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SADDLE RIVER — A proposal to create in a residential zone a 19-acre “exquisite equine estate” that includes horse boarding, trainers, an 16,000-square-foot indoor riding arena and a 6,000-square-foot barn is scheduled to be discussed at Wednesday’s zoning board meeting.

The proposal by Patriot Farm LLC seeks to combine a three-lot R-1 residential zone subdivision at the western end of River Farm Lane off East Saddle River Road just north of St. Gabriel’s Church.  

About 10.8 acres of the site fall within flood hazard areas, with 6.7 acres in the Saddle River flood hazard area and 4.1 acres within the St. Gabriel’s Brook flood hazard area. 

However, the house, barn and indoor riding arena are not in flood hazard areas.   

A previously approved 7,000-square-foot single-family home and “other small structures and sheds” are already under construction on the site.

Horses are permitted in the borough’s residential zone at the rate of one per acre.  Twelve horses are proposed for the 19-acre site, eight of them boarders.

Building coverage is 4.2 percent where 7 percent is permitted. Improved lot coverage is 10.7 percent, 20 permitted.

Variances requested

• Apartments for a managing groom and assistant groom are requested on the second floor of the barn. Secondary residential areas are not permitted in the residential zone. 
• Horse boarding. The owners call it an “arguable interpretation” that boarding horses is a commercial enterprise, but they seek a variance “if required.”  Commercial uses are not permitted in the residential zone.
• Trainers would be made available to give riding lessons to resident boarders, and that is considered a commercial enterprise.
• Accessory building height is limited to one story and 17 feet to the ridge line. The proposed barn roof height is 31 feet 10 inches. The proposed indoor riding arena  height is 31 feet 3 inches.
• Accessory building square footage can be a maximum of 1,000 square feet.  The proposed barn is 6,080 square feet; the indoor riding arena is 16,000 square feet.
• The number of garage doors is limited to six on any property. The application proposes 11: three in the principal home; two on the drive-through horse trailer garage; one on the farm tractor storage building; two more on the farm tractor storage building, and three more on the farm storage building garage.
• Accessory uses/buildings set back 25 feet behind the front building line of the principal building. Five uses/buildings exceed this setback: a round pen, paddock turnout sheds, farm shed, paddocks with 60-inch-tall three-board fences and an outdoor riding arena viewing pavilion.
• Decorative cupolas are limited to 3 feet by 3 feet. A 7-foot-square ventilation cupola for the barn would be 17 feet 6 inches tall. The indoor riding arena has three ventilation cupolas, each 6 feet square and 15 feet 6 inches tall. 
• Maximum height exemption for decorative cupolas applies only if the cupola is no greater than 3 feet by 3 feet by 5 feet. Because the barn and indoor arena exceed the permitted 17-foot roof height for accessory structures, the applicant is asking whether its “ventilation cupolas” fall under this guideline.

Borough officials say they do not track how many horses are kept by residents, although horses are often visible from its streets and are considered an enhancement to the borough’s pastoral personality.

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The rear of Rohsler’s Nursery in adjoining Allendale extends into the Burning Hollow section of Saddle River and boards horses for the Unbridled Heroes charitable therapy project.

Borough Health Officer Angela Musella said Monday that she was not aware of any commercial horse farms operating in the borough.  

“If permission is granted, the business would have to be licensed and there would be a number of inoculation requirements for the horses,” Musella said. 

River Farm Lane was built around 1964. The subject property was originally part of the 24.9-acre George Cummings estate. It included a 2.85-acre home lot, and the rest was used as a private golf course.

The property was purchased in 1995 by Saddle River Enterprises and used to “graze bulls, goats and sheep,” according to the application.

The current 19-acre Lot 7.01 was created in 2011 by a combination of Lot 4.0 and Lot 7. The minor subdivision also created the currently vacant 3-acre Lot 4.01 which fronts on East Saddle River Road.

The property is featured at the bottom of the Saddle River borough home website, https://www.saddleriver.org.

The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Municipal Building, 100 E. Allendale Road, Saddle River.

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