Borough Eyes Major Changes on Westwood Avenue

In naming it a "Great Place in New Jersey," the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association said of Westwood's downtown: "Westwood has always been known as the 'Hub of the Pascack Valley' because of its role as a destination for shopping, services, and dining, ever since its days as a dirt road, rural outpost with a multi-purpose general store at its main crossroad."

WESTWOOD, N.J.—The Borough Council has called a special work session Monday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. to discuss the Planning Board’s recent recommendations, some controversial, affecting the Central Business District/Special Pedestrian Zone as part of the Master Plan review.

The changes affect primarily Westwood Avenue, a leafy three-block east-west promenade bookended by parks and served by mass transit, a space one member of the Planning Board recently called sacred. 

Westwood Avenue also arguably is the heart of downtown, which the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association (APANJ) on Oct. 14 recognized as a “Great Downtown” and “the gold standard of exemplary character, quality, and planning.”

The designation, applied for by Lauren Letizia, chair of the Westwood Historic Preservation Commission and Celebrate Westwood, arrives in the borough’s 125th anniversary celebration year  and the public library’s centennial. 

With its “Great Downtown” nod, Westwood joins a handful of awardees statewide—there are no others in Bergen County this year—having “a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement, and a vision for tomorrow.” 

In reading her award letter to the council and the public Oct. 15, Letizia quoted APANJ Executive Director Sheena Collum saying that, since its inception in 2012, the APA New Jersey Awards Jury has designated 35 locations in the Garden State worthy of being called “great.”

Collum wrote, “We’re pleased your nomination of downtown Westwood will be joining the ranks.”

An awards reception is Oct. 30 at the South Orange Performing Arts Center Loft, 1 SOPAC Way, South Orange. 

Westwood recently landed New Jersey Safe Routes to School’s gold designation; through Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation grant funding via Meals on Wheels North Jersey established Westwood For All Ages; and through those efforts was named a World Health Organization/ AARP Age-Friendly Community.

Boards hash out proposed new uses

The Master Plan for the Borough, an official guide for growth to be used by the Planning Board, governing body, Board of Adjustment, and citizens, is subject to periodic review and amendment.

Recommendations have been batted back and forth between the Planning Board and governing body (Council President Ray Arroyo called it “A lot of forth and not a lot of back, but we’re getting close”) and was a reaction to a spate of vacancies on Westwood Avenue that have largely been filled.

The council took no action on one version of the Planning Board’s recommendations for amendment, finding it technically flawed. 

The council scuttled the Planning Board’s follow-up, hashed out over three hours, on introduction Oct. 15, sending it back and now carving out time to work on its own set of recommendations.

“The introduction has been unnecessarily rushed. And that’s how the borough makes mistakes. The document that was introduced on Oct. 15 still lists ‘parking lots and areas’ as principal uses on Westwood Avenue. Does anyone really want to see a commercial parking lot,  built as of right,  on the avenue?” Arroyo asked Pascack Press rhetorically.

Proposed new uses in the conversation included medical offices, tattoo studios, maker studios, amusement arcades, personal training studios, pet grooming salons, breweries, and winery or brewery affiliated tasting rooms.

Other changes would have allowed some uses now restricted to upper floors to come down to street level, such as professional offices and custom packaging and retail mail services.

Proposed new conditional uses seemed poised to allow limited multifamly residential units on the second floor, subject to a maximum of 25 units per acre without parking need.

There also was a proposed easing on the limits of outdoor restaurant seating.

Councilman Chris Montana, who’d said some of the initial recommendations would have been “irresponsible” to approve, said the governing body hopes to get its recommendations to the Planning Board for its input in advance of that body’s Oct. 24 meeting. 

Planning Board Chairman JayMee Hodges, who appears to have issues with some of the proposed priorities, told Pascack Press nevertheless that the landscape of retail and services is changing and Westwood needs to continue to stay ahead of the curve.

He said the Planning Board took the initiative in advancing  CBD/SPE recommendations for review ahead of a full 2020 Master Plan reexamination in order to give Westwood “the best opportunities to remain a vibrant Pascack Valley destination.”

Reflecting the diversity of voices on the Planning Board, Hodges told Pascack Press on Oct. 17 that recommendations “could have yet unstudied impacts on traffic, parking, existing restaurant establishments, and the overall landscape of our downtown.”

Planning Board Chairman urges steady hand

After the Planning Board recommendations proposed as Ordinance No. 19-18 failed on introduction Oct. 15, Hodges said benefits such as those recognized by APANJ grew over decades as Westwood continued to thrive despite the rise and fall of the shopping mall and online shopping.

