PASCACK VALLEY AREA, N.J.—A majority of Pascack Valley mayors, who just met for an annual confab, acknowledged that 2020 was a mixed bag for businesses due to Covid-19 closures.
Moving forward, they expressed hope for business improvement as vaccines are rolled out.
Nine mayors took part in the Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce’s annual Breakfast with the Mayors, although this year’s forum wasn’t over bacon, eggs, fruit, bagels, and coffee at the Iron Horse Restaurant in Westwood; it was convened on Zoom due to the pandemic.
One topic Chamber President Robin Malley asked her guests to address was Covid-19’s impacts on businesses, the community, and town finances.
The mayors, from Emerson, Hillsdale, Montvale, Old Tappan, Oradell, Park Ridge, Township of Washington, Westwood, and Woodcliff Lake, were given about five minutes apiece to address Covid-19 impacts.
They also took on local/regional traffic concerns, new developments, the growing senior population, telecommunications infrastructure, and local initiatives and challenges.
River Vale was invited but, for a second year in a row did not participate.
WESTWOOD
Westwood Mayor Ray Arroyo said data from Celebrate Westwood, a nonprofit that helps organize community events to support the community, showed 16 pandemic-related business closures over the last year, tempered by 18 businesses opening.
He said three sites of former banks were now vacant, mostly due to increasingly popular online banking and mobile apps. He said two of three former bank sites, with onsite parking, have generated ideas for adaptive reuse of their buildings.
Arroyo said of 16 stores that “went dark” during 2020, nine are being reoccupied by owners new to Westwood “in a town they believe will withstand the pandemic’s worst economic impacts, and we believe that as well.”
He said the downtown district remains popular due to “its scale, charm and pedestrian-friendly environment, which is unique to our area,” He noted convenient commuter and visitor parking was another pedestrian-friendly feature.
Arroyo said much more, and we look forward to bringing you those remarks, and stories around them, in our next issues.
PARK RIDGE
Park Ridge Mayor Keith Misciagna said it’s been “a tough year” but the borough’s downtown has generated a dozen new businesses. These include Lidl, a new supermarket, plus a Mexican restaurant, and new jewelry store that opened right before Covid-19 struck in March.
He said the community “came through for our business district” and cited the planning and zoning boards for easing restrictions on restaurant operations.
He said the restaurants survived, business survived, and a newcomer, Promotion in Motion, a confectionery company, has continued to renovate the former Hertz Building, where he said “We anticipate hundreds of people working in there.”
On the business end, he said, “Believe it or not, Covid did not really affect us as much as some other towns so we’re very fortunate.”
He said the 240-unit mixed use residential/retail complex The James “is a nice complement and will bring more shoppers to our downtown area” when it opens this spring.
Misciagna reminded the mayors that the large downtown complex takes the place of a former waste transfer station.
MONTVALE
Montvale Mayor Michael Ghassali said the borough lost about 50 small businesses but also added about 40 new businesses over the pandemic’s course.
“That leaves us with some vacant buildings,” he said, noting a deficit of 10–15 businesses.
He said in January 2020, Montvale had 25,000 employees working in town. Now, he said, only 10% of those employees came back.
He said a job fair the borough hoped to sponsor fell flat over widespread hiring freezes.
He said of new businesses, including CityMD and pharmaceuticals, “It seems in Montvale, at least, there’s a shift toward the health sector, which we like.”
TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON
Mayor Peter Calamari said the township’s downtown shopping center, on Pascack Road, was “fully rented, so new tenants continue to come in and some are just barely hanging on via a thread so we hope they make it through.”
Calamari said all restaurants “seem to be doing pretty good” but that Covid-19’s impacts “have had a big impact” on business at Seasons, at Washington Avenue and Pascack Road.
Calamari did not mention an assisted living facility approved for 620 Pascack Road, or a 73-unit Tomaron/Viviano townhome and single-family development long looming near Immaculate Heart Academy.
He did ask for help in temporarily accommodating DPW equipment.
HILLSDALE
Hillsdale Mayor John Ruocco mentioned the recent Borough Council approval of a contentious redevelopment plan for a 14-acre industrial area, which he vetoed due to the plan’s potential for developer height and density bonuses. The council overrode Ruocco’s veto, 5–1. He said the borough was “waiting for expressions of interest from potential developers.”
Ruocco revealed that the council were “thinking about rehabilitating our downtown area” and that discussions were at a “very, very preliminary stage in exploring what that process should be.”
He said there was a “need for transparency moving forward” and thought residents “would be more embracing of than the redevelopment plan we passed last year.”
He said efforts to revisit a 2020 community center study and council interest in expanding such a facility to include recreational facilities will be a topic in 2021.
Under the redevelopment plan, density/height bonuses may be granted a developer if they provide a community benefit such as a community center or open space.
Ruocco said a bond issue might be required to fund a new community center.
EMERSON
Emerson Mayor Danielle DiPaola said the borough had one business closing, PetValu, part of nationwide closings for the chain pet store. She noted that a couple of businesses also opened, including a recent ribbon-cutting at a new physical rehabilitation facility, Trinity Rehab, at Pascack Valley Shopping Center.
DiPaola did not provide an update on the downtown development, locally known as Block 419, and currently stalled due to dueling lawsuits by the developer, Emerson Redevelopers Urban Renewal LLC, an affiliate of JMF Properties, and the borough.
In answering a follow-up question she said the prior administration allowed a PILOT agreement to the Block 419/ Emerson Station redeveloper.
She said “residents are very worried about the impact” of Emerson Station on infrastructure, police, municipal services, and schools.
She said an overhaul was recently completed of the Master Plan and an ordinance will be introduced soon to allow “a more vibrant community for commerce in case there’s not a need for brick and mortar actual stores” and allow uses such as rehab facilities and medical offices.
The Emerson Station developer is suing the borough for interfering with its ability to complete the project, while the borough is suing the developer for $500,000 in construction services for a new ambulance building.
The developer promised the funds in return for acquisition of land previously used by the ambulance corps.
WOODCLIFF LAKE
Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo said the borough is at a crossroads and was “particularly hit by Covid” with Hilton Hotel’s 20-acre site on Chestnut Ridge Road permanently closing and now vacant.
He noted ESAI Corporation closed and moved to Clifton. He said other corporate buildings on Tice Boulevard are 45-50 percent occupied “and that is also a concern as we may begin to see tax appeals and more abandoned properties.”
He said at least one new business, PDI, moved in on Chestnut Ridge Road and a new Whole Foods, across from Tice Center, should open by June.
He noted “abandoned properties” on the Broadway Corridor include Valley Bank, also an empty parking lot and garage.
“This is all a byproduct, folks, of not adopting a comprehensive Master Plan. Unfortunately, we have a council that does not understand the importance of having planning… a comprehensive plan where planning boards and zoning boards can follow,” he said.
He said he was “not hopeful” that an ordinance to initiate a contract to update its Master Plan would pass at the Feb. 8 council meeting.
“In the end, that’s going to damage Woodcliff Lake in the future immeasurably. It is inconceivable that Woodcliff Lake is the only town out of 70 towns in Bergen County that has not adopted a comprehensive Master Plan,” said Rendo.
He said a lack of an updated Master Plan leaves the borough’s land use boards “vulnerable” to litigation from developers, such as a pending lawsuit by 188 Broadway LLP.
That developer’s proposal to build a two-building, 60 apartment-unit complex was rejected by the Zoning Board nearly 18 months ago. It appealed.
Note: We look forward to bringing you more reporting stemming from this event. For more information, visit GPVCOC at pascackchamber.org.