July 30, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

29 (Pages 110 to 113) Page 110 1 MR. ANDERSON: That is what I was 2 referring to, correct. 3 MR. AFRAN: Thank you. I just wanted 4 to clarify. 5 Did you do any balloon tests to 6 determine height viewpoints, sight lines, things of 7 that nature, from any adjoining areas? 8 MR. ANDERSON: We did not. There was 9 discussion of a balloon test. We had difficulty 10 getting the balloons through the dense trees, and as 11 an alternate, we met with representatives of the 12 condo association who was requesting the balloon 13 test so that they could see where the building was 14 proposed and what their visibility of the building 15 would be, and after meeting with them on site and 16 realizing that they could not see any portion of 17 their development from where the building was, they 18 dropped their concern. After that, the settlement 19 agreement was signed by those same representatives 20 or that organization. 21 MR. AFRAN: The answer is no balloon 22 study was done. 23 MR. ANDERSON: That is correct. 24 MR. AFRAN: Thank you. 25 MR. PLOCKER: But I believe, for the Page 111 1 record, Mr. Anderson did testify that one was 2 attempted but the conditions did not allow it to 3 occur. 4 MR. AFRAN: Well, Mr. Anderson, what 5 you meant was the tree canopy is so dense that you 6 couldn't get any balloons through it; isn't that 7 correct? 8 MR. ANDERSON: That is one of the 9 impediments, yes. 10 MR. AFRAN: That speaks to a very 11 mature set of woods that you're going to destroy for 12 this project; isn't that correct? 13 (Applause by members of the public) 14 MR. PLOCKER: Chairman Bagoff, I 15 believe the settlement agreement does speak for 16 itself. The quality of the forest at the time the 17 settlement agreement was entered into was vetted by 18 the township's professionals, which is why that 19 language wound up in the settlement agreement. I 20 just want to state that for the record. 21 MR. AFRAN: I think the witness really 22 could handle this himself. But the woods is a 23 mature, dense woods that will be destroyed by these 24 buildings; isn't that correct? 25 MR. ANDERSON: There will be 27.85 Page 112 1 acres of tree removal, yes. 2 MR. AFRAN: 25 acres or 27 acres? 3 MR. ANDERSON: 27.85 acres. 4 MR. AFRAN: 27.85 acres of trees will 5 be removed; is that correct? 6 MR. ANDERSON: That is correct. 7 MR. AFRAN: What percent of the tree 8 cover on the existing

acres? 3 MR. ANDERSON: 27.85 acres. 4 MR. AFRAN: 27.85 acres of trees will 5 be removed; is that correct? 6 MR. ANDERSON: That is correct. 7 MR. AFRAN: What percent of the tree 8 cover on the existing conditions does that 9 represent? 10 MR. ANDERSON: 23 percent. 11 MR. AFRAN: So approximately one- 12 quarter of the trees on this property will be 13 destroyed; is that a fair statement? 14 MR. ANDERSON: Correct. 15 MR. AFRAN: Now, I'd like to review 16 specifically the number of trees that will be 17 physically removed. I want to clarify this issue. 18 How many trees will actually be removed under this 19 plan? 20 MR. PLOCKER: Chairman, this was 21 already testified to. It was in Mr. Anderson's 22 presentation, we comply with the tree ordinance, so 23 I don't mind Mr. Afran having some leeway, but this 24 has already been testified to. 25 MR. AFRAN: I'm not sure my Page 113 1 cross-examination is limited to what the witness 2 said on direct. 3 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Well, Mr. Afran, the 4 testimony has been provided already, you really have 5 no foundation for an additional question. 6 MR. AFRAN: Well, I certainly do. 7 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: So this has been 8 heard about four or five times how many trees are 9 being removed. 10 MR. AFRAN: Well, I certainly do have 11 a foundation, I'll go further. 12 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Okay. Okay. 13 MR. AFRAN: Thank you. 14 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Go quickly. Please. 15 MR. AFRAN: What is the definition of 16 "tree" that is being used to reach this total of 17 approximately 5,000-something trees that you said 18 would be removed? How are you defining "tree"? 19 MR. ANDERSON: The trees were defined 20 previously in terms of what the tree was acreage -- 21 per acre, so there was counts done by, I believe, 22 the municipality with regard to how many trees per 23 acre we would have on average here, it was not based 24 on a specific diameter of a tree, type of a tree or 25 condition of a tree, so it was 212 trees per acre