Draft_October 2025_West Orange_HEFSP_with Appendices

Inst. # 2023018959 - Pages 6 of 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - ' On this the 13 day of March, 2023 before me came | Jawie/ Leviw ' tho——-—_—_——.. of CGP&H, LLC to me known and known to me to be the Administrative Agent for the Township of West Orange, who states that (s)he has signed said Agreement on behalf of said icipality for the purposes 3} therein. - STEPHANIE C j Commission # 5009863 4 INotery Puollc, State oi New Jorsey ; My Commission Expires Fabrusry 12. 2024 NOTARY PUBLIC On this the G day of March, 2023 before me came Rocco Verve , to me known and known to me to be the Ninui, Memboy of 555 Northfietd LLC , the Owner of OY ctid Deed the Property, who states that ” hes ‘~ for the purposes stated therein. : ARLENE FLORES NOTARY PUBLIC” ss; eyens cto ty Joey —————$——— rd On this the Ue day of March, 2023 before me,cate. Aveo, fa Bien , known and known to me to be Mayor of the Township of West Orange, the Municipality identified as such in the foregoing Deed, who states that (s)he is duly authorized to execute said Agreement on behalf of said Municipality, and that (s)he has so executed the foregoing Deed for the purposes stated therein, LK , Prat bles fie NOTA! 5 legs IO UR Be feo 7 Record and Return to: wi CGP&H, LLC 1249 South River Road, Stite 301 Cranbury, NI 08512-3633 Attn: Dan Levin, PP; AICP

BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT THE TOWNSHIP OF WEST ORANGE RESOLUTION ZB-18-09 555 Northfield Avenue, LLC (“West Village” WHEREAS, 555 Northfield Avenue, LLC, (hereinafter referred as the Applicant), owner of the property located at 555 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, New Jersey, 07052, being Block 168, Lot 26 and Lot 28 on the Tax Map of the Township of West Orange and located in the B-2 zone, applied to the West Orange Zoning Board of Adjustment (“the Board”) for Preliminary and Final Site Plan Approval with the following variances: | (1) a “d” 6 height variance for 62.8 feet when 35 feet is the maximum height permitted (2) a “c” variance for 5 stories when only 2 ¥% stories are permitted; (3) a“c” variance for a 2.56 foot front yard setback when a 30 foot setback is required; (4) a “c” variance for 49% building coverage when 40% is the maximum allowed; (5) a“c” variance for lot coverage of 77.43% when 60% is the maximum allowed; (6) a “c” variance for a 1 foot setback of an accessory structure from the property line when a 5 foot setback is required; (7) a “c” variance for an accessory use in the parking areas in the front and side yards which is not permitted; (8) a “c” variance for a five foot setback of an accessory structure and a parking area to a residential zone when a 10 foot setback is required; (9)a “c” variance for a six foot PVC privacy fence in a front yard which is not permitted; (10) a “c” variance for five signs when only one is permitted; (11) a “c” variance for a 1.6 foot projection of a fagade sign when | foot is the maximum projection allowed; and (12) a “c” ' The Applicant submitted several design changes to the requested buildings during the Application process, which changed several aspects of the “c” variances sought. The particulars of the variances that follow are the last reiteration presented by the Applicant, and those that were voted upon by the Board.

variance for a five foot setback of a monument sign from the property line when a 10 foot setback is required, all to build a mixed use apartment building, retail space and childcare center, and the Applicant having also requested a waiver of the filing of an Environmental Impact Statement and from sections 28 and 31 of the checklist requirements for Site Plan Approval; and WHEREAS, the Applicant presented proof that adequate Notice of the Hearing on the said Application was published in the West Orange Chronicle, one of the official newspapers of the Board; and WHEREAS, the Applicant submitted proof of service of the Hearing on the Application upon all property owners within two (200) hundred feet of the property; and WHEREAS, the Application was heard by the Board at hearings dated May 16, 2019, June 20, 2019, July 25, 2019, August 15, 2019 and September 18, 2019; and WHEREAS, the Applicant was represented by Robert C. Williams, Esq.; and WHEREAS, the Applicant presented testimony of Michael Lanzafama, a licensed Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor of the State of New Jersey, who was recognized by the Board as an expert in the fields of civil engineering and land surveying, Mr. Lanzafama testified about the engineering and site plan aspects of the Application including a height study of structures in the vicinity of the subject property, which showed a nursing home at 48.44 feet, the Codey Arena at 56 feet, the parking deck at the Codey Arena at 56,23 feet and the St. Cloud Elementary School at 410 feet, noting that the subject Application seeks a height variance for 62 feet 10 inches, he further testified about existing and proposed building coverage and impervious coverage, and the parking requirements and proposed parking that will be compliant with the Township Ordinance requirements,

