TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Demolition began Monday, Aug. 21, on three long-vacant houses at Pascack Road and Washington Avenue, as a large crane was seen clawing at and dismantling the corner home; two adjacent rundown, vacant houses appeared next in line.
A crane operator and workers from Mauro Excavating of Northvale were seen Monday on site demolishing the first, corner home. The others soon followed.
The nearly 2.5-acre property at 660-682 Pascack Road also contains two homes occupied by renters, and the site was recently proposed for a 17,100-square-foot retail plaza.
That development proposal was rejected by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in mid-May and the applicant and property owner, 660 Pascack Realty LLC, appealed in Superior Court Aug. 4, alleging the denial was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.
660 Pascack Realty LLC is principally owned by Seasons Catering owner James Kourgelis. Other owners were given as George Kourgelis (16.7%); and Carl Carfello (16.7%).
Seasons occupies the other side of Washington Avenue at the intersection.
“I am beyond thrilled to see them finally come down. I have been waiting for this day for a very long time! Way overdue,” Township Council President Desserie Morgan told Pascack Press on Aug. 22.
A first hearing for the application, which required a use variance — or change in land use zoning — plus other variances and waivers, was held Oct. 18, 2022 via Zoom.
Five additional hearings were held, and the ZBA memorialized its decision in extensive detail at the June 20 meeting, noting traffic impacts and other concerns.
The 660-682 Pascack Road site, Block 2110, lots 6 through 11, had remained an eyesore for a decade as the owner pushed for area development options, including a CVS, Dunkin’ Donuts, liquor store, townhomes, commuter parking lot, and most recently the strip mall.
Kourgelis also reportedly offered to sell the properties to the township during former Mayor Janet Sobkowicz’s tenure and was reportedly told the township could not afford to buy them.
Ordinance 18-20, passed in 2018, amended the town’s abandoned-property rules and authorized the identification of abandoned properties and establishment of an abandoned properties list, but these properties were not dinged.
During a Nov. 8, 2021 council meeting, then-town administrator Robert Tovo and councilman Michael DeSena disagreed about the condition of the properties, with DeSena questioning why the houses had not been cited under the township’s property maintenance codes.
Tovo noted that the township lacked a code enforcement official, despite advertising twice for the position. He said property code violations were handled by himself and officials from the public works and zoning office.
However, the deteriorating houses remained a sore point with DeSena.
“There’s obvious grass growing out of the roofs,” DeSena told Tovo, calling them “zombie houses.” Tovo brushed off the comment, saying, “There’s no violations there.”
The properties were marked with red placards set off by a large white “X” across entryways, alerting emergency responders of potential hazards there.
Recently, the three houses were cited for property code violations while the applicant’s proposal for the mall was before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
A Mauro Excavating employee on site Monday said the company was hired to demolish all three vacant houses over the upcoming week.
Nearby on Meisten Street, a resident living within 200 feet of the corner property said she had not received notification that the homes would be demolished.
The strip mall application had identified 23 property owners within 200 feet of the proposed development.
Michael Agnello said neither he nor his Meisten Street neighbors had been notified of the planned demolitions.
“I’m actually very happy that they’re coming down and the town has enforced the laws it has on the books,” said Agnello, a critic of the proposed strip mall.
He alleged the proposed use would impact a Category 1 stream — a so-called unnamed tributary — that runs through his backyard but the township engineer, Boswell Engineering, determined the waterway was not a protected waterway because it drained an area less than 50 acres.
Agnello told Pascack Press that he notified the township recently when he saw workers inside the three abandoned houses who appeared to be gutting them and venting material outside the dwellings.
He said township administrator Mark DiCarlo told him everything was being done according to township code.
Asked about the demolition work, DiCarlo told us he had no comment. Other township officials we sought for comment on the process did not get back to us by press time.