First Approval Granted in Making Harbor Village Roads Into City Streets

CAPE MAY — Private roads built in the upscale Harbor Village and Yacht Club subdivision, off Pittsburgh Avenue, may soon become city streets.
At a Nov. 23 meeting, the city’s Planning Board granted preliminary approval. City Council will make the final decision whether the city accepts the streets.
Attorney Liz Casey, representing the Harbor Village Homeowners Association, sought major subdivision approval so the streets could be dedicated to the city and a right-of-way created.
Engineer for the applicant, Vince Orlando, of Engineering Design Associates, said three lots in the subdivision created by the configuration of the right-of-way, would be reserved as open space with no future development.
The applicant requested the ability to offer on-street parking on two straightaway sections of the winding streets, adjacent to the west side of Pittsburgh Avenue and the south side of Missouri Avenue.
Orlando said the private roads in the subdivision do not meet the RSIS (Residential Site Improvement Standards) regulations for right-of-way and cartway width.
Planning Board Engineer Craig Hurless said the RSIS requirement for roadway width with on-street parking is 28 feet, seven feet for a parking lane plus 21-foot travel lane. Harbor Cove is 24 feet, off by four feet.
Orlando said emergency vehicles had no problem using the roads in Harbor Village. On a question from board member Bill Murray, Orlando said he wasn’t sure if Cape May Fire Chief Jerry Inderwies Jr. inspected the subdivision in relation to fire trucks navigating its streets.
The board granted a variance for one lot off Pittsburg for insufficient street frontage, which will not be built upon. A waiver was also granted for the 39-foot wide roads while 50-feet is required under RSIS regulations.
Orlando offered a compromise to only offer on-street parking if two sections of road are widened in the future by 4-feet which would create 30 spaces.
Mayor Edward J. Manahey Jr., who is a Planning Board member, said the city asked the developers of Harbor Village 17 years ago to build the streets to code and have them as public right-of-ways.
“We didn’t want to have private streets in the city because, ultimately, the homeowners come back to the city at some point and ask us to take the streets over and they are usually not up to code,” he said.
The developer had the opportunity to build the streets to standard but chose not to as a cost saving measure, said Mahaney.
He said he opposed on-street parking due to concerns with access for emergency vehicles and knowing parking would go beyond the allowable areas. Mahaney said there were other parking spaces available in Harbor Village, particularly at the tennis courts.
Orland said the city would not be responsible for the landscaping, irrigation, storm water system or pavers. The city would take no responsibility for a bulkhead at the end of a cul-de-sac.
Mahaney said the city would agree within the next eight years to resurface the streets in the subdivision. Hurless said there was 4 feet available in the right-of-way.
If the road was repaved and the curb moved to add 4-feet of width to the roads at a future data, Mahaney said he would be in favor of allowing on-street parking.