Supporting Documentation · Jan 28, 2026
11 10 25 WO PB Draft Minutes
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Show all pages5 professional opinion, whether the fourth-round proposals reflect both sound planning and take into account the environmental impact of those proposals. Ms. Gruel said yes. - Paul Trachtenberg (96 Sullivan Drive, West Orange) asked Ms. Gruel if she considered, in preparing the fourth-round plan, that the hotly contested West Essex Highlands development from the third round might not be approved or built in a timely way, which would mean 100 additional, affordable housing units. Ms. Gruel said she will not answer that. That is in front of the planning board as a site plan application - Paul Trachtenberg (96 Sullivan Drive, West Orange) said that highlights one of his concerns, which is the jurisdictional lines that are being drawn. He appreciated the township engineer's cogent and honest report, but it does raise his concern, as he understood the report, she indicated that there are problems with stormwater, sewage, potable water, utilities, traffic, and with schools. Mr. Trachtenberg hopes that somebody in the municipality will substantially address all those concerns before we proceed with developing. - Sally Malenga (Ridge Road) spoke in opposition due to it not reaching their goals, as this is a luxury apartment plan with a small number of affordable housing units. She also states it violates the intent of our master plan, which clearly recognizes that not every available forest is a building site. She also adds that this proposal ignores key planning and engineering fundamentals, site suitability, flood mitigation, traffic capacity, and school enrollment. - Ann Studholm, Esq (Post Pollock in Roseland) , their group represents Pedro Gomez, and he is here with his partners, Tony Marcuris and Laz Vastardos, who are from the family that owned the Essex House restaurant for decades. They own the site at 525 Northfield Avenue. As to, proposing it as an affordable housing mechanism, it's in the B2 zone. The B2 zone and its conditional mixed use does not have a limit on how many units of housing would be there. The units were reduced from 115 to 105, and now it's shown as a mechanism in the plan for 60 units. Ms. Studholm requests that the plan be amended, because otherwise they are down-zoning a site that can yield a lot more affordable credit. Ms. Studholm asked her client the following questions: o What was the interaction with the 115-unit plan that went
se otherwise they are down-zoning a site that can yield a lot more affordable credit. Ms. Studholm asked her client the following questions: o What was the interaction with the 115-unit plan that went down to 105? Mr. Gomez answered that they met with the town over the course of 6-7 months. Originally, they wanted to build a project that was a lot higher, and they were told that that was unlikely to happen. They started closer to 150 units and then it kept coming down. They had no amenities, they added over 10,000 square feet of amenities, now they have 2 courtyards, and they have a 2,000 square foot co-working space. o In the 105-unit plan, how many actual units of affordable housing would generate? Mr. Gomez answered currently, it would generate 21 units and 84 market rate units. - Ann Studholm added they’re concerned that if this plan gets adopted tonight, it will be, in effect, a downzoning of an affordable housing mechanism. - Mr. Gomez added that they were compliant with the requests and took the time and invested that time to please the residents of West Orange. - Jacqueline Endy (6 Beverly Road) spoke in opposition stating she rejects that this is a fair share plan. She says she doesn’t understand how they're getting 1,000 new apartments, and only getting 158 affordable. - Jennifer Arorio (Bellevue Terrace) said she reviewed the plan and recently had the privilege of walking through the community with one of its residents. During the
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- Sep 29, 2026
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