Westwood Planning Board Approves Daycare Application

Members of the Westwood Planning Board unanimously approved the application for a daycare center along Kinderkamack Road in the borough Thursday night.

Engineer Bahman Izadmehr came before the board to provide information from a traffic study he performed on the intersection of Kinderkamack Road and Green Avenue on behalf of applicant Greentree Developers, LLC, which members of the board had requested at a previous meeting.

Izadmehr said he conducted the study Tuesday, April 26 during peak hours in the morning and evening, from 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. According to his results, there were roughly 500 cars traveling northbound on Kinderkamack Road and 600 going southbound during the morning rush. In the afternoon, he said traffic was heavier, with 730 vehicles traveling north and 740 going south.

At the time of the traffic study, Izadmehr said he found nine cars coming to the Green Avenue and Kinderkamack Road intersection in the morning and eight in the evening. There are 44 apartment units on Green Avenue.

The proposed daycare center will be located at that intersection and board members were concerned that the increased number of vehicles associated with the business would negatively impact traffic. But Izadmehr said the impact wouldn't be great.

He admitted that there would be more cars making a turn from Green Avenue onto Kinderkamack Road but said the level of service would remain the same. He estimated that in the morning, 30 cars would be making a left turn onto Kinderkamack Road from Green Avenue while 34 would be turning right, which makes a total of 64 cars approaching the intersection instead of the nine found in the traffic study. In the evening, Izadmehr predicted 29 cars would turn left and 44 would turn right, totaling 73 instead of the eight in the traffic study.

But Izadmehr said the additional cars wouldn't have a major impact. "The only degradation that we would experience assuming everybody leaves at the same time during peak hours will be adding 5.2 seconds of delay that they have to wait additionally on average to make a left turn," he said.

Izadmehr explained that the level of service at the intersection would remain the same. Under current conditions, the intersection is rated a D for eastbound traffic making a left in the afternoon because cars wait 27 seconds on average to make the turn. Since the range for a D rating is between 20 and 40 seconds, he said adding an additional 5.2 seconds, which is the worst case scenario, wouldn't change the classification.

In reviewing other elements of the site plan, board members suggested that the applicant move the garbage receptacle to a different location on the site to reduce the impact on residents living in the apartments on Green Avenue. Borough Planner Ed Snieckus also pointed out that the trees by the parking lot would probably need to be removed with others planted in their place elsewhere in the area because of possible damage to the root systems and the sight lines for motorists.

Board members also wanted the applicant to use gravel underneath the playground instead of asphalt to allow more pervious coverage on the site. Board member William Martin said gravel would allow the water to seep through into the ground helping with drainage. Mayor John Birkner Jr. agreed, saying that board members need to consider the amount of impervious coverage on all new developments because drainage is a big issue, especially considering the flooding that can occur in the borough.

Attorney Nancy Saccente said that the applicant was bringing the impervious coverage on the site from 100 percent to 82 percent, but understood the point.

Board members unanimously approved the application with the set conditions Thursday. Now the Greentree Developers needs to submit a revised site plan to the board. After that is deemed complete and correct, board members will vote to memorialize the resolution.

Planning Board officials said it was unlikely that the final vote will take place at the May 12 meeting and would likely occur at the May 26 meeting.