5 7 25 WO PB Draft Minutes

17 • PB 25-02 Orange Prospect, LLC Block: 151 Lot: 17.01 Zone: B-2 111 Prospect Avenue The applicant, Orange Prospect, LLC, proposes the reconstruction of the existing driveway, walkway, path, and valet parking area, as well as renovations to the main building and existing restaurant and banquet facility, also known as the manor. PRESENTATION • The attorney, Kenneth McPherson, on behalf of the applicant, states that the proposal of the reconstruction of the driveway, walking path, and valet parking area, renovations to the main building, the existing restaurant, banquet facility, construction of a portico tree, and a community garden are also proposed. • The existing and proposed restaurant banquet facility is permitted in the B2 district. However, the applicant is seeking a minor variance this evening for slight impervious coverage exceedance. • Applicant is also seeking preliminary and final site plan approval this evening. • As part of the site plan process, the applicant submitted a tree removal and replacement plan to the township of Forrester for his approval pursuant to the ordinance. • Proof of compliant public notice was provided to the board secretary establishing that adequate notice was provided in the West Orange Chronicle on April 24th, 2025, and a certified mail notice was provided to all property owners entitled to such notice. • The applicant and its professionals met virtually with members of the site plan review advisory board and other township officials on April 8th, 2025, to conduct the initial and formal review. • The applicant tonight will present one witness for this application, Mr. J. Michael Petry, who prepared the submitted architectural and engineering plans to provide detailed testimony as the project's duly licensed architect, engineer, and professional planner. • The applicant looks forward to swiftly refurbishing this historic site, maintaining the same type of use at the property that has been there since New Year's Eve in 1956. • Subsequent to that, the manor and the bow and arrow manor had some famous visitors, including George Burns, Ronald Reagan, and Stevie Wonder. • The principals of the applicant have extensive experience in dining and catering, and they currently operate the Royal Manor in Garfield and the Bethwood Grand in Totowa. • They treasure the opportunity to provide these same services to the West

e experience in dining and catering, and they currently operate the Royal Manor in Garfield and the Bethwood Grand in Totowa. • They treasure the opportunity to provide these same services to the West Orange community at this property with the same attention to detail and service that the Knowles family provided at the manor until it closed its doors in July of 2023. • Mr. Joseph Fagan, the township historian, who at their request did provide some historical records regarding the manor's operation at the site of the property and the Knowles family legacy. • The architect, engineer, and professional planner, Mr. J. Michael Petry, entered on the record, he was sworn under oath and his credentials were accepted by the board. He testified to the following: • Mr. Petry has received and reviewed the following reports from the town: April 9, 2025, March 20th, 2025, the Nishuane Group Board Planner Reports, the March 25th, 2025, Matric New World Board Engineer Report, and the May 5th, 2025, Pedestrian Safety Advisory Board Recommendation Memorandum. • The subject property is designated as Lot 1701 in Block 151. It's more commonly known as 111 Prospect Avenue in West Orange. • The property is historically operated as the Manor, a restaurant and catering facility well

18 known throughout the world. • The parcel includes a total of 8.3 acres with 1,070 feet of frontage on Prospect Avenue and 166 feet of frontage along Woodland Avenue. • It's zoned B2 and the properties immediately behind it are zoned R6. • It's important to note that the Residence Inn Hotel, located immediately next door to the property to the north, contains a 124 parking space easement for the exclusive use of the restaurant and catering facility. As such, all of their notices have included that property. • Mr. Petry has been working for the Knowles family on this and other properties since 1985. • During that time, he has prepared all of the site plans for both the restaurant and catering facility as well as the hotel. • Mr. Petry was part of the 1993 application approved by the board that split this into two separate sites, one for the Manor and the other for the hotel. • When the two phased renovation was planned and ultimately completed, he was instrumental in developing both the concepts and the final plans and ultimately working with Harry Knowles, his two sons and his two grandchildren on the build out of those improvements. • The first phase was approved by the TRC in 2012 and the last board approval was in 2013 that included the rooftop addition and a phase that has not been implemented yet which was the conversion of the carriage house to a bar for a la carte dining. • All of the more current approvals reference the 1996 planning board approval which limits the occupancy of the restaurant and banquet facility to 1,404 people with a total of 434 parking spaces of which 124 are part of that easement that Mr. Petry mentioned earlier. • The proposal that's before the board this evening makes some minor architectural changes to the building. • As of right now, there is no portico share. A portico share is the roof area that you can drive under to get out of your car without getting wet. • It's been one of the complaints about the building for a number of years but it's been a difficult problem to solve. • They've incorporated here by changing both the driveway and the fountain that's out front, eliminating that so that they could have the ability to create this area. • The second change to the building is the area that faces the fountains in the garden in the front. That area currently has a greenhouse style curved glass facade there and

