TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—A new code enforcement officer has issued at least seven property code violations to properties causing public nuisances including three vacant, decrepit properties at the Pascack–Washington intersection, and one to 450 Pascack Road, a rundown home marked by a blue tarp and a collapsing front porch roof.
All seven properties were cited as nuisance properties in violation of Township Code 360-29.
“The dilapidated appearance or other condition of the property materially affects the welfare, including the economic welfare of the residents for the area in close proximity to the property, and the owner has failed to take reasonable and necessary measures to remedy the conditions. For further clarification, please contact my office,” read the violation notices issued.
The “compliance due date” is March 6, 2023 for all seven violations issued.
“It is necessary to perform corrective actions before the compliance date. Another inspection will be conducted on or immediately after the compliance date to verify compliance,” reads the violation notice signed by Dino DeVirgilio, township code enforcement officer.
The three Pascack Road homes near the Pascack–Washington nexus include 664 Pascack, 666 Pascack and 674 Pascack. These three properties, and lots, have long been vacant, and for over a year, have featured red and white “X” marks across entry doors indicating they are hazardous and no one should enter.
(Related: “Vacant houses and the law,” Michael Olohan, Dec. 13, 2021.)
They now lie closer to the busy Pascack–Washington intersection following county road improvements there, including additional pass-through and turning lanes.
The properties are part of the five lots (660-682 Pascack Road) owned by 660 Pascack Realty LLC (Seasons Catering) being proposed for a 17,000 square-foot-plus strip mall.
The 450 Pascack Road property, part of a 3.2-acre sliver of mostly wooded land between Ridgewood Boulevard East and Washington Elementary School and Memorial Field, remains at the center of closed session Township Council debate over its potential purchase.
Neighbors want the 450 Pascack property purchased and preserved while current council members appear less worried about development and more with cost and future benefit.
In summer 2021, the township bid $430,000 for the property.
An “Available” sign was put on the front lawn in late 2021; the owners were asking up to $2.1 million for the site’s “development potential” on high-end property marketing sites.
Other nuisance properties cited included 101 Pascack Road; 680 McKinley Avenue; and 683 Van Emburgh Avenue.
Efforts to reach DeVirgilio to find out possible penalties were not returned by press time.