July 30, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

46 (Pages 178 to 181) Page 178 1 record has heard this, it will be evaluated. 2 MS. BUTENSKY: Okay, my next question 3 is -- 4 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Absolutely. 5 MS. BUTENSKY: -- you are talking 6 about gating off the area to the left and to the 7 right, to the east and to the west, with fencing -- 8 MR. ANDERSON: Yes. 9 MS. BUTENSKY: -- to allow the forest 10 to grow. 11 MR. ANDERSON: That's correct. 12 MS. BUTENSKY: On what basis do you 13 feel that that is necessary? 14 MR. ANDERSON: This was done by 15 environmental professionals who incorporated it into 16 the settlement agreement and then into the 17 ordinance, because it was their opinion that the 18 forest was in poor condition, there was no 19 understory because of deer overbrowsing, and it was 20 an unhealthy forest. They felt if you placed your 21 fencing around a significant portion of it, it would 22 regenerate and you would have more saplings grow and 23 more shrubs grow and it would be a healthier forest 24 scenario, it would be healthier for all animals. 25 MS. BUTENSKY: So that particular Page 179 1 study was done in 2020 or earlier, right? Because 2 the settlement happened in March of 2020? 3 MR. ANDERSON: Yeah, I don't know the 4 timing but -- 5 MS. BUTENSKY: I'm going to 6 respectfully ask -- 7 MR. ANDERSON: -- that's correct. 8 MS. BUTENSKY: -- -- that somebody 9 review the forest and to evaluate whether that 10 assessment of the health of the forest is accurate, 11 because that was done in 2020, we're now four years 12 beyond that, and the question is, if that could be 13 refuted by experts and we no longer have that 14 fencing, what happens to your calculus regarding the 15 tree replacement? 16 MR. ANDERSON: Well, it's fairly 17 obvious that if we -- or if your fencing is not part 18 of the equation, we are under the required tree 19 replacement. 20 MS. BUTENSKY: So is it possible to 21 respectfully ask that that metric be evaluated -- 22 MR. ANDERSON: No. 23 MS. BUTENSKY: -- meaning the need for 24 the deer fencing -- 25 MR. ANDERSON: We have a legal Page 180 1 agreement and an ordinance that specifies how we are 2 to proceed, and we are proceeding in accordance with 3 that legal document and that ordinance. 4 MS. BUTENSKY: Right, which was -- 5 MR. ANDERSON: And so, I mean, this is 6 what we have to rely on as an applicant. We have to 7 meet that standard, and that's what we are doing. 8

that ordinance. 4 MS. BUTENSKY: Right, which was -- 5 MR. ANDERSON: And so, I mean, this is 6 what we have to rely on as an applicant. We have to 7 meet that standard, and that's what we are doing. 8 MS. BUTENSKY: So I guess my appeal is 9 to the Planning Board to realize that that was done 10 in 2020 and things have changed because we're now 11 dealing with four years. 12 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Ma'am, thank you 13 very much, we appreciate it. 14 MS. BUTENSKY: Thank you. 15 MR. WEISLEDER: Good evening. Seth 16 Weisleder, spelled W-E-I-S-L-E-D-E-R. I'm a 17 resident of West Orange and I live on Howell Drive. 18 My question for you is: Building D 19 especially, how many units are in there? And my 20 second part of the question is: Is that the largest 21 building being built on the property? 22 MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC: What's the 23 question? 24 MR. WEISLEDER: How many units are in 25 Unit D and is that the largest building being built Page 181 1 on the property? 2 MR. ANDERSON: So we have 166 in 3 combined Building D1 and D2. 4 MR. WEISLEDER: And that's a combined 5 building, correct? 6 MR. ANDERSON: Yeah, that's combined 7 for D1 and D2. 8 MR. WEISLEDER: Okay. 9 MR. ANDERSON: And C is smaller, B is 10 smaller, A is smaller, and -- 11 MR. WEISLEDER: So would you believe 12 that all of the buildings in the middle are smallest 13 and the closest one to other houses that are already 14 built and occupied is the largest one? 15 MR. ANDERSON: That is a correct 16 assessment. 17 MR. WEISLEDER: Did you not say 18 earlier in your testimony -- oh, by the way, how 19 many parking spots are at the largest building? 20 MR. ANDERSON: We have 192 associated 21 with D1 and 191 associated with D2. 22 MR. WEISLEDER: So a combined total of 23 383? 24 MR. ANDERSON: Yeah. 25 MR. WEISLEDER: And that also is the