SCOTCH PLAINS — The planning board on Monday gave its approval to a subdivision application for a property on Raritan Road.
Anne Albert, the executrix of her late mother’s estate, will subdivide the oversized lot at the corner of Raritan Road and Michael Lane into two conforming lots. John Butler, a land surveyor, told the board that the property used to be two lots that were owned by Mrs. Albert’s mother and then were combined into a single lot. The intent of Mrs. Albert’s application to subdivide, he said, is to “honor” her mother’s will.
He said there is no intention at the moment to develop the second lot, which will front on Michael Lane; if any development was proposed, the planning board or zoning board of adjustment would have to be involved. Currently, there is a shed and a large garage on the newly-created lot, neither of which is in good condition and both of which would be razed if the property was to be developed for a single-family home. The existing home fronting on Raritan Road will remain.
Mrs. Albert’s attorney, Timothy Kane, said he is hopeful the new lot will be put up for sale soon and promised that, in the meantime, the lot would be maintained and not become an “eyesore.” Variances related to front- and side-yard setbacks for the garage were included in the board’s approval.
The two-and-a-quarter-acre property was once part of a large tract of farmland that was subdivided and sold off as the south side of Scotch Plains was turned into residential neighborhoods several decades ago.
The planning board’s agenda for the coming months is light; the scheduled March 25 and April 8 meetings have been cancelled, and the next one is set for Monday, April 22. The board plans to begin examining the township’s Master Plan, but is waiting for state legislators to act on a bill that would reform the affordable- housing process for the next round of obligations set to be announced next year. Whatever is included in the final legislation will likely affect the housing aspect of the Master Plan.