West Essex Highlands residents still oppose development

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Residents from the West Essex Highlands condominium and the surrounding communities made it clear to representatives of Garden Homes Inc. during a Feb. 9 community meeting at West Orange High School that they have major concerns regarding the 105 single-family houses Garden Homes proposes to build on the 120.5-acre parcel of land it owns behind the development.

The concept plan discussed at the meeting has not been approved by the township yet. It must still go before the West Orange Planning Board; construction can only begin after the Planning Board approves it.

Residents of the condo, Essex Fells and Verona asked questions and expressed worries to Garden Homes Director of Development Mark Hoffman and attorney Ron Shanowitz, that building the development behind West Essex Highlands will negatively impact the complex and nearby communities both during and after construction. Particularly distressing to them were Garden Homes’ plans concerning construction vehicles and blasting for the project, which they said present safety and nuisance issues.

Community members were not afraid to let Hoffman know their dissatisfaction when he appeared to them vague and too reliant on previous discussions Garden Homes had with the West Essex Highlands condo association back in 2005. That was when the developer’s initial application to build was before the West Orange Planning Board; that application called for 136 homes and was rejected 5-2, eventually leading to litigation and settlement discussions that allowed the property owner to start over with the current 105-house proposal.

“The answers that everybody is getting now are just deflecting,” Highlands resident David Lipsic said, garnering applause from the audience. “Everybody’s asking what measures are you going to put in place to make people feel comfortable and get them on your side and say ‘OK, we realize it’s going to happen’ and not put up a fight. But you’re not answering the question that everybody’s asking.”

Hoffman said there was not enough time to go into detail about all Garden Homes plans to do regarding construction. But he did explain that it will work with a condo association representative to ensure that residents are given adequate notice of exactly when blasting will take place. A berm, or raised strip of land, with trees will also be constructed to create a visual barrier between the Highlands and the construction site, he said. In the event that blasting or construction damages a resident’s property, he said the association representative should alert Garden Homes about it so the owner can remedy the situation.

Overall, Hoffman said his company’s goal is to make sure that no resident is inconvenienced.

“Anything would be done so that we could make the construction process have as little of an impact on the standard of living and an impact on your enjoying your current state of affairs because it would be good for us too,” Hoffman said.

He also said Garden Homes does not anticipate any damage as a result of blasting or construction. But in case something does happen, he said it will file bonds with the township to protect adjacent property owners. He would also be willing to discuss how else to make owners feel comfortable, he said.

Still, resident Kevin Mailman was concerned about the potential for the blasting or construction causing harm, asking Hoffman what measures would be in place to prevent anything from going astray.

“To tell you the truth, I’d rather suffer through an eyesore with poles and nets for a little while to make sure my home is protected than have a huge rock crash through my daughter’s bedroom,” Mailman said.

According to Hoffman, the project will entail subsurface blasting, which means residents will likely only feel a vibration and a muffled rumble. They will not have to deal with loud explosions and lots of falling rocks as seen in the movies, he said. At the same time though, he said Garden Homes will be happy to engage in blasting surveys for houses close to where the blasting will occur to be sure the homes look the same after the blasting as they did before.

Aside from safety issues, residents expressed worry about the nuisance of all the construction vehicles driving through the Highlands to access the parcel of land behind it. Garden Homes had previously reached agreements with Essex Fells and Verona that would prevent any access to the potential development through their own roads. Hoffman confirmed that the vehicles would be accessing the area through Warner Road since it is the largest street. They will not, however, be driving through every day; he explained that some of the vehicles and machines will simply stay onsite for the duration of the work instead of leaving and returning on a daily basis. And delivery schedules for supplies like lumber can be provided to residents, he said.

Hoffman said the onsite work involving blasting and use of large machine will take place for approximately 18 months. But the amount of time it will take to build all 105 homes is harder to say, he said, because that will depend on the housing market. He estimated that a project of this size will probably take from three to 10 years to complete, a time frame that shocked some community members.

