TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—After nearly a decade of on-again, off-again negotiations between township officials and owners of 450 Pascack Road, a mostly wooded 3.2 acre sliver of property between Ridgewood Boulevard East and Memorial Field, the Township Council introduced an ordinance Nov. 8 to appropriate $825,000 for the purchase of the property.
Neither the mayor nor council member commented on the introduction. The ordinance will have a required public hearing on Dec. 4.
Ordinance No. 23-15 appropriates $825,000 for the purchase, including the issuance of $785,000 in bonds or notes.
A little over three years ago, property owner Robert Morris teamed up with a developer who proposed a 48-unit senior living complex on the site, which was withdrawn after strong neighborhood and public opposition. Since then, the property’s Pascack Road frontage has sported an Available sign. A dilapidated home, often strewn with tarps and deteriorating nearby structures, can be seen from Pascack Road.
Although real estate brokers had listed the site at $2.1 million, no sale had occurred. However, dozens of residents have pleaded with council members to acquire the property over many years, including more intensely over the last three while the property has been up for sale.
Mayor Peter Calamari has advocated for acquiring the property, at one point alleging it was being eyed for development.
Late last year, the council discussed possibly using the Open Space Swim Club acquisition grant ($438,750) on purchasing 450 Pascack Road but decided against it and then held off on accepting the grant funds due to possible land use restrictions attached to accepting it.
According to 2023’s preliminary grant recommendations made Sept. 6 by the county Open Space Trust Fund Advisory Committee, which are generally approved in December by the County Commissioners, the township received two grants this year: a $550,000 land acquisition grant to acquire 450 Pascack Road; and a $60,111 grant for Phase I engineering, surveying and environmental testing at the 6.2-acre former township swim club, acquired by the town in April 2022.
Also on Nov. 8, the council introduced Ordinance No. 23-16 that appropriates $438,750 “constituting proceeds of a grant from the County of Bergen” for the improvement of lands at 464 Ridgewood Boulevard North, the former Washington Township Swim Club property.
The township accepted the grant earlier this year and recently received the funds from the county. The ordinance dedicates the funding to upgrades at the former swim club.