Attorney Bruce I. Afran, with his back to the camera, questions Samuel Kleinberg, a consulting engineer, about the proposed West Essex Highlands development at the Dec. 17 West Orange Planning Board meeting.
WEST ORANGE — The West Orange Planning Board held its final meeting of 2025 on the West Essex Highlands project last week.
A large portion of the meeting was taken up by attorney Bruce I. Afran, who is representing We Care NJ, a group opposing the development, questioning Samuel Kleinberg, a consulting municipal engineer who analyzed the site.
The meeting was focused solely on Kleinberg and his testimony and when people veered off topic they were redirected and reminded that open public comment on the project will be available at a meeting in the new year. The next meeting is Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. but it’s not clear if public comment will begin at that meeting as it can only begin when expert testimony is concluded.
The developer, Garden Homes, a subsidiary of the Wilf family, already owns the wooded tract of land and has been granted initial approval for the project. Zygi Wilf is the owner of the National Football League team, the Minnesota Vikings.
The proposal has faced public opposition from the local community for years, raising environmental, safety, and community connectivity concerns. The community group, We Care NJ, which stands for West Essex Committee Against Rezoning Excesses, was formed in 2000 and carried the fight against this development through a 7-2 victory before the West Orange Planning Board in 2006 and onward.
The project calls for clearing about 30 acres of land for a 496-unit residential development, including 100 affordable housing units. The site and its location on a hill with existing private homes below it was the focus of Kleinberg’s testimony last week.
More than a dozen residents asked questions with many inquiring about the possibility of landslide, rockslide or flooding following the clearing of the land.
Kleinberg said in his opinion it is unlikely that it would happen. He also said he thought it unlikely that the removal of 6,000 trees would have an impact on people living below the site.
“The analysis shows that it’s not likely, that’s the best I can do,” Kleinberg said
In response to a question about whether he would feel safe living below, Kleinberg said he would.
Kleinberg said a flood, landslide or rockslide is unlikely but if it did happen it would be localized to an area of 100 feet or so.
The plan’s impact on the northeastern edge of the site has an Army Corps of Engineers safety factor rating of 1.5, which means the structure is designed to withstand 1.5 times the expected maximum load before failure. A factor of safety of 1.5 or greater is required for slopes or walls that support buildings, abutments, or critical utilities with a low tolerance for failure.
One resident asked why the site could not be engineered to a safety factor of 2.0.
Kleinberg said he did not believe a factor of 2 is warranted and that level of “overengineering” is generally not done because of the expense associated with it.
“If you design everything to the higher standard and its not affordable, it becomes a problem,” he said.
A Howell Drive resident asked if there was any suggestion of building a buffer below the project but Kleinberg says there is no plan to do that.
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