12 12 24 PSEG West Orange BOA ZB 24 06 PSEG 35 Mt Pleasant Ave Condensed

65b96228-b9ab-4f72-9291-fa4a14ff04c8 18 (Pages 69 to 72) Page 69 1 MR. RICCI: Okay. 2 THE WITNESS: So the question is have 3 we -- has the Applicant preserved the maximum number 4 of trees or not. And you that have seen the rest of 5 the site plans and you've -- you're weighing all of 6 the options of, you know, all I can say is has -- has 7 the Applicant considered altering their plans to 8 preserve more trees. And so that's-- 9 MR. RICCI: Okay, that's all right. 10 THE WITNESS: -- that's basically all 11 -- 12 MR. RICCI: I appreciate your answer. 13 Thank you. 14 THE WITNESS: Okay, all right. 15 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Mr. Ricci. 16 Mr. Scott, you're up. 17 MR. SCOTT: Thank you. 18 Can you hear me? 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Loud and clear. 20 MR. SCOTT: Tremendous. 21 Mr. Linson, thank you very much for 22 being here. 23 So the term "strictest" has been thrown 24 around tonight and perhaps I'm going to ask you if 25 you meant that West Orange had the strongest tree Page 71 1 into a house that's been neglected, the maintenance 2 has been neglected, you've got a -- you've got a 3 bunch of invasive trees growing up between the 4 garages and you want to take them down, they didn't 5 belong there to begin with. 6 So I think going down to that 7 two-and-a-half inch diameter tree removal, most of 8 the municipalities I know are at -- are at six 9 inches. 10 So I think -- I think it's a stretch 11 personally, but, you know, the governing body of West 12 Orange are tree preservationists, and they want a 13 protected two-and-a-half inch diameter tree, God 14 bless them, you know. 15 And somebody is going to have to 16 replace a tree in a park or a parking lot or 17 somewhere where it's going to do some good, if they 18 can't replace it in their own -- on their own 19 property. 20 MR. SCOTT: Thank you. 21 And you mentioned that the West Orange 22 zoning law, whereas in many other towns the authority 23 lies with the police or is within the police law, but 24 ours is within the land use law. 25 And in your professional opinion, is Page 70 1 ordinance in the State of New Jersey, not the 2 strictest. 3 THE WITNESS: Could you rephrase that 4 question just -- 5 MR. SCOTT: Would you say that West 6 Orange has the strongest tree ordinance in New Jersey 7 as opposed to the strictest? 8 THE WITNESS: Okay. Now I see what 9 you're saying. 10 Yeah, I would say it is the

COTT: Would you say that West 6 Orange has the strongest tree ordinance in New Jersey 7 as opposed to the strictest? 8 THE WITNESS: Okay. Now I see what 9 you're saying. 10 Yeah, I would say it is the strongest. 11 I mean, I only have knowledge of municipalities, you 12 know, north of the Raritan pretty much. 13 But I am the contract forester for 14 several towns and I -- I review tree removal 15 applications for several towns. No municipality that 16 I've worked with has an ordinance that is as 17 encompassing as this one is. 18 MR. SCOTT: Thank you. 19 I think it's a very encompassing and 20 strong ordinance also. 21 Would you say that it is perhaps a role 22 model for the rest of the state? 23 THE WITNESS: Well, I have a little bit 24 of a problem with going down to two-inch diameter 25 trees to be removed. You know, if somebody moves Page 72 1 that a better place to have it? 2 THE WITNESS: I think -- I think it 3 works well in a community like this. It's -- and, 4 you know, there's so many different forms of 5 government, you know. 6 But basically I like the fact that if 7 the -- if your forester reviews an application and he 8 finds it's excessive and, you know, you know, like, I 9 would love to save that 58-inch diameter London 10 plane, if he should say, you know, I'm agreeing with 11 everything on this plan except you've got to save 12 this one tree and he denies it, the best part about 13 having it in land use is it goes before a board like 14 this where people like yourself question it and you 15 weigh the alternatives and you -- and you see, you 16 know, has the Applicant attempted to preserve this 17 tree? 18 Are there any alternatives to 19 preserving the tree? And if you've exhausted those 20 alternatives, then you're going to vote to approve 21 the application and let the Applicant remove the 22 trees. 23 But, you know, you -- you, as a member 24 of this board, you know, your voice is important. 25 And, you know, by leaving the entire responsibility