BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
MONTVALE, N.J.—An engineer and architect for Hornrock Properties’ proposal to construct a four story, 50-feet-tall 185-unit multifamily housing development in Montvale—including 37 affordable housing units— testified Jan. 2 on development details and were questioned about impacts on nearby Park Ridge, as well as local impacts, parking and fire safety.
The applicant is requesting preliminary site plan approval due to the fact that Hornrock is also pursuing an application with Park Ridge’s Zoning Board of Adjustment for permission to construct an access road to the Montvale development via an adjoining one-acre site where Sony Drive runs through Park Ridge. An initial hearing was scheduled Jan. 15 in Park Ridge.
A second hearing for the Montvale application is scheduled for Feb. 5. The proposed development is a key component of Montvale’s already-approved affordable housing settlement.
Meanwhile, Park Ridge has not yet settled its affordable housing plan, and Hornrock Properties is currently contesting its proposed plan as an intervenor in Superior Court. That plan offers restricted development on Park Ridge’s adjoining 30-acre former Sony property due to environmental constraints.
Planning Board attorney Robert Regan provided an opening overview of the application, noting the development is part of the approved Montvale affordable housing plan. He repeatedly stated that no objections were raised by any party at the affordable housing plan settlement fairness hearing in 2018.
Both the applicant’s engineer, Brett Skapinetz, Dynamic Engineering, Chester, and its architect, David Minno of Minno and Wasko, Lambertville, testified about details regarding the application.
The engineer discussed parking spaces (358 required spaces are provided in Montvale; 172 in podium parking under the building and 186 surface spaces surrounding the building.
Other details discussed included site and pedestrian circulation, lighting and illumination levels, landscaping, stormwater drainage, signage, site grading, vehicle circulation, and emergency vehicle access.
Attorneys representing adjoining Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake were present at the Jan. 2 meeting, though Hornrock attorney Peter Wolfson said no development is planned for Woodcliff Lake.
Representing Park Ridge were Borough Attorney Carmine Alampi, who spoke, and Mayor Keith Misciagna, councilman Robert Metzdorf, and council president Matthew Capilli.
In a Facebook post on the meeting, Misciagna said Park Ridge’s attorney was an “interested party” party expressing the borough’s concerns “regarding overdevelopment in our area…”
“Sometimes elected officials must step outside of their confines to protect the greater good of our communities,” he wrote on Facebook after the meeting.
185 units on seven acres
Hornrock Properties is proposing to construct a 185-unit “inclusionary development” that provides 20 percent of units (or 37) as affordable housing in a seven-acre lot in the borough’s AH-26 affordable housing zone.
The 185 units include 81 one-bedroom, 82 two-bedroom, and 22 three-bedroom units. No variances are requested.
Hornrock’s engineers said the proposed development comprises 70,955 square feet, including 57,104 square feet for the building.
The site includes 23.1 percent impervious coverage, well below the 45 percent impervious coverage allowed.
The engineer said that sewer, gas and electric lines would be brought into the Montvale development through lines along Sony Drive via Park Ridge.
During public questions, several Park Ridge and Montvale residents questioned how many trees might be removed and replaced, grading of driveway access to the site, whether any parking spaces on the Park Ridge site are needed for the Montvale development (none are), and stormwater runoff flow and collection.
Most questions were answered with technical details from the applicant’s engineer, with follow-up questions moderated by Joint Planning Board chairman John DePinto.
When one resident questioned the types of units, possible population increase and impacts on schools, DePinto told him that the application was the result of an affordable housing settlement agreement and “the driving force” behind the development application.
He said the board “cannot stop a development because the schools may not be adequate” to accommodate students. That scenario needed to be addressed at a point before an application reaches the Planning Board, he said.
A Montvale Fire Department officer, John Wirth, addressed fire department concerns stated in a critical two-page memo including accessibility to northwest side of the building, getting ladders to certain windows, water supply, and on-site maneuverability of fire apparatus.
The applicant architect, David J. Minno of Minno and Wasko, whose firm specializes in multifamily housing, said the new development “is going to be a very modern building” and said the building’s sprinkler system “would cover the interstitial spaces between walls” where fire often spreads from floor to floor.
He also said “areas of refuge” inside the building are created to be safe during a fire and said he looked forward to “more detailed discussion” with the fire department on meeting local fire regulations. He spoke and referenced renderings and site plans of the proposed development on easels that were displayed.
Mayors’ exchanges
In a back-and-forth exchange between mayors of Montvale and Park Ridge post-meeting, both mayors and a Park Ridge resident traded social media posts about each borough’s affordable housing approach.
When Ghassali – who attended the Jan. 2 hearing – criticized a Park Ridge project under construction on Kinderkamack Road and said the Montvale 185-unit development was in a location few people would view daily, Misciagna said he had to respond to Ghassali’s reference to Park Ridge
‘You will never see it’
“The (development) site sits at the edge of town and nestled between Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake next to the (Garden State) parkway, and unlike the 5 stories Kinderkamack project, unless this building is your intended destination, you will never see it,” wrote Ghassali in his online message to residents.
He pointed out because Montvale settled its affordable housing obligations “we maintain full control of our zoning and planning requirement.”
“We know what we want and will only approve what is appropriate for our town and our neighboring towns,” Ghassali wrote.
Misciagna said he responded to Ghassali’s comments “since you brought up Park Ridge.” He said Montvale’s 185-unit development “will be over 50 feet in height and adjacent to a residential neighborhood in Woodcliff Lake (not Park Ridge). Unless Hornrock plans to plant 60-foot trees around the site the building will be visible,” wrote Misciagna.
‘Defend what you are doing’
“Also I think it’s unfair to bring up our downtown redevelopment to defend what you are doing in Montvale on the outskirts of your town near two other municipalities. Our downtown development is an appropriately designed project located near other multifamily housing and similar businesses not adjacent to a single-family residential neighborhood nor any other towns’ property.”
“Even more importantly, it is located on the former site of a garbage waste transfer station in an area that required significant improvement. As such our downtown project significantly improves the quality of life for our residents,” Misciagna responded to Ghassali.
When a Pascack Press reporter saw Ghassali at Borough Hall Jan. 4 while reviewing Hornrock site plans and noted the online exchanges, Ghassali said the affordable housing settlement “was a done deal but the (development) proposals are not a done deal,” he noted. He said he didn’t anticipate his post to update residents would generate such comments.
“We maintained our rights for zoning and how this is going to look. Had we lost, then the courts would be making those decisions. If we don’t like what they present, they have to go back to the drawing board and come back with a plan we want,” Ghassali told a reporter.