250701_JF_Response Letter

300 Tice Boulevard Suite 101 Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey 07677 Main: 877 627 3772 VIA UPS July 2, 2025 Diana Chandler Zoning Board Secretary Zoning Board Township of West Orange 66 Main Street West Orange, NJ 07052 42 Eagle Ridge Way Block 106, Lot 24.01 Township of West Orange, Essex County, NJ Project No. 24006174A Dear Ms. Chandler, Our office is in receipt of two (2) review letters regarding the above-referenced project. Below please find our responses to the comments outlined in said letters and memorandum. The comments have been repeated again for clarity. Nishuane Group LLC dated January 28, 2025 • Applicant seeks a D(1) Use Variance where the proposed use is not permitted within the R-1 District. Response: Statement of fact. • N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d) permits a Board of Adjustment “in particular cases for Special Reasons” to grant a variance to permit “a use or principal structure in a district restricted against such use or principal structure.” This represents the Positive Criteria of the statute. In addition, a showing of the Negative Criteria is necessary to obtain a “d” variance. The applicant must demonstrate that the proposed variance can be granted “without substantial detriment to the public good and will not substantially impair the intent and the purpose” of the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance. Response: Statement of fact. • When considering the granting of a “d” variance, an applicant must demonstrate that special reasons are satisfied by either showing that the proposed use “inherently serves the public good” or that it promotes the general welfare because the proposed site is particularly suited for that use. It was held in Medici v. B.P.R. Co., 107 NJ 1 (1987) that the only “special reasons” which can be considered are those which promote the general purposes of zoning, as listed in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2. The court emphasized in Burbridge v. Mine Hill Twp., 117 NJ 376 (1990), however, that the MLUL includes all the zoning purposes listed in N.J.S.A. 40:55D- 2,not only the promotion of the general welfare. Therefore, each of these listed purposes may support an application for a “d” variance. Response: Statement of fact.