EMERSON, N.J.—The Borough Council voted on Dec. 17 to approve lease condemnation for the embattled Cork & Keg liquor store on Kinderkamack Road, which is at ground zero of the block 419 redevelopment project.
Then, on Dec. 18, Mayor Danielle DiPaola said that demolition on block 419 had begun, with heavy machinery making short work of 214 Kinderkamack Road.
Gone, she said, was the old Casa Hofbrau, Vanno’s, Arthur’s Tavern, Gregory T’s, Ranchero Cantina, and Cinar Turkish Restaurant.
“Thanks for the memories. You served us well,” she wrote.
The Dec. 17 session was also the final meeting for Council President Gerald Falotico, who fell short in his bid for a seat on the state Assembly with Democratic running mate John Birkner Jr. of Westwood; and for Democratic Councilman Chris Knoller, who is leaving at the end of the year with one year left on his term.
The vote taking aim at Cork & Keg’s lease was requested a month ago by redeveloper partner Jack Klugman, owner of Accurate Builders, Emerson Redevelopers Urban Renewal LLC, pursuant to terms of his firm’s contract with the borough under former mayor Louis Lamatina, but binding now nonetheless.
DiPaola, who opposed key aspects of Lamatina’s plan for redevelopment, the upscale four-story Emerson Station, pointed out it was her administration that drafted and voted on a resolution to provide an opportunity for the parties to come to a mutually agreeable settlement.
The alternative, she said, was to expose the borough and its taxpayers to a costly claim over breach of contract.
DiPaola said she was optimistic that the parties would come to terms on relocation for Cork & Keg by the Jan. 2, 2020 deadline, possibly through binding arbitration.
“Before tonight’s meeting our borough administrator reached out to both parties and what we’re hoping for is an amicable settlement…so that the eminent domain does not have to go into effect,” she said.
If the parties can’t settle by the deadline—which could be extended if both parties agree—the vote authorizes the borough attorney to move ahead with condemnation, she said.
That process would bring the parties before a judge.
“It seems to me there’s going to be movement at this point,” DiPaola said.
Borough Attorney John McCann told Pascack Press, “What’s inevitable is that if they don’t agree then there’s going to be lawsuits, and that will jeopardize taxpayer money.” e
Cork & Keg owner Dominick Scala and his family, with several supporters and their attorney, Richard P. DeAngelis Jr. of McKirdy, Riskin, Olson and DellaPelle, were at the meeting.
Scala said it wasn’t a matter of wanting to stay at 188 Kinderkamack Road, where his business has operated for decades; it’s that he has nowhere to go.
He said the redeveloper, who now owns his building, did not help him seize an opportunity to reopen elsewhere in town, where the rent was twice what he pays now.
His lease has five years remaining. Condemning it would be devastating, he said.
“We have talked to the developer and town about relocating our business but they have failed to provide us with any locations. As a liquor store, we must keep our business in Emerson and, of course, we want to stay in Emerson,” Scala said.
The developer refused to pay the difference on the prospective rent, he said.
Scala vowed to fight a condemnation effort.
“We have no choice. Without a suitable location in Emerson, we will lose our business,” he said.
He told Pascack Press before the meeting, “There has been no meaningful effort by the borough or the developer to assist us. The new mayor and council majority won last year’s election running on an anti-eminent domain platform and do not need to condemn our lease.”
He added, “In fact, the borough does not have the authority to do so, which will be the basis for our opposition should the borough proceed against us.”
Scala said, “We have stated our intent to negotiate with the developer but he would rather try to bully a small business owner who has served the people of Emerson for more than 20 years.” DeAngelis, a property rights advocate, told the council prior to the vote, “It does look like we are on a collision course, unfortunately. I know that many of you if you had your druthers wouldn’t be in this position.”
He added that he has communicated to the borough attorney his view that the borough lacks the authority to condemn this lease, and said, “I think you inherited a very flawed redevelopment process.”
Memoranda of agreement signed late last year removed the borough’s threat of eminent domain against the then owners on Block 419 lots, 2, 3, 4, and 6.01, which included the Cinar Turkish Restaurant, Cork & Keg Liquor, and Ranch Cleaners.
Emerson Station is set to feature luxury living and approximately 15,000 square feet of retail for restaurants, luxury goods, fitness studios, and banks that would net $2.4 million in annual rental income.
There would also be a set-aside of 22 to 29 low- to moderate-income housing units at the site, less than 8% of the borough’s unmet need for affordable housing.
DeAngelis said in February 2018 that the borough had been arguing vigorously but erroneously that land taking is applicable because the redevelopment plan was amended to include affordable housing.
“The borough’s affordable housing argument is nothing more than a sham to try and take private property for a redevelopment project … without having to defend against my clients’ legal challenges to the redevelopment designation,” he said. This February a group of business owners moved in Superior Court to file an appeal with the borough over its Land Use Board decision in the last days of 2018 that agreed to demolish their sites on Block 419.
The appellants were Tanveer A. Hassan, owner of Sendai Japanese Restaurant and Grill; Ozturk Eren, owner of Cozy Cafe and Grill; Ryan C. Parkes, owner of Parke5 Catering; and Caiqui Zheng, owner of Laurel Chinese Restaurant II.
Zheng is still in court over redevelopment. “We’re not the last man standing at this point—or family,” DeAngelis said of Cork & Keg.
“Dominick wants to run a business and take care of his family. He doesn’t want to be paying me to be in court for him. I do feel for this mayor and council because they inherited this and it’s unfortunate, but they’re going to proceed as they see fit,” he told Pascack Press.
After the meeting, DiPaola told Pascack Press, “There’s a mistaken sentiment out there that we have not done anything to help the Cork & Keg. We have had meetings with the developer asking them to do right by the Cork & Keg.”
She added, “Because it’s a negotiation the developer thinks it’s doing right and the Cork & Keg doesn’t think that they [the developer] are doing right. So they’re at an impasse.”
DiPaola said, “So that’s why our borough administrator today suggested arbitration—someone else can decide if it’s fair or not.”
Asked whether both parties are amenable to that, DiPaola said, “That’s unclear.”
DiPaola and McCann told Pascack Press that the borough and Klugman are negotiating over environmental issues, but that the redeveloper has handed over requested information.
“We’ve held his feet to the fire over things he’s told us in meetings and then shifted on,” DiPaola said.
She added that “The best interest for the borough, and my priority, is the health and well being of all of our residents.”
McCann said, “We’ve received some information from him. We’d like some more and we’re sure we’ll get it.
