November 10, 2025 Planning Board Special Meeting Minutes

the Howell Drive area. Ms. Carballo said yes. K. Alper asked if it is likely that the close proximity of West Essex Highlands, the proposed projects at Green Hill Retirement and the Wilshire, and also the one that was previously approved at 200 PVW will increase that problem. Ms. Carballo said that for the West Essex Highlands, they are not connecting to the sewer that goes through Howell Drive, because that sewer goes through the Verona sewage treatment plant. Instead, they're going to be connected to the township's sewer main. There was a meeting with the developer, as well as the consulting engineer in regards to upgrading the existing sewer lines in order for it to handle the flows. K. Alper asked if we would need to do additional upgrades for 103, 200, and for 350 PVW, if all 3 of those came online. Ms. Carballo said she wouldn't be able to answer that question without more accurate mapping data. Chairman Bagoff asked Ms. Carballo how do we go about getting the mapping, what is the process that has to be started now to do that. Ms. Carballo said the township needs to adopt this in their capital budget. They will need to allocate funds to do a mapping plan. Once you map it, which is required by the DEP for the stormwater and you have all the different drainage areas or sub-areas of how much water and sewage go into each one, you will have to have a consulting company, do the study, and figure out how much does the existing pipes can handle based on their slope, size, and whether or not it's even feasible. Chairman Bagoff asked Ms. Carballo if she knows the last time this mapping was done. Ms. Carballo said West Orange doesn’t have a map. L. Klein asked Ms. Gruel that the number of units that she says should go in a certain location, we've got to be concerned about traffic, gas, electric, water, sewer, everything, so the numbers that were come up with, does that take into account. Ms. Gruel said while these are all legitimate concerns, for the years that affordable housing has been in the courts and been determined that it's a constitutional obligation, the courts time and time again, have said, if there are issues addressing affordable housing, like infrastructure, deal with it. L. Klein asked Ms. Gruel if it's a planning board application and it's an as-of-right development, you don't really get them on off-site improvements for traffic and

ike infrastructure, deal with it. L. Klein asked Ms. Gruel if it's a planning board application and it's an as-of-right development, you don't really get them on off-site improvements for traffic and things like that, is that the same situation with this plan. Ms. Gruel answered it hasn't been zoned yet. L. Klein asked Ms. Gruel before we zone it, will we do a traffic or sewer study. Ms. Gruel said that is up to the board. L. Kapferer asked Ms. Gruel if there is a mechanism by which we can tell the developers that if capacity improvements are needed and if we need to update the storm sewer system or the sanitary to convey the flow from their site, can we ask them to pay for it. Ms. Gruel answered that normally happens when you're doing site plan review, and they have to prove that they can develop the site and accommodate what is necessary. Councilperson Scarpa Ms. Carballo asked what is the approximate cost of this mapping and this capital project that we might have to undertake. Ms. Carballo said to finish mapping the stormwater, it's probably going to cost about $350,000. The sanitary is going to be about the same, if not more. Councilperson Scarpa asked Ms. Carballo, how quickly would we need to do it. Ms. Carballo said in a year, the stormwater information could be collected, mapped. After that, you need a consultant to analyze it. Councilperson Scarpa asked Ms. Gruel given that this is an unfunded mandate, shouldn't we be looking at creating more localized density for all of these affordable