ility to create this area. • The second change to the building is the area that faces the fountains in the garden in the front. That area currently has a greenhouse style curved glass facade there and what they're going to do is take that out and put in new doors and glass that will exit onto that same patio and fountain area. • There are no real true additions here, although the portico share counts as an addition, but it's simply a portico share and a windbreak at the existing columns. • From a site perspective they're doing several important things. Mr. Petry presented the overall site plan labeled as SP3. • One of the things that they're doing is reconfiguring the exit driveway. The existing driveway is very steep as it reaches Prospect Avenue and it's very difficult to see. • What they’re doing is pushing the driveway about 25 feet to the north at its exit point so they can straighten it out, take out the curve, move it away from the garden walls, and fill the upper reach of that driveway in. • They can't do it where it is today because that would put pressure on the walls that they can't take. So instead, they move it to the north, regrade that driveway, and improve the ability for exiting vehicles to see.

19 • For those who have gone in and out of the driveway that services the hotel, they're following the exact same grading pattern as they did there, and it will result in a driver's eye that's closer to the elevation of Prospect Avenue, which is going to create a safer exiting movement. • When you look at the impact as you move slightly north, they also chose to reconfigure this front parking lot. • The front parking lot is probably the most important lot in the facility because, on a day- to-day basis, this is the parking that everybody uses. • On evenings when the facility is booked for larger events, that's when they'll have valet parking, and the valet will take over this lot. • For the ADA parking, they're on the side of a hill, so ADA is important because it needs what's called an accessible route, so you have to be able to get from the cars to the front doors. • They've developed half a dozen ADA spaces with a direct accessible route to the path that gets you to the front door of this facility, and they are the closest spaces to it. • They've increased the parking on the property by this reconfiguration, but they've simultaneously decreased the impervious coverage on this property by about 5,000 square feet. • Not only did they add ADA parking spaces with the defined accessible route, they've added half a dozen EV parking spaces, and they've brought the total parking on site to 471 spaces when you consider the EV credits. • A quick look at the grading and how they accomplished this with the driveway is on sheet SP6.1. They've regraded the driveway to provide an area that's relatively flat, less than 5% for the first 25 feet of the driveway. That driveway gets a little steeper going down, but now it's going to be a constant grade. • They've added drainage improvements on that driveway and reconfigured the whole parking lot, and incorporated drainage improvements there too. • Ultimately, they've connected this storm sewer system through parking lot C to the existing drainage facility that's there. • What's important to note about this is that this is an improvement that can only be made while the facility is closed. Therefore, the whole front parking lot can be done now while the facility is closed. It can't be done while this is open because the driveway is going to take weeks to do. • They've taken the time to develop new lighting for this front

lot can be done now while the facility is closed. It can't be done while this is open because the driveway is going to take weeks to do. • They've taken the time to develop new lighting for this front parking lot as well. All of the driveways and the parking area will be lit by 15-foot light poles. • These are lantern-type fixtures that are dark sky compliant, so they don't have glare that goes up in the air. • The walkways, the pedestrian areas, and the plaza area outside of the fountain are lit with 12-foot-high light poles, and that front area is something that's important to the application as well. • Mr. Petry shows on his presentation where one comes out of the existing room in the front of the building with the glass that overlooks the fountains, and you walk downstairs to get down to the patio level. • Their intention is to fill that area in and to raise that up so that this area outside can be ADA accessible and enjoyed by all patrons, not just those who are physically capable of walking downstairs. • That's going to cause them to have to reconstruct the front fountain and raise it up a bit so that it's above the patio area, but that's included in the plans as well.

20 • They're bringing in a little over three feet of fill in this area to raise this up and all new drainage through this area that connects out to that parking lot drainage. • They have their tree replacement plan, and Mr. Petry presented TR2 in the set that was submitted. • As part of the previous submittals made to the township, they're seeking the board's approval of their landscape plan, which includes some tree work that's already been completed as well as tree work that will be finalized as the front parking lot is completed. • The portion of the plan that's been completed is outlined in red areas A, B, and C along the driveways. The trees there have been planted and are being maintained, but some of them needed to be replaced. • There was some tree removal performed before a permit was sought. Basically they were attempting to replace in time. They weren't aware of the ordinance, and they have gone through the process in the courts, and there's a settlement in place. What the settlement requires is ultimately the board's approval. • The additional areas are, again, as they install the parking in the front of that lot, they've implemented additional evergreens at that location. They will complete the evergreens along the exit driveway, mixed in with the red maples, and then they will have red maples and evergreens that will be placed along the front. • The final piece in this application is a community garden, and that's located right behind and adjacent to the carriage house that's on the property. • The carriage house currently has a greenhouse, and what they're planning on doing is developing this garden that will be overseen by the chef and his staff, most likely a gardener. • It will be developed to serve the restaurant and banquet use, but will also be available for community groups. It will be on a first-come come first first-served basis for them to utilize this garden and learn from this garden. • There are several non-conformities that are not being affected by this application. • This includes setback violations on the south side of the existing building, accessory use setbacks for the pavement in that area, accessory use front setback for the parking that is within the employee parking lot, accessory use side setback for the parking lot as it abuts the hotel parking lot (they're required to have a separation there), and the buffer to

