2026 03 06 Justifications Memo_470 Eagle Rock AvenueWORev4

JUSTIFICATIONS OF VARIANCES DR Project no.:12210-001 PROPOSED MIXED COMMERICAL DEVELOPMENT Rev. March 06, 2026 470 EAGLE ROCK AVENUE (BLOCK 153, LOT 38) TOWNSHIP OF WEST ORANGE, ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY Page 5 of 15 with drive-thru functions may accumulate and result in collective negative impacts along the corridor as a whole. While there are other restaurants that meet the Town’s definition of fast-food within 500 feet of the subject property, neither of the noted uses have a drive-thru function and both are consolidated within one larger strip-mall property that is significantly set back from the right-of-way and has multiple access driveways along multiple corridors, therefore mitigating potential traffic implications that may arise from the proposed fast-food use. The project site is located a sufficient distance (approximately 386 feet) from the existing establishments and provides driveway access from the opposite side of the corridor, therefore no substantially negative impacts to overall corridor circulation are anticipated. Additionally, there are no other existing drive-thru uses within 1,000 feet of the site. • Similarly, Condition 3 in the ordinance establishes a buffer between fast-food uses and residential zones in what is likely an effort to mitigate impacts of a higher-volume use on a nearby low-density residential zone. While the proposed project abuts a residential zone and use to the south and west (across Rosney Terrace), the project does not provide any curb cuts or access points on the Rosney Terrace right-of-way in order to maintain efficient and lower traffic volumes on the residential street. Additionally, the queuing for the proposed drive-thru is set back from the rear property line by approximately 24.33 to 28.67 feet and is buffered from the rear property line by landscape screening and a bypass lane so that temporarily idling cars do not result in an increase in noise or light pollution to the neighboring properties. Where the adjacent single family structure is located on Lot 1 to the south, the revised landscape buffer has been increased to 17.17 feet at the rear property line. • The project partially satisfies Condition 4 in that it greatly exceeds the minimum lot area requirement and meets (and exceeds) the 200-foot frontage requirement along Eagle Rock Avenue. However, the subject property does not provide 200 feet of

n that it greatly exceeds the minimum lot area requirement and meets (and exceeds) the 200-foot frontage requirement along Eagle Rock Avenue. However, the subject property does not provide 200 feet of frontage along the Rosney Terrace right-of-way, where the current lot has 182.41 feet of frontage. Again, the intent of this requirement is likely to ensure frontages for this use can accommodate the necessary curb-cuts for a fast-food operation without creating detrimental impacts on traffic flows and circulation patterns. The total lot frontage between both streets is in excess of 400 feet (the combined frontage requirement for 2 rights-of-way), where the existing total is 405.86 feet between the two rights-of-way. Additionally, as there are no curb-cuts proposed on the deficient frontage along Rosney Terrace, the project does not create negative impacts on traffic flows for this street and therefore the intent of the requirement is preserved through the proposed site design.