“I’m here all my life and have many friends since kindergarten that are either in Westwood or one of the local Pascack Valley towns. Sometimes these real examples speak for themselves,” he said.

He cautioned that the Planning Board “should be expedient and strive to stay ahead of the curve… These decisions should not be made in haste.”

He commended the council for “its detailed dissection of the recommendations to stave off changes that would be contrary to assuring the economic and social success of our borough.”

Hodges explained a major goal of the update is allowing greater diversity of uses to encourage economic development and foot traffic in the downtown.

He noted the borough heard a presentation from “smart growth” advocacy group New Jersey Future, which he said offered to help Westwood investigate “density bonuses, increased building height limits, or of-right zoning controls that would expand further the current number of single family attached units, town homes, duplex, and/or multi-family units.”

Hodges warned “such increased density allowances, without consideration of broader impacts,  “would drastically change Westwood as we know it.”

Outgoing Democratic Mayor John Birkner Jr., making a run with Emerson Council President Gerald Falotico for state Assembly representing District 39, has a seat on the Planning Board and has lately clashed with Hodges.

He chalked the sparks up to “politics,” which he said “is unfortunate.”

Of the Oct. 21 special council meeting, Birkner said “It’s another ‘Here we go again.’ It’s the council’s prerogative to change whatever the Planning Board has worked on over the past months and months and months.”

Birkner said, “What we have done in Westwood has been really beneficial. The work that has been done by the Planning Board has been really exemplary in keeping an eye out and being contemporary.”

Asked to respond to comments from Police Chief Michael Pontillo at the Oct. 15 council meeting—that increasing residential density above the avenue could lead to parking and traffic woes and worsen visibility and therefore worsen safety—Mayor Birkner suggested it would be up to landlords to make it clear there is very little parking to offer.

He added, “One of the things we don’t want to do is go back to 1958. It’s been an attempt to look at things with eyes wide open.”

Toward full occupancy

In an Oct. 3 letter from Bruce M. Meisel, of Westwood Taxpayers Alliance, to borough officials, Meisel noted that downtown contributes significantly to the municipal tax base and helps define the character of the community.

He urged incremental changes to the Master Plan and zoning ordinances and called out the disruptive rise of e-commerce over the past decade particularly as a force to reckon with—and mass transit as an improving opportunity to lure commuting families.

He voiced support for converting second-floor retail and office uses to apartments, with restrictions, and said he did not believe providing for gourmet food outlets would lead to fast food here.

He said he supported “experimenting” with restaurants and breweries.

“Conversion of the soon to be former LN Grand building for microbrewery and small family-run restaurant would help strengthen all of Westwood Avenue,” he said.

“Fortunately for Westwood our downtown is not broken. It is, however, in need of carefully considered and vetted incremental change to help it adopt to recent lifestyle changes that are happening quicker than ever before,” Meisel said.

LN Grand 5 and 10 Cent Store closed last week after 60 years.

Store owner Steve Naginsky told the press in September that the decision to close had been simmering for some time. 

“It’s run the gamut. Retail is tough, and not everyone needs something every day. The world’s changing,” he said.

Meanwhile, local chiropractor Chris Alepa told Pascack Press he is set to close on the 4,100-square-foot building on Oct. 31 and has in mind a microbrewery or a beer tasting establishment, should the zoning change to allow it.

Breweries will be discussed at a hearing in November. 

The former L.N. Grand 5 and 10 cent store on Westwood Avenue, which recently closed.

Restaurateurs speak out

Also keenly interested in CBD/SPE amendments is Pompilio John Sambogna, owner of Pompilio’s Pizza at 223 Westwood Ave., which is separated from the LN Grand by a phone repair shop. 

Sambogna spoke out at recent Planning Board and Borough Council meetings to say that there are enough food and drink destinations on the avenue and that adding more, particularly with much more seating, won’t help retail.

He—and Luke Farrelly, owner of P.J. Finnegan’s at 274 Fairview Ave.; George Papas, owner of It’s Greek to Me at 487 Broadway; and John Owens, owner of Center Tavern (formerly Bat Barry’s) at 170 Center Ave.—said they want clarification on what the Planning Board means by gourmet food and winery or brewery tasting rooms.

Sambogna told Pascack Press last week he was by no means opposed to competition. 

He added, “But you talk to a lot of the guys who’ve been here for a while or who are struggling, and that’s exactly what they’re saying: I’m struggling. Where are we going as far as the town is concerned, and what are they doing to the people already here?”