For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jackie Greger, Jackie.Greger@sierraclub.org
Finally, West Orange Accepts Comment on Billionaire’s Harmful WEHI Proposal
Public and Municipal Opposition to WEHI on full display
West Orange, NJ – Last night, the West Orange Planning Board finally heard public comment on the proposed 496-unit residential development known as West Essex Highlands Inc. (WEHI) on the Second Watchung Mountain Ridge.
After over a year of public meetings, multiple misleading statements about opportunities for comment with delays and cancellations, and overall hesitation to provide this opportunity, this was the first meeting dedicated to hearing from constituents.
At least 100 residents, environmental advocates, community members, and municipal leaders showed up to voice their strong opposition to the project, including Chief Vincent Mann, Turtle Clan Chief of the Ramapough Lenape Nation in New Jersey, Environmental Justice Director of Climate Revolution Action Network, ImaniNia Burton, members from SOMA Action, Deputy Mayor of Verona Jack MacEvoy, and Maegan Kuhlmann, Organizer for NJ Sierra Club.
This development encompasses 4 buildings that would include 100 affordable housing units and the clearing of about 30 acres of undeveloped core, old-growth forest. The site, one of the last remaining forested areas in Essex County, is home to the Canoe Brook headwaters and critical wetlands.
The developer, Garden Homes, a subsidiary of the billionaire Wilf family, already owns the land and has been granted initial approval for development on the 120-acre forested area. Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf are better-known as the owner and President of the NFL Team the Minnesota Vikings, respectively.
This project has earned serious community pushback due to the environmental health and community safety concerns it presents. Development on the site has been opposed for decades. Since 2000, residents and community members have spoken out and organized against development on this site. Following the 2006 defeat of a development proposal which would have constructed 136 homes on the site, the community group WECARE NJ has grown into a broader organization representative of the unified community voice urging the denial of the project.
In addition to strong community opposition, this development has drawn concerns from neighboring municipalities. In late 2024, the Verona Town Council passed a resolution requesting that the West Orange Planning Board deny the application. In the months since, similar resolutions have been passed by the Environmental Commissions of Essex County, Caldwell, South Orange, West Orange, Verona, Montclair, Livingston and Millburn.
In September, 39 statewide environmental organizations including NJ Sierra Club, environmental commissions, and town councils of neighboring communities submitted a letter to the West Orange Planning Board urging them to deny the application.
The West Orange Township Planning Board will hold another special meeting concerning the development on February 11th at 6:30 PM.
Maegan Kuhlmann, NJ Sierra Club Organizer, issued the following statement:
“It is irresponsible and entirely inappropriate to threaten public safety and environmental health to fulfill a billionaire’s desire to develop. When constructed with smart growth principles, affordable housing can achieve greater equity and affordability in NJ. This project is the opposite of smart growth, as it threatens public safety and the environment. This development will bulldoze 30 acres of core forest in Essex County and threaten public safety at a time when climate change is already exacerbating natural disasters across NJ.
The environmental and topographical features of the property, including crucial wetlands, undisturbed forest, about 40 acres of steep slopes, and the Canoe Brook headwaters, make it fundamentally unsuitable for development. These features provide critical flood-control environmental services that protect residents downhill, and building affordable housing at this location positions already vulnerable residents in harm’s way. Further, the limited entrance and exit points to the proposed development pose a significant public safety concern and threaten emergency services' ability to perform lifesaving work.
The developer has not provided complete water or sewer connection plans, and their provided stormwater and slope stability plans have been thoroughly called into question upon peer review. Expert testimony, and the Townships of Verona and Essex Fells have called into question the completeness of the proposed plan, making the consideration for approval of this development an outrageous and irresponsible move by the planning board.
On top of this, the board has made public comment virtually impossible by delaying and cancelling past opportunities.
Should this development go ahead as planned, it will undoubtedly result in more extreme flooding events and further burden the residents of West Orange, Essex Fells, Verona, and beyond who have voiced their strong opposition to this project from the beginning.
The West Essex Highlands development is simply a bad and dangerous idea, and we urge the West Orange Planning Board to deny this application.”
###
About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information about our work in New Jersey, visit www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey