JACKSON – The Jackson Township Council has adopted an ordinance which will make it easier for homeowners in adult communities to install an emergency generator.
The ordinance amends the permitted accessory uses in the Planned Retirement Community (PRC) zone and will allow a backup or emergency generator to be installed at a home upon review and approval by the homeowner’s association of the planned retirement community in which the property is located.
Residents of an adult community will no longer have to appear before the Zoning Board of Adjustment to seek a variance to install a generator.
The ordinance had a public hearing at the March 12 council meeting, during which Sheldon Hofstein, who chairs the zoning board, commented on the ordinance.
“I would like to commend the council for finally ending the generator variance requirement for planned residential communities. Since (Superstorm) Sandy, a few hundred residents have had to appear before the zoning board to get approval for a generator. In order to receive approval for a variance there is a need to show hardship, which was usually a health reason,” Hofstein said.
He said the council’s action which makes a generator a permitted accessory use means residents will no longer be required to spend hundreds of dollars to go before the zoning board to seek a variance for a generator.
“More importantly, residents will not have to publicly disclose their health issues,” Hofstein said.
Hofstein noted that Councilman Alexander Sauickie served on the zoning board before joining the council at the beginning of 2019.
Sauickie said he was happy to place his first piece of legislation before the council.
“As Dr. Hofstein stated, there is an unnecessary burden on the residents in the PRC zone, particularly those residents in Westlake, Winding Ways, Four Seasons at South Knolls and Four Seasons at Metedeconk. Those residents were required to get a variance for a generator, while residents in every other residential zone in town were not required to do that,” Sauickie said.
He said officials should encourage all residents who can afford a backup and emergency generator to obtain one.
“By passing this ordinance we are taking a burden off those residents … and reducing the services needed from police or EMS, which folks in these developments tend to need when the power goes out,” Sauickie said.
Zoning board members “really spend a lot of time on these types of applications when they could be spending time on more critical applications,” he added.
Council Vice President Barry Calogero congratulated Sauickie on his first piece of legislation and called it a great opportunity.
Council President Robert Nixon said the change in the law was a great idea and a benefit to residents.
Councilman Ken Bressi, Councilman Andrew Kern, Sauickie, Calogero and Nixon voted to adopt the ordinance following the public hearing.
