TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—An applicant engineer speaking at the Planning Board addressed concerns about a long-planned 44-unit inclusionary development off of Van Emburgh Avenue at a first hearing, of some three hours, on Aug. 4.
A continuation hearing for the major subdivision, billed as a luxury living, by applicant Franklin Court Management LLC of Roselle, is set for Wednesday, Aug. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Applicant architect Rob Larsen and applicant traffic engineer Betsy Dolan are expected to testify Aug. 18 if time allows. Most board meetings conclude at approximately 10 p.m.
Planning Board meetings are held via video conference using the Zoom meeting platform. Meeting access is posted on the meeting agenda as well as the township’s Planning Board application page.
Also on the Planning Board’s calendar:
- 654 Mountain Ave., NE Realty Partners, Sept. 1.
- Viviano American Dream Estates, special meeting, Sept. 22.
Affordable housing in the mix
Franklin Court Management’s multifamily complex proposed includes seven on-site affordable units and two single-family homes (block 1102, lots 1.04, 2, 9, and 11) as agreed to as part of the township’s 2015 affordable housing settlement.
The development is near the Hillsdale border. The two homes that will be built are off of Fillmore Drive, in front of a wooded area that buffers an entrance to Garden State Parkway South off of Washington Avenue.
Prior to the Aug. 4 hearing, Planning Board Attorney Lou Lamatina said that he had advised Mayor Peter Calamari to recuse himself from participating in the decision due to his having participated in the township’s affordable housing settlement.
Applicant engineer Michael Pucci, of CPL Partnership, Matawan, went through multiple questions raised by board engineer Paul Azzolina (see the town website under Planning Board, “PB Documents”) about the number of trees requiring replacement for both complex driveway construction off of Van Emburgh Avenue and at two single-family homes on Fillmore Drive.
Pucci said the site plan was prepared under his direction. He said there is 130 feet of frontage along Van Emburgh Avenue and that the project has received “conditional approval” for a driveway on Van Emburgh from the county. Van Emburgh Avenue is a county road.
The 44-unit complex and two homes will be located on a 15.6-acre tract.
Board Engineer Paul Azzolina noted the applicant had received conditional approval on its site plan application and subdivision application.
Indeed, the applicant responded to concerns from the township and comments from the Bergen County Planning Board and its engineering department after a January review, amending or resubmitting certain features.
On Aug. 4, Planning Board member Tom Sears questioned whether a traffic study had been completed. Applicant attorney Donna Jennings, of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, said that would be addressed by their client’s traffic engineer.
Sears also wondered why board members were not supplied with all correspondence between emergency services officials and the applicant prior to the hearing.
Jennings said they supplied all emails to the board secretary, who said she would make copies and transmit them to members during the meeting.
Applicant attorneys said in January that “Response e-mails to [the board secretary] were received from” WTVAC head Robert Rayve, dated July 1, 2020; fire official Thomas Derienzo Jr., dated July 9, 2020; and police chief Richard Skinner, dated July 21, 2020.”
Pucci noted the multifamily complex would include 90 parking spaces: 19 outdoors and 71 indoors. He said state residential site improvement standards, or RSIS, requires 88 spaces for the 44-unit complex.
He said the land is zoned AA for single-family homes but that the multifamily development was approved by the township’s affordable settlement.
Concerns were raised about large vehicles’ access to the site — including fire trucks and garbage trucks — as well as possible water-pressure concerns for firefighting by member Vladimir Wojno-Oranski.
Pucci said that would be documented later and did not need to be addressed before the Planning Board.
Sears noted that “one of the first questions” asked was about the lack of access to the rear of the complex for firefighting. Sears also asked Pucci to state where the firefighting standpipe hookups were in the development.
Jennings said the architect would describe them during his testimony.
Former Mayor Janet Sobkowicz questioned the height of the new 44-unit complex, claiming a 2016 site application showed its maximum height only about 45 feet high as opposed to 63 feet that she said the applicant was now requesting.
Sobkowicz also wondered who would be responsible for maintaining any open space left at the site, which she said was unclear. “This is really not good… We need to discuss all this as it’s not fair to the people on Fillmore.”
She also questioned why Ordinance #18-12, adopted Oct. 1, 2018, which established an inclusionary multifamily affordable housing overlay district, does not mention the two single-family homes now planned for Fillmore Drive.
It was not immediately clear if the homes needed to be specifically mentioned or were covered by a prior agreement.
Neighbors’ concerns
Nearby residents raised concerns about traffic, declining quality of life, snow removal, tree replacement, pedestrian safety, and unanswered questions about maintenance of dedicated open space on the property.
Honeysuckle Drive resident Steven Kalish said he wants a discussion of traffic patterns near Washington and Van Emburgh avenues given the new construction planned.
“Get ahead of that and get a request into the county,” he said.
Dharmendra Sharma, one of several Fillmore Drive residents expressing concerns, noted the Township was “a small town” with a high quality of life and stressed traffic studies were needed “when you increase the number of residents eight to 10 times.”
Referring to increased traffic hazards, Sharma said, “We are being sold down the line… common sense tells me this is going to be unlivable at the cost of our lives.”
In addition to privacy and ecological concerns, he worried the project would add to an increase in property taxes and more kids in local schools. He urged board members “to protect our quality of life.”
Van Emburgh Avenue resident Richard Horowitz questioned where snow will be stored to permit emergency vehicles’ access. Pucci said snow would be pushed to “areas of repose” along the curb line and that the developer would hire “proper personnel” to address snow removal concerns.
Horowitz said he believed there would be “too much traffic coming out of there” and calculated there would be a minimum of 239 trips in and out on busy Van Emburgh Avenue. He said traffic “frequently” backs up to the Hillsdale border during the school year.
Fillmore Drive resident Eric Uderitz, who has lived here for 16-years, wondered whether the Colorado Blue Spruce trees planned to prove a privacy screen would grow fast enough to provide privacy to his and nearby neighbors’ backyards.
He said he had “significant concern” with traffic being added on Van Emburgh and noted a lack of sidewalks for pedestrians along Van Emburgh for new residents. Pucci said “pedestrian movement” would be limited between the complex’s parking lot and main building.
Fillmore Drive resident Darius Oggioni said he had “a whole lot of issues” with truck access to the complex and safety concerns, which may be raised at upcoming meetings.