Dear Neighbors,
This Wednesday, September 10 at 6:30 PM in Town Council Chambers, the Planning Board will present the Mayor’s long-overdue affordable housing plan. This may be your only chance to speak out before the Planning Board votes to adopt it into West Orange’s Master Plan.
Make no mistake: The Mayor’s plan is developer-driven and will radically change West Orange—crowding our schools, increasing flood risks, and clogging our roads. Developers are ready to move in, and zoning changes are on the table—unless you, our residents, act now.
The plan targets Pleasant Valley Way, ignoring the need for more balanced development across underused commercial areas or adaptive reuse of vacant buildings. It threatens our suburban lifestyle with high-density projects, environmental damage, and overwhelmed infrastructure.
No one is against affordable housing, but this plan, pushed by the state’s Mount Laurel Doctrine, prioritizes developer profits over community needs.
Proposed developments on Pleasant Valley Way will:
Destroy hundreds of trees, worsening flooding and further depleting the tree canopy
Cause severe traffic congestion
Build on risky steep slopes and near sensitive wetlands
Strain our sewage systems and schools
Some key developments include:
1155 Pleasant Valley Way: (Daughters of Israel) 413 units, 67 affordable
762 Pleasant Valley Way: (Right of 280 7A) 79 units, 12 affordable
350 Pleasant Valley Way: (Behind Wilshire Grand) 335 units, 51 affordable
103 Pleasant Valley Way: (Behind Greenhill Retirement) 195 units, 30 affordable
Additionally, another 142-unit project at 200 Pleasant Valley Way (behind Brighton Gardens), located on a toxic site, has already been approved.
In total, 1,217 new units on Pleasant Valley Way alone will be built resulting in only 190 affordable units.
And this is just the beginning. The Mayor’s plan cements the decimation of the West Essex Highlands with plans for nearly 500 more units to be built on a steep slope, with only one road in and out for emergency vehicles. Mayfair Farms is now suing to put up high density housing and developers at 555 Northfield (the old Essex House) seek 60 additional units, only 11 affordable. A field day for profit-hungry developers and a day of ruination for West Orange.
Here are some RUDINmentary (!) questions I have:
How does this plan balance affordable housing with preserving West Orange’s quality of life in terms of traffic, sewage increase, flooding and sprawl?
What is the exact breakdown of affordable vs. market-rate units, and can we prioritize more affordable housing?
Why is the Mayor’s plan focused primarily on development along Pleasant Valley Way rather than spreading affordable housing throughout underutilized commercial areas or adapting vacant buildings?
How will the addition of 1,217 new units on Pleasant Valley Way affect local traffic, and what plans are in place to mitigate congestion?
How does the Planning Board justify the zoning changes that will allow developers to build at such high densities, especially given the risks to the community’s infrastructure and environment?
How will the plan address the strain on local schools? Has any study been done?
This is a crisis caused by the Mayor’s delays and failure to plan responsibly. We need a more thoughtful, community-driven approach—one that prioritizes residents.
Your voice matters. If you don’t speak up now, this plan will bulldoze the West Orange we know, all for developer’s profit. Questions or comments can only be presented in person- not via Zoom.
Attend the hearing. Speak out. You are our best line of defense.
More soon,
Joyce Rudin
Councilwoman, West Orange
Your Advocate on the Council
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