DEMAREST, N.J.—A Planning Board hearing will be held Oct. 7 on a site plan application by F.E. Alpine Inc. for 24 townhouses on five lots on Duane Lane—a development the borough agreed to when it settled a developer’s “builder’s remedy” lawsuit.
The hearing is set for 7:30 p.m. at Borough Hall. Anyone attending in person must follow social distancing and wear a face covering. The public can also attend remotely by phoning (978) 990-5000 and using passcode 353193#, according to the meeting notice.
In February, the borough released details of its settlement with Alpine developer Richard Kurtz, who sued Demarest to help the borough provide affordable housing. He called for constructing 41 townhomes on Duane Lane near Brenner Place, including 35 market-rate homes and six units of affordable housing.
The borough agreed in January to rezone the undeveloped property for 24 market-rate townhomes and accept a $1 million payment from Kurtz to pay for “no less than eight affordable units of a possible 16” to be built at a borough-owned property at 127 Hardenburgh Ave., said Borough Attorney Gregg Paster.
Paster said United Way of Bergen County has been designated as the redeveloper of property for affordable housing and the funding is committed as part of the affordable housing spending plan recently approved by the superior court.
Paster explained that the payment in lieu is set forth in the settlement agreement with F.E. Alpine Inc. (formerly Sylco Investments) as follows: $250,000 is due once the site work for the actual construction is commenced (meaning tree removal, excavation, road construction, etc.); $250,000 is due upon issuance of the initial building permit; and the remaining $500,000 is due upon issuance of the 10th certificate of occupancy for the townhouse units.
Paster said then that the two parties agreed to settle the lawsuit in mid-February behind closed doors. In May, the borough council rezoned the property for multifamily housing, said Paster, who also noted that the borough’s affordable housing plan received a final judgment of compliance on July 8.
The five lots to be developed by F.E. Alpine Inc. are part of the former 60-acre Frick estate near the Alpine-Demarest border that Kurtz purchased in 2006, according to published reports.
The developer has built several large homes on the property since then, including the Stone Mansion initially priced at $33 million.
Paster said in late Febuary that the 24 townhouses were agreed to because 24 “was a productive and reasonable number of units to be built up there without overburdening the property.”
Paster said the borough was told early this year that Kurtz’s company was given a green light to pursue its builder’s remedy lawsuit and the council decided then it was in its best interest to settle and not get into further litigation.
In a public notice published Sept. 8, the applicant said he did not believe any variances or waivers were “required or necessary” for preliminary and final site plan approval but if they were, whether they were “C” or “D” variances, “that such approval be granted for such variances and that the public is hereby put on notice of such request.”
Prior to having an affordable housing settlement in place, towns may be subject to builder’s remedy lawsuits. Under the state’s Fair Housing Act, a builder or developer can file such a lawsuit if they believe the town has not satisfied its affordable obligations and the builder often proposes high-density housing to satisfy a town’s affordable obligations.
Most often developers propose “inclusionary housing” that offers affordable units and market-rate units, generally one affordable unit to every five market-rate units.
Two towns now facing much larger high-density housing court battles include Englewood Cliffs and Park Ridge, where developers have sued to build hundreds of high-density market-rate and affordable units to help satisfy local affordable obligations.
Both towns have been fighting what they call “high-density over-development” being forced on them to fulfill affordable housing obligations.
However, most Bergen County towns have settled since the state Supreme Court declared the Council on Affordable Housing defunct in 2015 and ordered towns to work with the Superior Courts and Fair Share Housing Center to fulfill affordable obligations. A new round of affordable housing obligations for towns begins in mid-2025.
Editor’s note: If you’re interested, you can search public notices at njpublicnotices.com, a free website listing all statewide public notices, which the New Jersey Press Association maintains as a public service.