July 31, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

3 (Pages 6 to 9) Page 6 1 J O H N J. H E S S, P. E., P. P., Consulting 2 Engineer, is duly sworn/affirmed by the Board 3 attorney. 4 G E R A R D M. H A I Z E L, P. P., Consulting 5 Planner, is duly sworn/affirmed by the Board 6 attorney. 7 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Thank you. Ladies 8 and gentlemen, housekeeping. So some people have 9 been asking about public comments. The way the 10 meeting works is the applicant presents their case 11 and they have their professionals explaining parts 12 of the application. Each time, the public or the 13 representative of groups of the public may come up 14 and ask the questions of the person presenting that 15 portion of the application. At the end of the 16 entire meeting when all is said and done, the public 17 will have time to comment. The public can then, at 18 their time, come up and say "I like this," "I don't 19 like this," "I love it," "It makes sense," "This is 20 how I feel about it." So we just want to keep 21 things streamlined and within the reason of how 22 things go. If anybody has a question, please raise 23 your hand at the appropriate time and I'll be happy 24 to answer it. 25 The other thing is with the decorum; Page 7 1 clapping, yelling and everything else is nice, we 2 appreciate that you are very, very interested in 3 this application and all applications before the 4 Planning Board. We'll expect you to keep that to a 5 minimum as we keep the meeting going forward, with 6 the idea that the public and the Planning Board 7 hears the information at hand, and your comments and 8 questions. 9 So to that end, PB-24-01, West Essex 10 Highlands, Incorporated, Block 179, Lot 32, IH-1 11 zone, Warner Road. The applicant is proposing to 12 develop a 496-unit inclusionary multifamily 13 residential development on a vacant 120-property -- 14 acre property in the northwest corner of the 15 Township of West Orange. 16 For the applicant, Mr. Plocker. 17 MR. PLOCKER: Good evening, Chairman 18 Bagoff. 19 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Good evening. 20 MR. PLOCKER: Mr. Anderson, our 21 engineer, testified yesterday. We intend on calling 22 our architect shortly, but there is a small portion 23 of testimony that Mr. Anderson needs to revisit. 24 There was some discussion and some questions about 25 which version of the DEP stormwater regulations Page 8 1 apply to this application. Mr. Anderson testified 2 that the drainage portion of that

24 There was some discussion and some questions about 25 which version of the DEP stormwater regulations Page 8 1 apply to this application. Mr. Anderson testified 2 that the drainage portion of that application had 3 been withdrawn. We confirm that that actually was 4 not the case and that the old regulations apply, and 5 very briefly, Mr. Anderson is going to address that 6 issue. 7 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Thank you. 8 Okay, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. 9 Anderson is still under oath as he testifies before 10 the meeting [sic], and at the end, you will be able 11 to ask questions of him based on what he testifies 12 to this evening. 13 Mr. Anderson, you have the floor, and 14 the Board has voir dired him. That means that we 15 have listened to his bona fides, we have accepted 16 him as an expert in the field and he now has the 17 floor. 18 MR. ANDERSON: Thank you, Mr. 19 Chairman. 20 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: One more thing. If 21 you can't hear in the back, please raise your hand. 22 You don't have to jump up, I'm looking, we're all 23 looking. We want everybody to hear. Thank you all 24 very much, and go right ahead, sir. 25 MR. ANDERSON: I will try to speak up, Page 9 1 do my part too. 2 P A U L A N D E R S O N, P. E., was previously 3 sworn/affirmed by the Board attorney. 4 MR. ANDERSON: So when I was 5 discussing the pulling of the DEP application, what 6 we need to clarify is we pulled the FHA individual 7 permit portion of it, the wetlands permit and the 8 stormwater analysis that goes along with it remained 9 active, and therefore, we were grandfathered under 10 the old stormwater standards and that's how we got 11 there. We re-submitted the original flood hazard 12 permit and it is being reviewed along with the 13 wetlands and stormwater plan. 14 MR. PLOCKER: Thank you, Mr. Anderson. 15 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: That's it? 16 MR. PLOCKER: That's it. 17 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Okay. 18 Okay. Council President, do you have 19 any questions for Mr. Anderson on his recent 20 testimony? 21 COUNCILMAN RUTHERFORD: Not at this 22 time -- not at this time, Mr. Chairman. 23 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Thank you, Council 24 President. Mr. Klein, do you have any questions? 25 MR. KLEIN: Not about tonight, but am