Westwood Planning Board Continues Discussion of Master Plan Revisions

Westwood Planning Board members continued their discussions of the ongoing process of revising the borough’s master plan at a meeting last week.

Borough Planner Ed Snieckus began by stating that, as per the direction of the board, the meeting would not touch on the . This meeting would cover the adjoining zones – the HSO (Hospital Service Office), RW (Retail Warehouse) and LM (Light Manufacturing) zones.

Snieckus went over the existing usage of these zones. Figures for use in the 30-acre HSO zone include 28 percent hospital service and offices, 23.5 percent warehousing, 12.5 percent for the facility, 10.5 percent or so vacant land as visually observed and the rest divided up among commercial, mixed automotive and less than 1 percent residential.

The RW zone, he continued, includes 12 acres of quasi-public use, including the community swim club, plus 26 percent warehouse usage, 8 percent for contractor yards, 5 percent automotive use and the rest other mixed usages.

Next Snieckus addressed the LM, or light manufacturing zone. The 66.5-acre zone includes 70 percent warehousing and the old Teledyne facility takes up an entire 9 percent. The rest is split between offices, industrial and commercial use. 

The board took up review of the planner’s notes, and a discussion ensued about the already existent mixed use in several of the zones, and how to go forward with possibly more mixed use zones. Discussion also went on about allowing more hospital related uses in these zones, to accommodate the possible Hackensack University Medical Center North addition at the former Pascack Valley Hospital site.

The next Planning Board public session is scheduled for July 28, where board members are expected to review recommendations for promoting sustainability with the Master Plan.