Bernardsville Independent Leadership - John McCrossan&Joe Rossi

B’ville to review widening 10-acre zoning next year
By P.C.ROBINSON Staff Writer 10/19/2005

BERNARDSVILLE – Borough officials are apparently planning to study a possible expansion of the town’s controversial 10-acre zoning area.

Members of the Borough Planning Board on Thursday, Oct. 13, agreed to reconsider the matter next year as part of the five-year review of the town’s master plan. The aim would be to protect more environmentally sensitive areas, especially in the northwest portion of the borough in the Bernardsville Mountain section.

There was no discussion at the meeting of what specific areas would be reviewed.

Ten-acre zoning became a contentious political issue in the community when the Borough Council approved upzoning a portion of the mountain from five to 10 acres in a split vote on March 4, 2002.

The zoning change sparked heated debate between some landowners who wanted to preserve their right to ultimately subdivide and sell their properties, and environmentalists who wanted to protect the borough’s wetlands and steep slopes.

Some residents claimed the council rushed the decision in an effort to save “The Maples,” a 16-acre Mendham Road estate whose mansion has since been torn down.

At that time, Joseph “Jay” Parsons, who had assumed mayoral duties following the resignation of the late Hugh Fenwick, said re-zoning plans had already been in the works for 18 months. He said the new zoning was designed to prevent developers “from cutting everything up before there’s nothing left to save.”

The ordinance was adopted by a 4-2 vote. Council members Marie Flynn, Lee Honecker, Mikael Salovaara and Helen Walton approved the measure, while Douglas Doremus and Robert Steinkopf voted against it.

At that time, Salovaara had also suggested including a more extensive area that included the Somerset Hills Country Club on Mine Mount Road and Douglass Avenue. That plan, however, was not endorsed because it varied from the area included in the borough’s master plan.

Of the original council members who adopted the law, Salovaara alone remains on the dais. Current Councilwoman Vivian McMillen had at the time led a grass-roots effort to preserve The Maples.

As it now exists, the 10-acre zone covers about 1,350 acres. The area runs from a wetlands area on Hardscrabble Road near Harding Township to Lloyd and Washington Corner roads, to Ballantine and Claremont roads, to Post Lane and Mountain Top Road to Clark and Campbell roads. Portions of Skyline Drive and Peachcroft, Ravine Lake and Post Kennel roads are also included.