r the parking that is within the employee parking lot, accessory use side setback for the parking lot as it abuts the hotel parking lot (they're required to have a separation there), and the buffer to the residential zone on the south side of the building and the portion of the employee parking lot that's closest to the building. • While they have improved the impervious coverage, they're still at 60.53% where 60% is permitted. They call this out as a variance because they are over, but they are making this better by about 5,000 square feet. • They're reducing the coverage from the existing condition, which is 61.75. They're dropping it to 60.53. They're over by about 1,900 square feet. • They call this out as a variance despite the fact that it's an existing nonconformity, but in Mr. Petry’s opinion, there's a direct public benefit. They are adding 5,000 square feet of green space, and they are simultaneously reducing stormwater runoff, that is a direct benefit to the public. • Mr. Petry doesn't see a substantial detriment associated with this granting of the variance because, in essence, they will be improving the condition, and therefore, he believes that it meets the C2 criteria. • While they are increasing the previously approved parking, which was 434 spaces, to a total of 471 spaces, including EV credits, they would like to request that the board consider increasing that occupancy by 111 people, and 111 is based upon the difference between 471 and 434.

21 • The ordinance requires one space for every three seats, so if it’s multiplied by three, we'd have an increase of 111 for a total of 1,515 should the board grant that. I think it's a reasonable request given what they're doing and where they're going with the parking increase. • The Pedestrian Safety Advisory Board asked them to look at implementing a sidewalk along Prospect Avenue. Historically, that has been tricky at the fountain, and it's been tricky at the employee parking lot. • The Advisory Board raised a good point, and that is that they have a reservation that perhaps they can incorporate the sidewalk within the employee parking lot on the tree side of that lot. • Mr. Petry looked at it and he thinks they can do that because they have a fairly wide drive aisle. • They do get to a pinch point in front of the fountains because those fountains are up to the property line. The walls actually go over a bit, and there are evergreens there. The applicant would have to do something relatively creative at this location in order to accommodate that. • Mr. Petry’s concern is what happens in front of the fountains because they do have drop- off and they have evergreens. If they eliminate the evergreens, they can work something out to replace them and try to work with the committee to get that sidewalk in. • Part of the idea is to make more connectivity. To the north, there are no sidewalks along the frontage, and to the north of that is the Montclair Golf Club, and there are no sidewalks along that frontage. There are sidewalks on Woodland Avenue, and there are sidewalks in front of the residential development there up to a point. Their project at West Orange Plaza, the hopefully soon-to-be target shopping center, has sidewalks incorporated there that come down and connect to those residential sidewalks. • If they were to be able to get it along the frontage of this property, you could walk from the hotel to the shopping center if one were staying there long term. Mr. Petry thinks some of the improvements that have been made recently on Prospect Avenue might help us do that. • There have been comments about the parking, access to the building from the parking lots, and whether it's better to have self-parking or to have a valet. • This property has always had a self-parking sign just before you get to this driveway, and it says self-parking to the right,

g lots, and whether it's better to have self-parking or to have a valet. • This property has always had a self-parking sign just before you get to this driveway, and it says self-parking to the right, valet parking straight. • The majority of people who want a facility like this are going to use the valet. However, they're seeing more and more and more people using Uber and Lyft, so Mr. Petry thinks you're going to see a lot more drop-off. • While Mr. Petry appreciates the comments about self-parking being better closer to the door and easier for people if it's in lot C, it's never been that way at this facility. • But for the day-to-day operations, Monday to Friday, this is going to be the only parking lot used other than the employee parking lot. • When you're dealing with valet at a facility like this at the end of the night, people want their car quickly and the quickest way is for the valet is to have the shortest run. The longer the run, the longer it's going to take to get your car. However, they'll probably also have bigger staff at those parties. BOARD QUESTIONS • Councilwoman Scarpa asked Mr. Petry what the various drainage improvements in the parking lot are. Mr. Petry said historically, the drainage for this parking lot has run into the area immediately outside the door, as it ponds at the door, it risks going into the