TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—Mayor Peter Calamari took to his official Facebook page to ding previous administrations for not purchasing 450 Pascack Road, which is now on the market, to protect the township from possible overdevelopment.
Calamari weighed in on the matter while explaining why he supports the town spending up to $850,000 to buy the beleaguered Washington Township Swim and Recreation Club.
[See “Town takes plunge? $850K eyed for purchase of struggling rec, pool,” April 8.]
Calamari, recovering from Covid-19, spoke out after residents questioned why the council came out of a closed session April 5 with a resolution to negotiate for acquisition the private nonprofit social club on Ridgewood Boulevard, abutting the Garden State Parkway.
The club, popular it its day, has had to get creative to pay its taxes, offer enticing amenities, and reimburse a long list of former members who are owed bonds.
One official there suggested to Pascack Press in 2019 that two paths appeared open to the club: selling to a hypothetical developer and having the town take it over.
The latter might now come to pass. Resolution 21-181 was approved, 3-0, at the April 5 meeting. Voting yes, and without comment, were Council President Stacey Feeney, VP Desserie Morgan, and member Tom Sears.
Members Steven Cascio and Michael DeSena—who is challenging for mayor—were absent.
The resolution doesn’t refer to the swim club but rather its tax lot and block numbers. It was not clear why the town appeared to be finalizing a purchase price before negotiations begin.
Town tax records show the lot has a land value of $1,173,200 and an improvement value of $200,000 for a total assessed value of $1,373,200
The resolution notes an objective of the Master Plan is to “preserve open space” “and the Township Council has determined that the Township could benefit from the acquisition of said real property and improvements.”
We’d reached out to Calamari for comment on the town’s interest in the land and its improvements, as we had for comment on the town’s relatively new interest in 450 Pascack Road, but had not heard back.
Hours after our issue containing our front page story on the club was published, on April 8, Calamari took to his Facebook page to say why he supports this purchase—and ended with, “The first use I would like to research is leaving it as a swim club. All the infrastructure is in place for it. I would like to review the numbers the existing club has to see the expenses and then estimate how much income it will need to generate.”
Calamari led with, “The number-one reason I believe we should investigate this [purchase] is my commitment to open space and my opposition to overdevelopment. There are few, if any, 6-acre pieces of property left in the town. The town has a repose on Fair Share Housing units until 2025, which is not far away. I do not want to see a developer purchase the property, sit on it until then, and then propose building an outrageous number of units on the property.”
He added, “My fear and concern is that by allowing the property to be potentially sold to a developer it will result in, at the very least, an expensive and drawn-out legal battle, or at worst, a court ruling that allows a high-density housing development. That would threaten the small-town single-family housing quality of life we all enjoy and work so hard to maintain and protect. It could also lead to a significant influx of students in our already overcrowded school system and an associated increase in school taxes.”
Calamari said, “I must be careful about what I say and do not say regarding these types of applications.
Applications before the boards must legally be judged on their individual merits and drawbacks. Statements made by town officials about applications outside of board meetings and based on anything outside the scope of the application can be characterized as prejudicial. This can later be exploited by a developer in court to set aside board rulings and judgements and decisions. So please understand that my overriding belief is that any potential development or building in Washington Township should be consistent with existing zoning laws.”
He added, “I want everyone to understand that the resolution the council approved does not bind the town to anything yet. The town and the property owners decided to agree on a purchase price before further negotiations regarding the terms of the sale. Although there are many possibilities for the property if the town acquires it, I would like to point out what will NOT happen with it in my administration.”
He said:
- It will not become a base of operations for the DPW. We believe if we can store some of the DPW vehicles and equipment there, it will allow us the proper space to construct a new DPW facility in the same space and location it is now.
- There will not be any hazardous materials stored there.
- There will not be any maintenance of equipment done at the site.
- Anyone who has visited the Town Hall parking lot recently sees that space there is tighter than ever. The DPW and the police department have acquired equipment to enable them to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively than ever before. This equipment is useful and necessary, but it does take up space.
450 Pascack Road: a tract with trees near school and park
Moreover, Calamari said, “We look back and question why previous administrations chose not to proactively acquire 450 Pascack Road when they had the opportunity to protect it from overdevelopment. The cost back then was significantly less than it is now. There were grants available back then to further reduce the cost to the taxpayers.”
He added, “I do not want to be shortsighted about this opportunity”—the club acquisition—“and subject the residents in the future to the same regrets about it that we have now regarding 450 Pascack Road. I firmly believe in this case an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
He said “Many residents and councilpersons have spoken in favor of acquiring 450 Pascack Road [a 3.2-acre mostly wooded tract] “for the exact same reasons as I propose acquiring the swim club property.”
The township had ordered an appraisal of 450 Pascack Road by McNerney & Associates of Glen Rock in mid-February as a first step to an offer, negotiations, and possible purchase or condemnation of the property.
Previously, township attorney Ken Poller told Pascack Press that the township believes it has “more than enough justification for condemnation” of 450 Pascack Road.
Calamari questioned previous administrations for not acquiring 450 Pascack Road, although he did not name any names or past administrations.
Immediate past mayor Janet Sobkowicz, who negotiated unsuccessfully with Robert Morris, declined to speak with Pascack Press on the matter.
Morris previously told Pascack Press that township officials “dropped the ball” in acquiring his property then and since then he has delayed making any property repairs while he waits for a fair resolution of his property’s fate. Indeed, the town conducted a welfare check on Morris, in part owing to the dilapidated condition of his house. They reported he was fine.
Calamari was a councilman when Sobkowicz was mayor, and it was he who won support of the town Republicans. He squared off against then-Council President Robert Bruno, and won in 2017. Bruno was voted out in the following election. Calamari now faces Councilman Michael DeSena in the 2021 mayoral contest.
Citing the need for open space and a possibility for future development proposals on the Swim Club property, Calamari warned residents to take heed of conditions now that make preserving open space so important.
“This situation was not created by the township or its residents. It has been created at the state level by Fair Share Housing, formerly COAH (Council on Affordable Housing). But it is the reality we are faced with,” he said.
He added, “I do not want to or like to spend taxpayer money. But I believe if we fail to plan, we plan to fail. And if we fail to act, we will have no one to blame or point fingers at for the consequences of that failure other than ourselves.”
Diane Ferrara, a resident and member of STOP (Stop Township Overdevelopment Projects) who often calls in at council meetings and has long opposed development at 450 Pascack Road, has called for preservation of the property due to 700-plus trees on site.
Moreover, others cite its critical location between Ridgewood Boulevard East on the south and two public facilities, Memorial Park and Washington Elementary School, to its north. The elongated tract forms a verdant buffer between neighbors’ backyards and public property.
Ferrara suggested to Pascack Press that she doubts the land has much developable potential.
“The town has only been assessing it as unbuildable, landlocked property for tax purposes, not 3 acres worth of usable land, making that constraint a matter of record,” she said.
Pascack Press reached out to Calamari to expand on his comments but did not hear back by press time.
— With John Snyder