Board Approves Lenape Trail Pool House

A family in the Brightwood neighborhood will be constructing a pool house on their property after their second application was approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment Monday night.

The Furst family presented an amended application to the board downsizing the proposed pool house and storage shed after the board declined the first application last year. The new structure is 400 square feet smaller than the first proposed pool house. To address board concerns regarding the possibility the pool house could be used year round as a secondary residence, the family will not heat the structure and only have air conditioning.

"It will be a gathering space," former Councilman Rafeal Betancourt, the family's attorney, said. "There will be a changing room and a bathroom."

The pool house will be constructed on a second lot the family purchased facing Prospect Street. The original house on the property has been demolished and the lot currently is sitting empty. The pool is on the Lenape Trail property and sits far back on the lot closer to the Prospect Street property. Karen Furst testified to the board that she and her husband, Richard, plan to fence in the Prospect Street property along with taking out the driveway and directing all traffic to the Lenape Trail address.

Furst explained to the board that the pool house is needed as a safety reason when her children and their friends are in the pool. She said the house is too far from the pool and a pool house, with a covered patio will provide a place for her and other parents to observe the children in the pool.

"It's difficult to see the kids in the pool," she said.

Furst testified that she and her husband purchased the additional property in order to provide the land for the pool house and help the neighborhood. She said when the purchase was made a developer was purchasing nearby lots for tear down construction projects, which she said were hurting the neighborhood. Furst said that she and her husband would be able to stop a similar house by purchasing the land.

Public comment on the structure was limited to Prospect Street resident Ken Davidson questioning the size of the gate on the Prospect Street side of the property. He questioned whether the gate would be three or five feet in width, expressing concern over the possibility of a wider gate, which could generate car traffic for servicing of the pool house and pool. Furst assured him the gate would only be for foot traffic and there would be no vehicles allowed to enter on that side.

"I'd rather there not be a gate," Davidson said to the board. "If there has to be a gate, I'd rather it be a person size gate."

Board members said the plan was a benefit with the downsizing and other changes made by the couple and would have a benefit to the neighborhood's environment. The old house on the Prospect Street land was 1400 square feet and took up permeable land with the driveway and pathways. The Fursts are planning a less solid foot path on the property.

"I'm looking at it with significantly less than was there before and that's a benefit." board chairman William Heinbekel said. "Less blacktop is good."