After a nearly two-hour closed session meeting July 21, Park Ridge’s Borough Council voted unanimously to approve a “partial settlement agreement” with a developer to “create a realistic opportunity” for 50 affordable units at a local site—a key component of their embattled affordable housing settlement plan.
Moreover, officials said a trial date of Monday, July 27 was scheduled before Superior Court Judge Gregg Padovano in the borough’s ongoing affordable housing litigation.
The settlement agreement with Bear’s Nest Developers LLC notes the agreement “is to create a realistic opportunity for the development of 50 affordable rental units prior to December 31, 2024.”
The 100 percent affordable development is a key part of the borough’s 2018 settlement plan, contested by Fair Share Housing Center and Hornrock Properties for not fulfilling the borough’s “unmet need” for affordable housing.
“As of this moment, we’re prepared and planning to go to court Monday,” said Mayor Keith Misciagna, who has consistently opposed what he calls “high-density development” to fulfill court mandates for affordable housing.
The borough previously filed three motions to disqualify the special master, Frank Banisch, and throw out his report after he recommended the borough provide up to 823 total units on its 30-acre Sony property, including 165 affordable units.
The borough has proposed satisfying its affordable obligations with mostly a 51-unit, 100 percent affordable complex, 24 affordable units in a downtown 240-unit rental apartment complex and zoning overlays that require future affordable housing set-asides.
Misciagna said the judge only ruled against the borough’s motion to remove the special master. Borough officials maintain the special master previously voiced support for a much-lower housing density at the Sony site during five years of negotiations with Hornrock Properties LLC, the site owner and intervenor in its affordable housing settlement.
Superior Court Judge Gregg Padovano ruled from the bench July 16 against Park Ridge’s legal motions to remove the special master, strike his report that recommended 35 dwelling units per acre on the former Sony site, and depose the special master about his recommendations.
Over its nearly five-year-long negotiation with Fair Share Housing Center and Hornrock Properties LLC, the borough has contended it wants to provide affordable housing, but only in its downtown and near public transit and shopping.
However, affordable housing advocates have long eyed the 30-acre former Sony office park for multifamily development while local officials said environmental constraints make the site not viable for multifamily development and affordable housing.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on court operations, the anticipated affordable housing trial was on hold for nearly four months. It was not clear if the trial date for Monday, July 27, was still on despite calls to the judge’s chambers.
According to Anthony Campisi, Fair Share Housing Center spokesman, the court’s July 16 rulings found that Park Ridge’s legal motions to disqualify the special master and strike his report were “without merit.” At the hearing, Campisi said Padovano directed special master Banisch to develop an affordable housing plan for Park Ridge that the judge will then review later this year and possibly rule on by year’s end.
“The judge rejected the town’s attempt to replace the special master, saying that it’s without merit,” said Campisi.
“The [borough’s] arguments, in the end, don’t hold up. An analysis of land in Park Ridge shows that there’s no real way for them to meet their obligation without utilizing the Sony site. And there’s no such thing as ‘aspirational’ need,” noted Campisi, referring to what borough special counsel and local officials call the “unmet need” obligation.
“Park Ridge wants an excuse to be treated differently than any other town in New Jersey, and the judge is properly holding them accountable for their efforts to violate the state Constitution,” added Campisi.
The latest legal wrestling began when special master Frank Banisch filed a report recommending housing density on the 30-acre Sony site be increased to 35 dwelling units per acre, an increase from 12-15 units per acre which Park Ridge alleges he previously recommended for multifamily housing in meetings over nearly five years of negotiations while serving as the borough’s court-appointed special master.
The Banisch report was issued two weeks before a scheduled affordable housing trial set to begin in March. In it, Banisch calls for the borough to fulfill a third-round (1999-2025) affordable obligation of 225 units as opposed to the 81-unit “realistic development potential,” or RDP, that Park Ridge proposed in its 2018 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan.
That plan had been criticized, analyzed and argued about by Fair Share Housing Center, a statewide advocate for low-income housing, and Hornrock Properties, LLC, a Park Ridge developer that previously proposed up to 972 multifamily housing units on the former 30-acre Sony site.
The Banisch report calls for 823 total units on the Sony site with a 20 percent set-aside of 165 affordable units.
In a legal “memorandum of law” opposing motions to disqualify him, Bansich noted he relied on facts and data to support his opinions. These included an analysis of developable land, development allowed on the Montvale portion of Hornrock’s Sony property, and a “recalculation” of land eligible for the borough’s realistic development potential.
Banisch recalculated RDP to include 23.5 acres of the 30-acre former Sony site, which at 35 dwelling units per acre and a 20 percent affordable set-aside, equals 165 affordable units and 823 total housing units.
According to his legal certification, Banisch has served as a court-appointed special master in over 50 affordable housing cases over the last 15 years.
Almost all surrounding towns in northeast Bergen County have settled affordable housing obligations, including Montvale and Woodcliff Lake. Both towns settled in late 2017. As part of its settlement Montvale approved a 185-unit multifamily high-density development, with affordable housing on a 7-acre site adjoining the former Sony Park Ridge property.
In Bergen County, only Englewood Cliffs and Park Ridge have engaged in long-term legal battles over affordable housing. Others settled early citing high legal costs, expensive court trials, and 1985’s state Fair Housing Act that legally requires towns to zone for and create the opportunity for affordable housing statewide.