WOODCLIFF LAKE —A redevelopment plan ordinance that will allow 46 housing units — 37 apartments and nine townhomes — at 188 Broadway was introduced by a 4-1 vote Feb. 13 and sent to the Planning Board to review for consistency with the recently updated borough master plan.
Councilwoman Josephine Higgins voted no on the ordinance introduction. Councilwoman Jacqueline Gadaleta was absent.
The Planning Board gets 45-60 days to review the redevelopment plan, which only applies to the 188 Broadway site’s 3.3-acre property.
Mayor Carlos Rendo said residents will get a chance to comment on the redevelopment plan when the Planning Board considers it on March 13. He said the Planning Board is scheduled to send back its recommendations to the council in time for its March 20 meeting, when council will hold a public hearing on the redevelopment ordinance.
Officials said the ordinance and redevelopment plan should be up on the borough website within days for public inspection.
Prior efforts by 188 Broadway LP to develop the 188 Broadway site — once for 60 apartments and once for 53 apartments — were both unanimously rejected by the Zoning Board in 2019 and 2021.
The Borough Council voted, 5-0, on Dec. 6 to approve a “memorandum of understanding” between 188 Broadway LP and the borough that calls on Woodcliff Lake to rezone the 188 Broadway site, based on a redevelopment plan to be approved by the Planning Board and Borough Council.
(See “It’s settled: 46 housing units at 188 Broadway,” Pascack Press, Michael Olohan, Dec. 12, 2022.)
The MOU calls for a 46-unit development on the site, converting the existing office building into 37 rental apartments and constructing nine townhomes behind the rental apartments.
The agreements included a settlement with 188 Broadway LP, an agreement with Bergen County United Way to build and operate 24 affordable units at a North Broadway site, and an amended affordable housing settlement with Fair Share Housing Center.
Rendo previously said the agreements resolve all outstanding litigation, meet the borough’s Fair Share obligations, and may get the borough extra credits for housing at the proposed North Broadway site.
Moreover, Councilman Richard Schnoll, an attorney specializing in personal injury and commercial litigation, who was involved in negotiations, called the settlements “a win, win, win for all the parties involved, especially for the town.”
The agreement resolves all outstanding litigation between the borough and 188 Broadway LP, which included: a state court suit against the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the denial of a 60-unit proposal in 2019; Federal court litigation resulting from the second Zoning Board denial in 2021; real estate tax appeals for several years relating to 188 Broadway; and a lawsuit pending against the building department.
The MOU approved by council follows months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between borough attorneys, 188 Broadway LP, and local officials.
The agreement obligates the borough to build the eight affordable units required at 188 Broadway at its North Broadway affordable development, which will now include 24 affordable units.
Previously, the 100% affordable North Broadway development included 16 affordable units, as part of its 2017 affordable settlement, but the developer backed out and forced the borough to find another developer.
In a separate letter to Pascack Press printed in our Dec. 19 issue, Higgins and former councilman Craig Marson wrote a letter that opposed the rezoning of 188 Broadway as an area in need of redevelopment.
Dec. 26, 2022, we printed a letter from Rendo and Schnoll taking issue with the Marson/Higgins’ letter. (See our archive at issuu.com/thepressgroup to read the two prior letters.)
During public comment Dec. 22, two residents questioned aspects of future redevelopment at 188 Broadway.
Resident Alex Couto said he wanted to offer input on maximum building heights and landscaping. Padilla said to forward an email to him or Borough Clerk Debbie Dakin and that he would forward the comments to Planner Liz Leheny, who is drafting a redevelopment plan.
Resident Veronica Appelle, a longtime critic of residential development at 188 Broadway, said she was “obviously curious” about the future redevelopment plan for 188 Broadway.
“Still in the back of my mind is the idea that that (redevelopment) would be used as the standard for anyone who wanted to try to get a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program, and would be able to say, Well, you gave it to 188, why not us?” Appelle said then.
No public comments were made at the Feb. 13 meeting.