West Orange board carries 470 Eagle Rock restaurant/drive‑through plan, orders licensed tree expert report

The West Orange Zoning Board carried MPB Realty’s application for 470 Eagle Rock Avenue to its April 16 meeting and ordered a written report from a New Jersey‑licensed tree expert by April 6 to address outstanding forestry comments.

Counsel for the applicant, Benjamin Wine, recalled civil engineer Matthew Birch to present revisions to a March 6 landscape and demolition resubmission. Birch said the resubmittal clarified tree removal and replacement calculations, updated a tree‑protection fence detail and adjusted some proposed species to address the township forester’s review. He told the board the applicant’s current calculations call for 49 replacement trees under the ordinance and that the plan proposes 64 replacement trees.

“By our calculations we are required to have 49 trees. We’re actually proposing 64 replacement trees,” Birch said on the record. Birch also confirmed the resubmission reduced impervious coverage from 80.9% to 75% (approximately a 2,700 sq. ft. reduction) but that the site remains non‑conforming on coverage.

Planner Mallory Clark (sworn and licensed) explained the application includes a D‑3 conditional‑use component because the proposed Popeyes operation is defined as a fast‑food use under the ordinance. Clark said four numeric D‑3 criteria are not met — distance to other fast‑food uses, distance to a residential district boundary, a frontage shortfall on Rosney Terrace and the distance from the existing driveway to the intersection — but argued the site design, dual curb cuts, queuing capacity and comparisons with similar West Orange sites mitigate potential detriments.

Clark also told the board that “the drive through window is not associated with that specific variance relief. It’s just the fact that the Popeyes operation is defined within your ordinance as a fast‑food use,” a distinction she said affects the legal proof the board must consider.

Board members and the public asked detailed questions about tree retention, species, parking calculations and whether 25 of the 48 proposed parking stalls would require front‑yard relief. The board’s forester memo of March 18 (cited during the hearing) included a standing request that a New Jersey state‑licensed tree expert prepare a written inventory and health assessment specifying DBH and location for replacement calculations; the board directed that report be submitted no later than April 6.

Chairperson Neuer announced the application will be carried to the board’s April 16 meeting with notice preserved and that the applicant waived any statutory deadline until April 17. No final board decision was reached at the March hearing. The board will consider the tree expert’s report along with the outstanding technical comments at the next session.