that the setbacks of the proposed Application are less deviant from the Township Zoning Ordinance requirements than the present structure of the Turtle Back Inn but still require variances, he discussed turning ratios in the parking lot for fire and garbage truck access; Mr. Lanzafama was re-called to testify about the new site plan presented by the Applicant during the course of the proceedings that turned the day care center building to face towards Northfield, and also relocated the playground to the rear of the building, and the re-design of the apartment building reduces the appearance of the mass of building, which resulted in a an additional parking space, and then reviewed the Township Engineer’s comments letters dated April 1, 219 and September 13, 2019 and testified the Applicant will comply with all requests in the Design Comments and Plat Details (Section C) in the September 13, 2019 report of John Hess of Certified Municipal Engineers “CME”, the Township Consulting Engineers, with the exception of number 7, which request was withdrawn by the Township Engineer Mr. Hess; and WHEREAS, the Applicant presented testimony of Mark Pavey, 136 Cove Avenue, Golf Shores Alabama, a licensed Professional Architect of the State of New Jersey, who was recognized by the Board as such, Mr. Pavey testified his practice is emphasized in the area of childcare structures and that he has designed several such structures for Primrose Schools and Kindercare, Mr. Pavey presented the architectural plans for the childcare center which will contain 12 classrooms, comply with all State requirements for childcare centers, the building will include a warming kitchen, that the building is designed for a maximum occupancy student population of 194 students, which would call for 22-24 employees, and 2 administrative staff; and we

WHEREAS, the Applicant presented the testimony of Brian Conway, a licensed professional landscape architect of the State of New Jersey, who was recognized by the Board as such, Mr. Conway presented the lighting plan, with fixtures that will match the ones used across the street at the Turtle Back Zoo, the Applicant was then granted a design waiver for reduced lighting levels, Mr. Conway further testified about the landscaping plan, that the Applicant is adding landscaping to the riparian buffer of the Brook at the rear of the property, and will agree to clean up the area around the Brook of the current debris and litter, and that the Applicant will address all concerns addressed by Township Forrester, John Linson, to his satisfaction, as well as the Township Engineer Mr, Hess’ request for a shrub planting detail and a change from Green Vase Zeikova trees to a species on the West Orange approved species list, and indicated he will attempt to keep the corner landscaping as is; Mr. Conway further presented a shade study dated March 6, 2019, setting forth how adjoining properties will be impacted by sun and shade after the proposed project has been built, as measured at the summer and winter solstices; and WHEREAS, the Applicant presented the testimony of Laurence Appel, a licensed professional architect of the State of New Jersey, who was recognized by the Board as such, Mr. Appel presented the architectural plans for the apartment building, describing it as a luxury apartment building, he also presented the planned exterior materials, he further presented artist’s renderings of the buildings from several angles, which were done to scale imposed on photographs of the surrounding areas to demonstrate how the building will actually appear in its setting, he described the retail space at 1,900 square feet and that the building will have 70 apartment units, including 11 affordable units, 71 covered parking spaces, with a minimum of one assigned space per unit, and the additional surface parking,

he highlighted the outdoor and indoor amenity space for residents, that amenity space will only be for the use of the tenants and their guests and will not be available for rent by members of the public, he stated that the architectural details will appear on all four sides of the building, detailed the signage, discussed the den in some units, that without a door or a closet it is not intended to be used as a bedroom; Mr. Appel further testified about the new architectural plans modified during the hearing process that reduce the appearance of the building height by scaling back the upper story, and then detailed the changes that were made to the floor plans to accommodate this change which makes the building appear less tall, but while keeping the height the same; and WHEREAS, the Applicant presented testimony of Harold Maltz, a licensed Professional Engineer of the State of New Jersey with an emphasis in traffic engineering, who was recognized by the Board as an expert in the field of traffic engineering, he began his testimony by stating that despite the plan changes that had been presented during the course of the Application, the numbers and level of service set forth in his report of 11/5/18, with a revision date of 2/11/19 and his parking evaluation report of 2/12/19 remain applicable, he testified as to the adequacy of parking and about the traffic pattern for drop off of children to the day care center, and that he agrees with the design change to bar left hand turns out of the St. Cloud Avenue exit driveway; and WHEREAS, the Applicant presented the testimony of Phillip Abramson, a licensed Professional Planner of the State of New Jersey who was recognized by the Board as such, and Mr. Abramson outlined the Application from a planning prospective, noting that the location is ideal for this project because Northfield Avenue at that location is over 70 feet wide and is more like a state road than a county highway, that the availability of

the New York express busses across the street will allow dual income couples to live at the site with only one car; that the presence of Stagg field to the rear of the property adds an additional buffer to the single family homes, separated by the Rahway River and the other business on Northfield Avenue, such as a strip center, Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s and a gas station further remove this site from any single family residential homes; he further testified that he concurs with Mr. Grygiel’s assessment of the variance required as outlined in Mr. Grygiel’s report of September 16, 2019, he emphasized that all of the uses proposed are permitted in this B-2 zone, the only variance requested with a higher burden of proof is the d(6) height variance, that in his opinion the site can accommodate the height without negative impact to the surrounding area, and that with the top floor scaled back it will reduce the perception of the height and existing trees will also help the building blend, that all the “c” variance are “c(2)” variances that can be granted because the design presents a better planning alternative, that the project includes an inherently beneficial use in the daycare center and the benefit of affordable units in the apartment building, that he does not see any negative impact and that adequate proofs have been established that the benefits outweigh the detriments for the grant of the requested d(6) and the “c(2) variances and that the Applicant has met the negative criteria in that the project will have little or no impact on surrounding area and will not be substantially detriment to the public good or Zone Plan; and WHEREAS, the Applicant offered the following Exhibits: A-1 Site Plan, Sheet 2, revision date 2/15/19; A-2 Site plan, Sheet 4, revision date 2/15/19, colorized; A-3 Map of Building heights dated 2/15/19;

