MONTVALE—Mayor Michael Ghassali tells Pascack Press that the borough hopes soon to take possession of the 28.4-acre parcel at 127 Summit Ave. for approximately $4.5 million. The borough plans to use the property mostly for passive recreation options.
The only potential holdup was whether a due diligence report on the site turns out to suggest “potential or existing environmental liabilities associated with the presence or discharge of hazardous substances and petroleum.”
Borough attorney Joseph Voytus told Pascack Press that the report, due the week of Oct. 23, would be reviewed in closed session. If the report looks good, closing would occur within the next two weeks of that date.
We requested a copy of the CED report but it had not arrived by press time, Oct. 27. It was not clear whether an official report had been presented to council in closed session Oct. 25.
Voytus said the due diligence period for the borough ended Oct. 29, the last day the contract provides for the borough to back out of the purchase.
Ghassali said Oct. 24 that the borough would acquire the property after its engineering consultant, Colliers Engineering and Design — approved Oct. 11 to conduct a Phase I environmental assessment of up to $10,000 — had completed its probe of the property, which contains wetlands.
Ghassali said the final costs might come closer to $4.6 million, when attorneys’ fees, engineering costs, bond counsel costs and bond down payments are totaled.
He said that he could see much of the property eventually used as nature trails and paths.
Unverified information posted on nj.parcels.com lists Summit Avenue Holding LLC, 469 Buffalo Court, West New York, N.J., as the current owner of 127 Summit Ave. Its last listed sale date was May 3, 2018 and the price listed as paid was $750,000.
The CED contract says it will conduct a combined Phase I Environmental Site Assessment consistent with ASTM E1523-13 and a NJ-compliant Preliminary Assessment consistent with the NJDEP technical requirements and guidance document.
With both of these assessments, the borough may qualify for innocent purchaser protection under the federal “Superfund” (CERCLA) and the NJ Spill Act.
Ghassali said that residents he spoke with at Montvale Autumn Street Fair on Oct. 23 told him they wanted to keep the expansive property as a walking trail.
“Now that we took it off the market, it’s an asset for the town. Now we own that,” he said of the property. It had been slated for 170 units, then 157 units of “active adult” senior housing until the applicant, Waypoint Residential, which withdrew its last application in spring 2021.
Following a public hearing Aug. 30 where no residents spoke, the Montvale Borough Council unanimously approved a $4.6 million bond ordinance to purchase the tract, after it came on the market in early August. The council introduced the bond ordinance to purchase the site at its Aug. 9 council meeting.
Ghassali told Pascack Press that at least 17 acres were “buildable” and that the borough wanted to prevent the site from being developed. He said not a single resident he spoke to at the street fair was against acquiring the property.
“With all the new residents coming to town we’re trying to find residents [more] recreational areas. That’s what we want to do, and this will be their new recreational area,” he added.
He said, “We’re overdeveloped and we need recreation.”
Asked about the proposed senior and community center and town pool initially estimated at $15 million to $20 million, Ghassali said more will be known later this year when the pool/community center advisory committee reports back to council.
He said he had envisioned a 2024 grand opening if a new design is approved by late 2022 or early 2023.
‘We’ve met our obligation’
Asked if 127 Summit Ave. might be considered as an affordable housing location, Ghassali said “We’ve met our obligation” and that Montvale’s housing stock is now 10% affordable housing, or approximately 365 affordable units.
Ghassali has joined a dozen-plus New Jersey mayors in a lawsuit against Gov. Phil Murphy, pressuring the governor to reappoint and restore the Council on Affordable Housing to mediate and allocate affordable housing requirements statewide.
Currently, Superior Courts work with towns in New Jersey to determine and enforce affordable housing settlements. Fair Share Housing Center, a housing not-for-profit in Cherry Hill, which was founded during the early days of Mount Laurel court rulings in mid-1970s, serves as a statewide advocate and intervenor to represent low-income households in court.
The state Supreme Court ruled that COAH was “moribund” and ineffective in 2015, following 16 years of inaction due to political squabbles, stalemates and COAH’s failure to impose a statewide affordable housing formula. The Supreme Court returned jurisdiction over affordable housing to state Superior Courts for “Round 3” of affordable mandates, 1999–2025.
In 1985, when COAH was created by the state’s Fair Housing Act, it presided over two rounds of affordable housing through 1999 and then became mired in stalemates and lawsuits over imposing a new affordable formula.
After Robert Hanrahan, chair of the Montvale Environmental Commission, presented on borough environmental resources Oct. 11, he added a caveat. He told Ghassali and the Borough Council that “This unusually high restricted amount of land we have in Montvale could be utilized as a negotiating point when the next [affordable housing] calculation is performed.”
He said that remains “a card that could be played.”
“Good to know,” Ghassali said.