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Council and experts say traffic and setbacks will be addressed in later studies; traffic engineer finds 'latent capacity'
Summary
Tenafly's traffic engineer told council the downtown signal improvements have improved intersection levels of service and that the Clinton Inn project would likely add fewer than 300 peak‑hour trips; the council discussed split setbacks and stormwater mitigation to reduce perceived height and neighborhood impacts.
John Jars, the borough’s traffic engineer, told the council that recent signal timing work has improved downtown circulation and that he expects the Clinton Inn redevelopment to generate fewer than 300 trips in the worst peak hour at East Clinton and Dean — roughly 7% of current peak‑hour volume at that intersection. He said detailed traffic impacts and mitigation measures will be studied at the planning‑board site‑plan stage and during county review.
Council members pressed the redevelopment planner and borough engineers on setbacks and stormwater, asking whether the council can require larger setbacks for the residential portion while allowing the hotel to sit closer to the road. Planner David Burgess said an overlay redevelopment plan can establish different heights, setbacks and uses for separate components and that the council can negotiate those terms in the redevelopment agreement. The council discussed increasing minimum setbacks, landscaping buffers along East Clinton and design requirements for underground parking and drainage to reduce flooding risk.
Both the planner and traffic engineer emphasized that approval of the redevelopment‑plan amendment does not authorize site construction; rather, detailed engineering, county approvals and conditional planning‑board approvals will be required before permits are issued.
