North Jersey · Summit, New Jersey
Smart Home, Lighting & AV in Summit.
One zoning schedule from acre lots to 5,000-square-foot in-town parcels, a preservation commission that reviews the street-facing elevation and waves through the rear, PSE&G service, and a brook that floods. Summit wants the equipment sited right the first time.
Summit, Specifically
Sited Right the First Time.
Summit's residential zoning schedule runs from the R-43 district, with a 43,000-square-foot minimum lot and 150 feet of frontage, down to R-5 at 5,000 square feet and 50 feet, so the setbacks for a generator or an equipment pad depend on which district the house sits in. The Historic Preservation Commission's own minutes show where its attention goes: work in the rear of a building draws no comment, and the street-facing elevation draws the review.
PSE&G's service territory lists Summit and New Providence in Union County, the western part of the city drains to the Passaic River through Salt Brook, a watershed known for flooding around Memorial Field, and Verizon Fios reports roughly 88 to 99 percent coverage with Optimum alongside it. The design follows the district, the brook, and the elevation.
01 · Zoning
The District Sets the Setback
Where the generator, the condenser, and the equipment pad can go depends on the district, and the zoning permit comes before the electrical one. We put them on the survey with the licensed electrician before the permit is filed.
02 · Review
Front Reviewed, Rear Waved Through
Summit's commission reviews what the street sees. Cameras, fixtures, and vents on the front elevation are drawn for the application; equipment at the rear and inside the house is not its concern.
03 · Water
Away From the Brook
Salt Brook floods. Racks, transfer switches, and the generator are placed with the flood maps in hand, and a battery-backed rack keeps the network and the cameras up when PSE&G is not.
At a Glance
Summit in brief.
- Zoning
- Summit's residential zoning schedule sets minimum lot areas from 43,000 square feet in the R-43 district down to 5,000 in R-5, with minimum lot widths from 150 feet down to 50.
- Historic review
- Summit's Historic Preservation Commission minutes record 'no comment, work in rear of building' and 'no objections' for work at the rear of a house, and review for street-facing changes.
- Licensing
- New Jersey requires hardwired low-voltage systems tied into the building's electrical system to be installed by a licensed electrical contractor, and burglar and fire alarm businesses to hold a separate license, with every installer registered and fingerprinted.
- Electric service
- PSE&G's service territory lists the City of Summit and the Borough of New Providence in Union County for electric and gas service.
- Water
- The western part of Summit and most of New Providence drain to the Passaic River through Salt Brook, a watershed noted for occasional flooding, especially around Memorial Field.
- Internet
- Verizon Fios reports roughly 88 to 99 percent coverage in Summit, with symmetrical speeds up to 2 gigabits depending on the source, and Optimum serves the city as well.
Sources: City of Summit, residential zoning schedule; City of Summit, Historic Preservation Commission minutes, May 2023; Contractor License Requirements, New Jersey low-voltage licensing; PSE&G, service territory; Salt Brook (Wikipedia); BroadbandNow, internet in Summit.
Reading for Summit
Guides and work nearby.
- Generator and UPS planning for the rack →
How we size standby power for the systems and the house.
- The complete security stack for a house →
- Planning AV and control into new construction →
- What an estate network costs →
- Lighting control: deciding the intent before the drawings →
- What whole-home automation costs →
What We Install and Service
Every System. One Keypad.
Lighting & Shades
Lutron HomeWorks, Ketra and Rania light, Palladiom keypads, and shades that disappear into the ceiling.
Lighting →Whole-Home Control
Crestron and Lutron on one set of keypads and touchscreens, programmed the same way in every house you own.
Residential →Cinema & Music
Dedicated theaters, media rooms, and music in every room without a speaker in sight.
Residential →Network
Enterprise Wi-Fi and fiber sized for a large house, guest houses, and the far end of the lawn.
Networking →Security & Gate
Cameras, access control, gate intercom, and an alarm that a UL-listed central station answers.
Security →Outdoors
Landscape lighting and outdoor sound on one buried infrastructure, on the same keypad as the house.
Outdoor →Upgrades
Older Crestron and Lutron systems brought current, reusing the wiring already in the walls wherever possible.
Upgrade paths →Support
Monitoring, remote fixes, and priority response under one plan.
Cave Watch →Questions From Summit
Summit, Answered
Who installs Lutron and Crestron systems in Summit?+–
Cave Group does. We are a Crestron Elite Gold Partner and Lutron Gold Dealer with an office in Fairview, Bergen County, and we design, install, and service lighting control, shades, cinema, audio, networking, security, and backup power for houses in Summit and New Providence.
Where can the generator go on a Summit lot?+–
Where the district's setbacks allow, which is why the zoning permit comes first. We put the generator, the condenser, and the pad on the survey with the licensed electrician, specify the enclosure for the state's 65- and 50-decibel limits, and set the exercise cycle for a weekday afternoon, since the noise exemption applies only while the generator is actually supplying power.
Does the Historic Preservation Commission review cameras and lighting?+–
On the street-facing elevation of a house in a historic district, expect it to. The commission's own minutes wave through work at the rear with no comment, so we draw the front-elevation devices for the application and put the equipment at the rear and inside.
Who is licensed to do what in New Jersey?+–
New Jersey has no separate low-voltage license. Wiring that ties into the building's electrical system, which includes the circuits that feed a rack, a shade transformer, or a lighting panel, is done by or under a state-licensed electrical contractor, and burglar and fire alarm work needs a separate business license from the state's Burglar Alarm, Fire Alarm and Locksmith Advisory Committee, with every installer registered and fingerprinted. We plan every North Jersey project to comply with both.
Which internet providers serve Summit?+–
Verizon Fios reaches most of these towns, Optimum is building fiber at up to 8 gigabits in several of them, and Xfinity serves parts of Morris County. We confirm what reaches the address, and on larger properties we design for two connections with automatic failover, so a single outage does not take the house offline.
Nearby
Other North Jersey towns we serve.
Start Here
Walk the House With Us.
Bring the drawings if the house is on paper, or the list of what no longer works if it is already built. We will tell you what we would do, in what order, what it would take, and which permit comes first in your town.
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