No Decision Made To Demolish Westfield 'Watcher' Home

WESTFIELD, NJ — No decision was made last night on whether to approve the application to demolish the Westfield home stalked by “the Watcher."

The meeting went on for three hours with testimony from engineers, planners, attorneys and the public before Westfield Planning officials decided to end it and continue the rest of the meeting on Dec. 5.

The decision to end the meeting at around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 7 came after the board took a short break and learned there was still about another two hours of comments to be heard.

The owners of the Westfield home at 657 Boulevard filed an applicant seeking approval to subdivide the property into two lots, remove the existing dwelling, and construct two new homes.

As part of the application, the owners are also seeking variances for land use ordinances:

• 11.07E2 – Ordinance requires a minimum lot width of 70 feet. Proposed is 67.40 feet and 67.60 feet.
• 11.07E2 – Ordinance requires a minimum lot area of 10,000 square feet within 143 feet of the front property line. Proposed is 9,638 square feet and 9,667 square feet.
• 11.07E3 – Ordinance requires a minimum lot frontage of 70 feet. Proposed is 67.40 feet and 67.60 feet.

The owners — who purchased the $1.3 million “dream home” in Westfield in June 2014 — have been in a legal battle with the current owners after they started receiving disturbing letters from a stalker who identified himself as “The Watcher."

Local neighboring residents spoke out against the plan on a number of topics including the removal of trees, creating a front-facing garage and cutting a large property into two smaller ones.

The proposed application proposes removing four trees which line the street to make way for two driveways for the newly constructed homes.

The plan also calls for a front-facing garage and to cut the roughly 20,000 sq. ft. property to two 10,000 sq. ft. pieces.

However, after much push back on the trees and garage, James First, the attorney representing the applicant said those items were not set in stone and could be altered.

Residents and Councilman Sam Della Ferra challenged the applicant's planner John McDonough's assessment and justification to split the property.

McDonough claimed that looking at homes nearby, the applicant's proposed plan would make the property fit better in with the character of the community. He pointed to several lots and homes with similar square footage to the ones proposed.

However, Della Ferra and residents noted that the homes being compared were either in different neighborhoods or streets and weren't an accurate comparison.

Additionally Della Ferra pointed out the number of "oversized lots" nearby which accounted for nine.

"The oversized lots are the rule rather than exception on this block," Della Ferra said at the meeting," Della Ferra said at the meeting.

McDonough returned a comment stating what the applicant is proposing is within the town's compliance rules.

"You can have a complying lot that is out of character with the neighborhood, that’s my opinion," Della Ferra said.

The next meeting will be held on Dec. 5 where a resident is having a planner make a presentation on the neighbors behalf against the proposal. The presentation is estimated to take one hour.

Followed by that there will be questions and then open comment for residents to speak their opinions about the project.

(Photos by Alexis Tarrazi)

Photo 1 - Robert Simon on behalf of Ms. Catherine Cronin-North speaks to the applicant's civil engineer Robert Gazzale during the meeting. Simon sent in a letter to the board objecting the application.

Photo 2 - The proposed plan for the property.

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

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