CME Associates Review 2

Ne ASSOCIATES Chairman and Members of the West Orange Township Planning Board duly 29, 2024 Re: West Essex Highlands, LLC (PB 24-01) Our File No. VWRP0179.01 Preliminary & Final Site Plan - Review #2 Page 14 plan must be undertaken. Prior to recording, the form of the deed must be approved by the Board Attorney and our office. F, LANDSCAPING COMMENTS 1. The Applicant has proposed deer exclusion fencing for existing wooded areas to remain. Details of the proposed fence, method of installation, maintenance responsibilities and notes should be provided for further review. Revise the street tree layout to create uniformity within the site by providing the same species of trees on both sides of the roadways within substantial groupings. Review and revise match lines, as they create difficulties for review (and later construction), such as labels to corresponding graphics are not on the same sheet. Also, the overall landscape plan should indicate the match line locations. Our office recommends that street trees be provided on the lawn side of sidewalks, where feasible, to reduce future hardscape conflicts as well as to provide greater soil volume for a healthier tree. Revise the ‘Plant List’, sheet 29 of 66, as indicated below: a. Both BP (Paper Birch) and AS (Sugar Maple) are a northern tree species and with a warming climate, these species are not recommended. b. RP (Black Locust) is an invasive species, is not commercially available, nor recommended. The Applicant has included the 25 RP within the tree credits as native trees. c. Indicate single or multi-stem trees for proposed ornamental trees, to prevent any confusion. Single stem trees should be indicated by caliper and multi-stem trees by height. d. Provide oak species, a keystone species of our ecosystem. e. PA (American Plum) is not recommended as it is highly susceptible to black knot fungus. f. Correct the common name for AM (Black Chokeberry). g. Specifically indicate a minimum planting height/spread for proposed shrubs. Currently, only container sizes are listed, but many of these species will not be available at these sizes. h. Provide cultivar selections for proposed trees and shrubs, to prevent confusion during construction. i. Ensure shrub and perennial plantings located within parking islands do not exceed 30” at maturity to ensure visibility. §:\Wesl Orange\Planning

d shrubs, to prevent confusion during construction. i. Ensure shrub and perennial plantings located within parking islands do not exceed 30” at maturity to ensure visibility. §:\Wesl Orange\Planning BoardiVWRPO179.01 - West Essex Highlands, Inc\Review #2 07-29-24 docx