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

Page 21 1 review site plans and their compliance with tree 2 ordinances? 3 A. Yes, I do that quite frequently. 4 Q. Okay. And have you ever been qualified 5 as an expert before any boards to give testimony as 6 to your opinions regarding tree preservation and tree 7 ordinances? 8 A. Yes, I have. 9 Q. Okay. 10 MR. TURTELTAUB: I would like to 11 introduce Mr. Linson as an expert in tree forestry, 12 as well as tree preservation. 13 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Trees and tree 14 preservation. 15 MR. TURTELTAUB: Yes. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Ms. Porter, any 17 questions with regard to credentials. 18 MS. PORTER: No. 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Any member of the 20 board have questions for Mr. Linson regarding his 21 credentials. 22 Mr. Schwarzbaum? 23 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: Mr. Linson, 24 just -- when did you -- you said that you were part 25 of the West -- you worked for West Orange as a

Page 22 1 consultant for 14 years. 2 When did that end? 3 THE WITNESS: Three years ago. 4 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: Three years 5 ago. So that would be 2021. 6 THE WITNESS: I believe so. 7 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: And were 8 you part of the new ordinance. 9 THE WITNESS: Not -- not this -- this 10 new ordinance. The prior ordinance, I was. 11 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So 12 I'm not -- I know there's a new ordinance. 13 I just want to understand when that 14 went into -- when it was contemplated to be put into 15 effect. It usually doesn't happen overnight, so 16 that's why I am asking. 17 THE WITNESS: It -- this new ordinance 18 was developed subsequent to my employment with West 19 Orange. 20 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: And when 21 you -- did you leave West Orange on your own? 22 THE WITNESS: No. 23 Quite frankly, no. 24 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: Can you 25 elaborate a little?

Page 23 1 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. -- 2 Mr. Schwarzbaum -- 3 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: That's not 4 relevant? Okay. 5 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please. 6 VICE CHAIRMAN SCHWARZBAUM: Okay, I was 7 just -- wanted to understand. 8 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Linson answered 9 too quickly. 10 Any other member of the board with 11 questions for Mr. Linson, solely regarding 12 credentials? 13 (No Response.) 14 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Seeing none, 15 Mr. Linson, it's my pleasure to recognize you as a 16 licensed tree expert with a specialty in tree 17 preservation. 18 THE WITNESS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 19 Mr. Turteltaub, witness with you. 20 MR. TURTELTAUB: Thank you. 21 DIRECT EXAMINATION 22 BY MR. TURTELTAUB: 23 Q. Mr. Linson, first off, are you familiar 24 with the PSE&G site which is the subject of this 25 application?

Page 24 1 A. Yes, I am. 2 Q. And how are you familiar with this 3 site? 4 A. When I was employed by West Orange, 5 there were a couple of projects that I was involved 6 with. 7 There was a replanting over on the -- I 8 guess it would be the southern -- southwest corner of 9 the property, a lot of the new plantings went in 10 about 12 to 15 years ago. 11 And about, I guess, maybe five or six 12 years ago, maybe a little more, the sidewalk was put 13 in on Prospect and I was involved in the routing of 14 the sidewalk and working its way around trees and 15 whatnot. 16 Q. And are you familiar with the plan 17 that's before the board tonight that's been prepared 18 by PSE&G? 19 A. Yes, I am. 20 I was given a copy of the TR-1, -2 and 21 -3 by Mr. Malanga. 22 Q. And were you able to review the tree 23 removal plan that was proposed by PSE&G as part of 24 this application? 25 A. Yes, I was.

Page 25 1 Q. And with respect to the trees that are 2 the subject of that tree removal application, are you 3 familiar with generally those trees in that -- the 4 areas in which those trees are located? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Okay. So starting off with -- or going 7 into the ordinance itself, you were asked questions 8 about your -- the current zoning -- tree preservation 9 ordinance. 10 Can you please give the board the 11 benefit of your understanding of the ordinance and 12 how it impacts the decisions to remove trees on 13 properties in town? 14 A. Well, the West Orange Ordinance is 15 probably the strictest ordinance I have ever seen. 16 It has -- the opening statements in the findings and 17 purpose are quite extensive, and that is indicative 18 of the fact that the town council has a high 19 importance of preserving trees and recognizing that 20 the contributions they make to the West Orange 21 community. 22 And so the -- stronger than the prior 23 ordinances, there is now a requirement for the 24 replacement of trees by residents and property 25 owners, whereas before there was a diminishing tree

