Planning Board Approves Lincoln Street-Ridgewood Avenue Land Swap, Tables Clinton Road Window Appeal, Splits on Affordable Housing Ordinances

The Board unanimously approved a minor subdivision and lot-line adjustment allowing Matthew Walton of 10-14 Lincoln Street to acquire about 7,298 square feet of rear-yard land from Matthew Mrozinski of 182 Ridgewood Avenue, finding the swap would not affect existing nonconforming setback and lot-area conditions on either property.

Homeowners Fang Shi Sun and Yixiang Huang of 38 Clinton Road appealed a Historic Preservation Commission condition, attached to its January 9, 2019 approval of their renovation, requiring a modified window to be replaced with two side-by-side casement sashes, arguing the fix would be extremely costly. HPC Secretary and preservation consultant Margaret Hickey testified explaining why the current window was inappropriate. Rather than the Board ruling on the appeal, the applicants agreed to continue the matter to work out options directly with the Historic Preservation Commission.

The Board also reviewed and recommended to the Mayor and Council two ordinances tied to the borough's Fair Share Housing settlement — Ordinance 1703, establishing a mandatory affordable-housing set-aside requirement, and Ordinance 1704, amending Planned Residential Development zone density requirements — with Mr. Mehrotra abstaining and Mr. Dawson voting against. No public comment was made.