A-4 Fire truck turning analysis dated 2/15/19; A-S Garbage truck turning analysis dated 2/15/19; A-6 Drawing 5 of Landscape Plan, revision date 2/19/19; A-7 Shade study dated 12/15/19; A-8 Sheet A-4, Primrose School exterior elevations dated 11/15/18; A-9 Sheet A-1.4, Primrose School floor plans dated 11/15/18; A-10 Relocated Child care study 6/7/19; A-12 Material Board A-13 Artistic renderings (A-D); A-13-E Artistic Rendering; A-14 List of Projects completed by Harold Maltz, P.E.; A-18 Modified Site Plan dated A-19 8 pages of new architectural plans dated 9/4/19; A-20 Artist’s rendering, view F, dated 9/13/19; A-22 aerial photographs prepared by Mr. Abramson; WHEREAS, the Board considered the reports of Board Engineer, John Hess, PE, PP, CME, dated April 1, 2019, August 13, 2019 and September 13, 2019 and his testimony at the hearing on June 27, 2019 as well as the reports of Township Planner, Paul Grygiel dated March 6, 2019, August 12, 2019 and September 16, 2019. and his testimony at the hearing on June 27, 2019; and WHEREAS, the Board Members questioned the witnesses; and WHEREAS, the following persons questioned the Applicant’s witnesses:

Harvey Grossman, West Orange Public Advocate questioned Mr. Lanzafama about whether excavation would be needed for the parking garage and could the Applicant consider dropping the parking structure down into a basement area to reduce the overall height of the building, to which Mr. Lanzafama replied that same was not possible due to flood plain levels in the rear of the property; Sonia Cohenson, 322 St. Cloud Avenue, questioned Mr. Lanzafama; Charlotte Wescott, 346 St. Cloud Avenue, asked about the planned pedestrian route for children entering and exiting the day care center, as well as how many children will be enrolled and whether there will be parking spaces reserved for the vehicles of persons dropping off children at the daycare center, Ms. Wescott questioned Mr. Pavey about the capacity of the playground; Ms. Wescott asked why traffic counts were not done in the summer when the Turtle Back Zoo attendance is at its peak, to which Mr. Maltz replied that the Zoo hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. are outside the site’s peak traffic hours of 7:45 to 8:45 a.m. and 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., and that the daycare center is closed on the weekends when the Zoo has its highest number of visitors; Loren Svetivials, Prospect Avenue, asked about whether Stagg Field will be affected by shadows from the building: Robert Rashkes, asked Mr. Lanzafama how school busses will pick up and drop off the children that will live in the apartment building, and whether any air quality studies had been done; Mr. Rashkes asked Mr. Pavey about emergency lights in the childcare building; Mr. Rashkes questioned Mr, Conway about the location of the eleven trees that are being removed from the site and how shade from the proposed building will affect the Stagg field parking lot ; Mr. Rashkes asked Mr. Appel to describe the roof top amenities; Mr. Rashkes

questioned Mr, Maltz about Mr. Maltz’s opinion that the availability of the Park and Ride across the street will impact the car usage of the tenants and where will guests for any tenant parties park; Mr. Rashkes asked Mr. Appel if the new design presented by the Applicant would change the shade data and was told by Mr. Appel that it will not; Claire Silvestri, 20 Grandview Avenue, asked if any studies had been done to predict how many children will live at the new apartment building, and whether the garage parking will be assigned; Ms. Silvestri also asked Mr. Maltz to consider that the left turn from St. Cloud Avenue and in the side driveway from Northfield Avenue eastbound may be the most popular entrance to the site, to which Mr. Maltz replied that will not be a problem as there is room for three cars to queue on Northfield to make that turn; Soma Sinha, Schissel Court, questioned Mr. Pavey; Joel Goldstein, 299 St. Cloud Avenue asked Mr. Conway asked if the playground would be lighted, to which Mr. Conway responded that it would not; Mr. Goldstein asked Mr, Conway about the projected height of the new tree plantings on Northfield Avenue, to which Mr. Conway replied that the will grow to thirty to forty feet in height; Mr, Goldstein asked Mr. Appel asked about the location of the HVAC units, and whether units will all have washers and dryers, to which Mr. Appel responded in the affirmative; Mr. Goldstein questioned Mr. Maltz about adequate parking for tenant guests, asked him if had he considered the impact of the school busses at St. Cloud and cars dropping off children at St. Cloud school, to which Maltz replied there will be no impact because vehicles leaving the Applicant's location will not be able to turn left onto St. Cloud Avenue, and further questioned Mr. Maltz on how the parking will accommodate all of the staff and drop-offs at the daycare center; Mr. Goldstein further requested that Mr. Maltz recommend that there