Construction was not the only issue the community wanted to know about. Resident Karen Feinblatt asked how many trees would be removed for the project, to which Hoffman said he did not know. Garden Homes’ previous Planning Board application said it would eliminate thousands of trees to make room for the new houses. He did say that adding and restoring trees would be a priority of his company once construction starts.

“Not only is it good from an environmental perspective, it’s just good business,” Hoffman said. “People like to have trees. So any tree we can preserve that can survive the process of construction, we hope (to save). Any areas where there are opportunities to plant new trees once a home is built increase the salability of the house and make the job look nicer. Again, it’s a win-win.”

Having trees also prevents flooding since, according to North Carolina State University, trees can absorb up to 100 gallons of water a day. And because many trees will undoubtedly have to be cleared to make room for the housing, residents are also worried that water will run off from the property’s steep slope, flooding the houses below.

However Hoffman said flooding should not be a problem because Garden Homes has hired engineers to design a system that will increase the adequate drainage capacity of the property.

Even with these assurances, one group of residents made it clear that they hope the parcel of land behind the Highlands is never developed. Members of the West Essex Committee Against Rezoning Excess — or WE CARE, a group largely consisting of Highlands residents that formed in opposition to Garden Homes’ initial Planning Board application — said they believe the land should be kept undeveloped both to conserve the nature present and ensure that West Orange has sufficient open space.

A 2005 Sierra Club resolution advocating for the property’s preservation stated that it was a habitat for various migratory birds in addition to being within range of the endangered Indiana bat, while the township’s 2010 Open Space and Recreation Plan Update identified only 316 acres of unused land, including the parcel.

The WE CARE members who spoke at the meeting said they are working with conservancies with a goal of making an offer to purchase the property from Garden Homes so that the land can remain untouched. WE CARE co-founder Paul Tractenberg urged Hoffman to consider selling for everyone’s benefit.

“The obvious win-win solution to this issue, which has been festering for a lot of years, is to preserve this property as open space and to provide a fair price to the developer for his property,” Tractenberg said. He theorized that the back parcel of land must be difficult for Garden Homes to build on, considering the owner waited four decades after buying the land to develop it, and is doing so only after making the front parcel into the Highlands. According to Tractenberg, common sense dictates that the back parcel should have been developed first.

Hoffman responded that the township would have to do a valuation of the property before Garden Homes could consider any offer. In 2010, two appraisals commissioned by West Orange valued the property in the $15 million range, though the value may have changed during the succeeding years.

Tractenberg also asked why Garden Homes was not abiding by the agreement it signed with WE CARE years ago, part of which mandated that there would be no access to the property through Kuzik Drive or Bayowski Road — something not reflected in the property owner’s current concept plan for the development. Shanowitz said he would look at the agreement again but could not comment on whether it will be enforced.

With WE CARE’s agreement seemingly up in the air and the land on its way to being developed, many residents are worried that the influx of vehicles that will have to drive through the Highlands to access the houses behind it will overrun their streets with traffic and put pedestrians in danger. The West Orange police and fire departments also expressed this concern during the Planning Board process for Garden Homes’ first proposal, with the WOPD pointing out that the traffic increase would be too much for the area and the WOFD arguing that emergency vehicles would have a difficult time getting through.

This concern led Mailman to ask what safety measures would be implemented to mitigate the potential for traffic accidents. Hoffman said speed bumps would be used in addition to landscaping and signage to create an “orderly flow of traffic.” He added that a second development behind the Highlands has always been planned, so the Highlands’ roads were designed to allow for multiple vehicles to drive through the area.

In general, Hoffman said he understands why Highlands residents are upset over the possibility of having new neighbors. Residents near Eagle Rock Avenue worried about the perceived consequences of building the Highlands years ago, he recalled and yet, decades later, no major issues have arisen, he said. And while he acknowledged that there will be unavoidable changes — including an increase in traffic — Hoffman predicted that they will not be problems. “There isn’t going to be any significant modifications to the standard of living,” he said.