BY JOHN SNYDER
OF PASACACK PRESS
EMERSON—With the borough’s redeveloper set to present at a special meeting of the Land Use Board Dec. 10, the Borough Council took the next step in its plan to overhaul downtown, agreeing last week to vacate and convey certain public lands for the project.
Members also agreed at the Dec. 4 meeting of the mayor and council that, starting in 2019, weekly recycling will change from Wednesday to Monday.
They also heard an update from the borough planner on rolling out a new comprehensive sign code applying to businesses, approving the measure in a first required reading.
The land conveyance, also vacating Kenneth Avenue, is a condition of the 2016 redeveloper agreement with Emerson Redevelopers Urban Renewal LLC, an affiliate of JMF Properties.
In that agreement, the borough said it will hand over Block 419 Lot 7, now used as the Emerson Volunteer Ambulance Corps, for a fair market value of $500,000.
In exchange, the redeveloper agrees to construct an emergency municipal services building at its sole cost, up to $500,000. The borough is on the hook to provide site plans and property for this new facility.
Emerson purchased two properties on Locust Avenue that could be utilized, and the governing body has debated how this might work in concepts for a new or updated Borough Hall.
The land conveyance depends on ERUR’s success in getting all of its permits. The votes for conveyance passed over Councilwoman and Mayor-elect Danielle DiPaola’s “no” votes.
On Election Day, DiPaola and her running mates, Brian Gordon and Ken Hoffman, unseated Mayor Louis J. Lamatina; Karen Wolf, who was seated in January; and Brian Downing, a retired county sheriff’s sergeant who was making his first bid for re-election.
DiPaola, who will be the borough’s first female mayor, called her win “a referendum on overdevelopment.”
After the Dec. 4 meeting, she told Pascack Press, “This project was purposefully accelerated to get everything locked down before the change in our government. It has tied up every loose end—as well as the hands of any future governing bodies.”
Required second votes on the ordinances, 1575-18 and 1576-18, are expected at the next regular meeting of the Mayor and Council, Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers of Borough Hall.
ERUR is scheduled to appear at a special meeting of the Land Use Board on Monday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers to present on its plans.
Action may be taken on preliminary and final major site plan approval for the construction of a four-story building consisting of 147 residential rental units (22 of which shall be affordable housing units), approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space, amenity space, a parking garage, and other site improvements.
ERUR is looking for “such variances, exceptions, approvals, waivers, permits or relief as may be determined to be necessary upon review of the application.”
Further, the applicant seeks a permit for major soil moving.
ERUR’s progress to the Land Use Board was made possible late October when, citing “a cloud of condemnation” and “substantial legal expenses,” the final two property owners agreed to sell, giving ERUR its wish list for Block 419: lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 6.01-6.02, 7, 8, 9, and 10 in the Central Business District Redevelopment Area.
As the buyer and final sellers were poised to strike a deal against the backdrop of two pending lawsuits over eminent domain and the borough’s tactics, Lamatina said that related agreements were “a win-win-win for all involved, especially the residents of our borough.”
He added, “We look forward to moving forward with this long-overdue revitalization to a part of our downtown.”
According to the redeveloper agreement, should ERUR not be able to pick up a needed property on its own, it “shall request that the borough assist it in purchasing or acquiring” holdout properties under land use law specifically as permitted under eminent domain proceedings. The borough passed a related ordinance in February. Lamatina said in October that with deals coming together eminent domain, a threat he said was required by the town’s affordable housing settlement, was coming off the table.
On Dec. 3, tenant Ranch Cleaners, 190 Kinderkamack Road, took out an ad blaming its pending Dec. 15 closure on the redevelopment project, thanking its customers for more than 34 years of business and wishing them happy holidays.
Affected retail tenants reportedly are being given help relocating.
Residents critique renderings
Copies of the maps and documents for which Land Use Board approval is sought are on file and available for public inspection at the borough clerk’s office.
Elevations a resident posted to Facebook show the picturesque Faustini’s Institute of Martial Arts building, formerly a gas station site at 200 Kinderkamack, engulfed on three sides by long runs of proposed four-story construction.
Commenters observed that the plans are dissimilar to initial pitch renderings and show light traffic parked in the area despite a hypothetical influx of residents, vendors, and shoppers.
A parking garage is proposed.