Planning Report Seton Hall Preparatory School West Orange NJ8688981

Planning Report – Seton Hall Preparatory School, Health and Fitness Center December 23, 2022 700 Prospect Avenue, Township of West Orange, NJ John McDonough Associates, LLC Land Use Planning · Landscape Architecture 3 101 Gibraltar Drive, Suite 1A, Morris Plains, NJ 07950 · Phone: 973.222.6011 · Fax: 973.786.6537 There is an existing building on the south side of the KAC that currently serves as the fitness center and as part of the proposal that building will be repurposed as a storage building. No physical changes are proposed for that building. In effect, SHP is seeking to swap the use of two buildings. The majority of the site’s 44.5 acres will remain intact. The existing buffering that separates the proposed health and fitness center from its residential neighbors will remain intact. The proposed improvements are more than 400 feet away from the closest home. No new lighting is proposed. Zoning Considerations The site is in the R-1 District where public and private schools are permitted conditional uses. The zone also permits commercial recreation, parks, and playgrounds as conditional uses. Golf courses are permitted as a principal use. The existing development is an approved nonconforming conditional use. The existing approved development does not fully conform to the conditional use requirements at §25-24.2(d) pertaining to setbacks and buffers, however none of the existing nonconforming conditions are changing. The application requires relief pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70.d.(2) for alteration and expansion of previously approved nonconforming conditional use. Notwithstanding, the proposed alterations do not increase or intensify any nonconforming conditions pertaining to setbacks and buffers. The building expansion triggers a deminimis increase in overall building coverage, from 0.78% existing and approved to 1.03% proposed, which is well within the maximum threshold of 20% permitted at §25-24.2(d). Planning Justifications for Relief Land use planning operates within a legal framework. The statute recognizes that land use is not meant to be rigid and inflexible and gives zoning boards authority to grant “adjustments” if specific criteria are met. New Jersey courts have determined that schools are so vital to public welfare that the land use inherently serves the public good. The definition of “inherently beneficial” in the municipal land use law at

ersey courts have determined that schools are so vital to public welfare that the land use inherently serves the public good. The definition of “inherently beneficial” in the municipal land use law at N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4 specifically includes schools. Inherently beneficial uses are of such paramount public interest that they automatically satisfy the statutory positive criteria for use relief. Thus, the statutory test that applies to inherently beneficial uses is much more relaxed than other types of uses. The Supreme Court in Sica v. Board of Adjustment of the Township of Wall, 127 NJ 152 (1992) established a simplified 4-prong balancing test for inherently beneficial use relief, as applied below. The more rigorous elements of proof are not required as part of the analysis.