustment was Stephen H. Shaw. Township engineer John Ruschke again will be engineer for the zoning body, Robert A. Michaels will again be the planning consultant and Kali Tsimboukis was selected for another year as recording secretary.

The board also heard testimony from a number of professionals on a modular-type home that the family of Peter Currie is seeking to erect on property at 43 Susan Drive.

Tom Murphy, the engineer for the project, presented modified plans that called for less steep slope disturbance than the originally-presented plans.

Rather than using two dry wells at the southern end of the property below the proposed home to gather runoff from the site, Murphy said, drainage from the site would go into a cement detention base near the top of the site. Water would then leave the detention basin via a control outlet and flow downhill.

To prevent soil erosion, the applicants originally proposed installation of a mat through which vegetation would be grown.

Ruschke, however, said the tree cover on the site would make it hard for the vegetation to grow. He recommended a rip rap channel to drain water downhill from the home site and Murphy agreed to that change.

Soil engineer William Truss also testified that test borings done at the site indicated the soil was denser on the proposed housing site than soil on surrounding lots and was “in excellent condition and more than adequate to support the proposed home.”

Board members then saw a presentation on the somewhat unusual arrangement of the proposed modular structure, which will include a garage on what, in effect, will be the third level of the dwelling, with a living area and basement under the garage.

Stephen Nebel, representing Philalab, the Philadelphia-based design firm that will build the home, assured board members that the lower modular levels could support the weight of the garage.

He added the modern-design home was being planned to fit into the landscape of the lot but would not disturb the view of existing homes in the area surround the site. Most of the homes in the surrounding area are older Colonial-type models.

Hearings on the proposal are expected to continue next month.