Page 26 1 canopy coverage with development. With the loss of 2 trees there was no incentive to -- for property 3 owners to replace trees. So now the removal of 4 healthy trees requires replacement by the property 5 owners. 6 Q. With respect to the preservation of 7 trees, are you familiar with what the current 8 ordinance -- the requirements of the current 9 ordinance with regard to the protection of trees that 10 exist today -- for trees that exist today? 11 A. Yes, I am. 12 In the -- in the purpose statement it 13 indicates that this section is to protect and foster 14 the existence and health of trees growing within 15 township borders, to preserve the maximum possible 16 number of trees in the development of a site or lot, 17 and to protect specimen trees to encourage innovative 18 design and grading to promote the protection of 19 existing trees. 20 That's in the preamble to the 21 ordinance. 22 The West Orange Ordinance is unique 23 because it comes under land use. Most of the 24 municipalities have their tree preservation 25 ordinances under police powers, and that tends to

Page 27 1 leave it up to the discretion of the enforcing 2 officer, who may be a forester or may be an engineer 3 or a public works official. 4 But West Orange, by putting it under 5 land use, they put it under the scrutiny of many 6 people. 7 Most of the tree removal in the 8 township is private land owners taking down dead 9 trees in their yards. 10 But when there's a larger project of 11 development or redevelopment and it has to appear 12 before a zoning board or at least if it's denied it 13 would be appealed before the zoning board, it brings 14 it into the scrutiny of many people, so that the 15 discretion of one person is cushioned and 16 strengthened by this -- by the oversight of many 17 people, as we're doing tonight. 18 Q. So given that it's part of the land use 19 ordinance and your understanding is then the 20 evaluation of the tree removal plan and the 21 achievement of the goals of the tree protection 22 ordinance to -- to maximally protect the trees, is 23 that within the purview of this Board then to 24 consider whether that is met? 25 A. Yes, yes, it definitely is.

Page 28 1 If this application does not meet the 2 purpose of the ordinance, then it has to be revised 3 to accommodate the wishes of the council in passing 4 this ordinance. 5 Q. Okay. And with respect to the prior 6 ordinance and the current ordinance, it was brought 7 up earlier in counsel's introduction about saying 8 that they're adhering to the -- to the stricter new 9 ordinance, what are the differences mainly between 10 the two ordinances, if you know? 11 A. Well, one fault of the prior ordinance 12 was neighbor notification. 13 And the removal of trees, particularly 14 healthy trees, in the vicinity of a property line can 15 sometimes be disputed. And once the tree is removed, 16 you know, it's gone. 17 So now before you get a permit, there 18 is a requirement to notify your adjacent property 19 owners. That's probably the most important aspect of 20 it. 21 But also, if you're removing a tree 22 that is not completely dead, the procedure is a lot 23 more involved. You have to fill out a form, a 24 nationally recognized form, listing the potential 25 defects of the tree and its potential targets should

Page 29 1 the tree fail. Is it -- is it the trunk that's the 2 problem or is it individual branches or encroaching 3 structure? Is there an insect or disease. 4 A tree that still has a green leaf on 5 it, you've got to go through a tremendous procedure 6 to get approval to remove it. 7 So it's -- there's no doubt, once Walt 8 Kipp receives the application and he has all the 9 background information, you know, only then is he 10 permitted to issue a tree removal permit. 11 And the -- you have two groups of tree 12 contractors. You have the tree removal contractors 13 and you have the full service tree companies. And 14 the tree removal companies, by the New Jersey Board 15 of Tree Experts, there's two categories. There is 16 licensed tree care operators. Now, they're only 17 qualified to remove trees or to prune trees. And 18 then you have licensed tree experts, such as myself. 19 They are the only ones who can actually put in print 20 whether a tree is alive or dead or write a report 21 about a condition of a tree. 22 And so these full service tree 23 companies, most of them have licensed tree experts. 24 So the new ordinance requires a 25 licensed tree expert to declare the tree as dead, or

Page 30 1 to define what the defects of the tree may be that 2 would warrant its removal. 3 And again, if it's still alive or 4 partially alive, there is that requirement of 5 replacing the tree. And it's not a one-to-one 6 replacement, it's a scaled replacement based upon the 7 diameter of the tree. 8 So as I said before, West Orange has 9 probably the strictest tree removal ordinance 10 possibly in the State of New Jersey at this time. 11 Q. And under the prior ordinance or the 12 current ordinance, do they both look to the maximum 13 preservation of trees; before you get into the 14 replacement, to try to preserve as many trees as 15 possible? 16 A. Well, this one -- this one really puts 17 some teeth into it. The other one, the purpose was 18 to try to preserve trees to the greatest extent 19 possible, but there weren't as many hoops to jump 20 through. 21 And you're not going to be able to 22 remove a healthy tree without consequences of -- and 23 requirement to replace. 24 Q. Now, the current ordinance, was there 25 -- what was that based on, if you know?