August 25, 2025, Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 97 in South Orange. So, again, this is the key point, 1.4 million acres of available lands that aren't preserved land are providing these services. And this piece of 120 acres is part of that. If those lands are lost, if this 120 acres is lost, those services will be degraded. And what we think of now as having, you know, somewhat decent quality, environmental quality will degrade significantly if those lands are not preserved. So when I look at the determination of suitable -- CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: I'm going to interrupt a second. I said this has to be of this site, West Orange. This is -- is this used for every piece of land of open in the State of New Jersey? THE WITNESS: Yes. CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Stop right there. THE WITNESS: Doesn't mean it doesn't apply to the 120 acres. MR. AFRAN: We understand you're asking her testimony to focus on these factors -- CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Correct. MR. AFRAN: -- on the relevance of this site. CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Correct. This is on every piece of open space in the State of New Jersey. These slides are not made specifically for West Orange.