November 13, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

33 1 MR. COVIAT: And I didn’t want to give the 2 impression that I was questioning that dedication that 3 commitment. I just was trying to clarify it. 4 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). 5 MR. COVIAT: Okay. This question has to do, 6 Mr. DeFeo, with whether you have been involved in these 7 types of situations where an applicant would propose a 8 plan similar to this to help revive the forest. Have 9 you don’t many of these or approximately -- 10 MR. DeFEO: No. As I testified last time, 11 the answer’s no because to my knowledge and talking to 12 other professionals around the state, no one’s ever 13 tried to do this before. That doesn’t mean that it 14 hasn’t been done, just to my knowledge it hasn’t been 15 done. 16 MR. COVIAT: Okay. And in your professional 17 opinion other than your suggestion that they change one 18 of the species, is there anything else in the plan at 19 this point that you think should be subject to 20 modification or further discussion? 21 MR. DeFEO: I have reviewed the existing 22 landscape plan and that was the only thing that I red 23 flagged in it. Other than that, it comes down to 24 nuance. You know, when they get out in the field and 25 when you start planting things, you know, you may say I 34 1 want to put a hole here, you may not be able to put a 2 hole there. And so things may have to be moved around 3 a little bit. 4 But that’s something, as the Chairman noted, 5 in the field, things will of course be shifted but 6 under this situation which, again, I find highly 7 unusual, is that there will be someone there to look at 8 that and have a discussion with the builder at that 9 point as to, well, we need to do this or we need to 10 substitute that. 11 An example might be, a species may have been 12 selected -- it may be unavailable. That can happen. 13 Then we have to look at a substitute species. So, to 14 give you an example, it’s not going to say you must 15 have a red maple . I mean, it might be that -- bad 16 example because they’re easy to get but it might be I 17 can’t get a red maple. Well, then you might have to 18 use a swamp white oak And I’m just giving you an 19 illustration of two species that could substitute one 20 for the other and still meet the same condition of 21 native plants in the right area. Does that answer your 22 question? 23 MR. COVIAT: Yes. So, just as a 24 hypothetical, if the application

e one 20 for the other and still meet the same condition of 21 native plants in the right area. Does that answer your 22 question? 23 MR. COVIAT: Yes. So, just as a 24 hypothetical, if the application is approved and you do 25 move to the building stage and you come into that 35 1 situation where, professionally, that there should be a 2 change to the proposal but the builder is equally 3 convinced that they shouldn’t make that change, what 4 happens? 5 THE CHAIRPERSON: (Indiscernible). 6 MR. COVIAT: If you must reach consensus but 7 you can’t reach consensus? 8 MS. McGOVERN: Well, they must work within 9 what’s required under the ordinance which has been set 10 by the Township for this site. So, there’s numbers and 11 basic guidelines. They have to abide by those basic 12 guidelines in the ordinance. 13 Anything above and beyond that would become, 14 I guess, a negotiation after the fact, witness spirit 15 of cooperation, but there’s only so much that this 16 Board can limit them to past what’s delineated in the 17 ordinance and, you know, we have conditions that we can 18 put on and they have agreed to several already, 19 conditions. But at this point, there’s no specifics 20 that we can say because if and when this project gets 21 built we don’t know what the plans that would be 22 available and what (indiscernible). 23 THE CHAIRPERSON: Considering the Township 24 has a forester, we have Mr. DeFeo and the applicant, 25 I’m sure, will hire their own forester, I’m sure they 36 1 will come to some consensus in their field of 2 expertise. They wouldn’t want to put something that’s 3 not going to survive and they’re definitely not going 4 to put something that’s going to be invasive. So, I 5 don’t know that you can put those words exactly into as 6 a condition but we’ve been -- for (indiscernible) we 7 have those words in the ordinance, and we’ll condition 8 it as we previously said. 9 MR. COVIAT: Okay. Thank you. Are there any 10 size or maturity requirements for these plantings 11 within the forest? 12 MR. DeFEO: There’s nothing that’s been 13 specified at this point. 14 MR. COVIAT: Okay. So, if it says 279 trees, 15 the trees could be seedlings or they could be -- 16 MR. DeFEO: No. The standard for landscaping 17 in New Jersey generally is a tree has to be one and a 18 half inches, it would be a sapling at that point, but 19 one and a half inches in

could be -- 16 MR. DeFEO: No. The standard for landscaping 17 in New Jersey generally is a tree has to be one and a 18 half inches, it would be a sapling at that point, but 19 one and a half inches in diameter is the generally 20 accepted landscape replacement tree. Whether or not 21 they would go larger or not would depend on the site 22 and their final determinations. 23 As I stated last, fact is that in many cases, 24 you know, we often say let’s put bigger trees in 25 because it has a bigger impact up front. There are two