February 25, 2026 Planning Board Special Meeting - WEHI Transcript

13 of 68 sheets Page 49 to 52 of 154 03/20/2026 06:14:03 AM 49 where there's a small square outlined in lighter green.1 Mr. Fagan has just brought that forward and if you can2 go back we can show the other one like that. That's3 part of a contiguous forest. And there's another small4 square like that on the lower right-hand corner. And5 then there are a couple smaller areas like that6 elsewhere. Right over here in the left hand corner and7 then a little bit over here in the upper left. Lower8 left and upper left. So when -- and there is a bit of9 that right here in the center on the top. So when we10 calculate the forest, what Dr. DeVito did was take a11 conservative approach. If he just took the 120 acres he12 would have had a much greater loss of core forest13 percentage-wise, but he chose not to do that because he14 didn't think it would be fair. It's fairer to the15 applicant to include the areas of contiguous forest that16 will remain. They're not part of project site, but17 they're part of the forest. So we'll go to that in a18 moment. So Dr. DeVito calculates 143 acres of forest,19 and that includes those additional areas that are off20 this lot outside the yellow line. And he calculates the21 existing core forest, or the interior forest, at 5822 acres.23 Now, this is not the best drawing for that,24 there will be better one to show. You can see here25 50 there's the green crosshatching across. There's little1 circular insets and then there's the crosshatching.2 That's matching what he has testified as the core or3 interior forest as it currently exists and there's a4 little bit down over here as well.5 Now, you may recall what he described core6 forest as. There's two kinds of forests. There's the7 edge and there's the core.8 Now, the edge of a forest protects the9 interior in exactly the same way as a barrier island10 protects the mainland. Anyone that's been to a barrier11 island, Long Beach Island, etc., understands this. You12 have the surf and the intertidal zone. The barrier13 island protects the bay on the other side and the14 mainland from the impacts of the surf, and as a result15 you get an estuary for marine life to thrive and grow16 and move out into the ocean, and you get wetlands that17 are not disturbed by rough surf. The edge of a forest18 does exactly same thing, but for a forest.19 So we'll see the next drawing, and just20 before we

out into the ocean, and you get wetlands that17 are not disturbed by rough surf. The edge of a forest18 does exactly same thing, but for a forest.19 So we'll see the next drawing, and just20 before we get there. The edge is this part here on the21 outside before the green hatching and he's measured the22 edge as 300 feet, you'll that see on another chart. And23 so what he's testified to is that the edge of a forest24 absorbs certain impacts, it absorbs excess light, rain,25 51 ice, snow, wind. The interior of the forest is1 protected from that. As a result we have a core forest2 of much denser trees that grow in a different way.3 Anyone who's ever hiked along the river knows this. You4 see trees that are gnarled and bent over and shorter,5 but the same trees 200 feet inland are different.6 Species respond to the conditions they live in. The edge7 of a forest is always different than the interior.8 That is the existing forest site from an9 aerial view. That is what is there right now. This is10 very important. It's not the brightest green, I think11 it was taken in the late fall probably and you can see12 the evergreen areas, but the forest is more of a muted13 gray. That is the existing forest. It's a contiguous14 vast forest for our area, 143 acres. And please15 remember that image, because this is a very rare thing.16 Look what's around it. Thousands, literally, of houses.17 And this pictures only a part of the image. And when18 you expand the view -- we don't have a larger aerial --19 we all know what's around the town. Other towns, other20 subdivisions.21 This is a better image of the interior22 versus the edge forest. Now, the bright green23 crosshatching is the existing interior forest, as Dr.24 DeVito calculated. You see the word 300 in that small25 52 orange line. That's measuring the perimeter which is1 the edge forest. And wherever you have a cutout, you2 have more edge. So you don't have edge only in the3 exterior -- I'm sorry. We have edge here because4 there's already some existing disturbance. If you5 recall the area maps, that's a cleared area right there.6 Long ago they did some houses there, a mansion or7 something there. That area is not treed and therefore8 it creates an edge here, and so this becomes the9 interior core right there. But basically we have 5810 acres of core forest out of that square 120, and out of11 the total 144. There's

and therefore8 it creates an edge here, and so this becomes the9 interior core right there. But basically we have 5810 acres of core forest out of that square 120, and out of11 the total 144. There's a little core there because this12 edge ends and you get a core there. So he's calculated13 the core at -- sorry. There. The core at 58 acres.14 Now, superimposed on top of the area of15 development you can see what's going to happen. The16 area of development looks a bit like a congressional17 district and it occupies an enormous amount of area.18 This is not a small project, and no project is just its19 buildings. It has all of the additional things you all20 know about. And so, and the area of disturbance also21 includes those detention basins, because they're going22 to -- because forest will be ripped out to make them.23 Now, what we have here -- thank you, Mr.24 Fagan, is the actual calculations. Existing forest25