PB 24 16 Response to Objector Memo 350 Mount Pleasant Avenue West Orange Planner Report

105 Grove Street, Suite 3 Montclair, NJ 07042 973.954.2677 www.NishuaneGroup.com MEMORANDUM TO: Township of West Orange Planning Board FR: Gerard M. Haizel, PP, AICP, Principal RE: PB-24-16 - 350 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Essex County Country Club Block 156, Lot 1 DT: December 6, 2024 I am in receipt of correspondence from Ms. Micaela Bennett, regarding the above referenced application, which is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Board at its meeting on December 11, 2024. In her correspondence, Ms. Bennett states that this application is incorrectly before the Planning Board as the subject site contains more than one principal use. It is her contention that the existing pool, pool house as well as other existing recreational facilities should themselves be considered additional principal uses on the site. The West Orange Township Ordinance expressly permits golf courses and golf club houses in the R-2 zone, where the subject site is located. The Ordinance also permits as accessory uses, “customary accessory buildings or structures.” In this case, the pool and the pool house, as well as other related structures on the site, are accessory to the golf club use. In my opinion, the golf club exists as the single principal use on the site, with multiple components, all of which are accessory to it and operated as a single entity. As such, in my further opinion, the subject application is within the jurisdiction of the Planning Board, for the required site plan review. Additionally, Ms. Bennett has questioned the propriety of the applicant’s notice of the application. She contends that the applicant’s notice, with regard to the continued sale of alcohol on the premises, is insufficient since it does not indicate that alcohol will be sold from a different location on the site. The applicant does however indicate in their notice, their intent to continue the sale of alcohol on the premises. Additionally, since the scope of the application specifically includes the expansion of the existing bar, it is clear that the “continued sale of alcohol” disclosed in the notice, will occur there as well. In my opinion, the notice provided by the application is appropriate and sufficient.