HILLSDALE—The Planning Board raised significant concerns with several changes proposed by the Borough Council in its efforts to accommodate the current redeveloper proposing a four-story, 250-unit luxury rental complex as the first redevelopment project in the borough’s Patterson Street Redevelopment Zone.
A public hearing on the proposed amendments is likely at the July 12 Council meeting.
Questions about recommended higher imperviousness and whether self-storage facilities are inconsistent with the borough Master Plan’s goals to “maintain the borough’s suburban character” were raised by Planning Board officials about recent amendments that the Council proposed to its Hillsdale Patterson Street Redevelopment Plan.
Moreover, the Planning Board offered four recommendations, including that the proposed self-storage use “be eliminated.”
The two concerns, plus additional recommendations, were reported in a letter dated June 9 from the Planning Board and the letter’s arrival delayed a June 14 public hearing on the amendments, said officials.
While the Borough Council is not required by law to follow Planning Board recommendations, they generally do as the Planning Board is responsible for creating and updating the town’s Master Plan.
Moreover, any changes to local zoning must remain consistent with the Master Plan, which planning (and zoning) officials oversee and implement.
The Planning Board recently updated its Master Plan as part of a reexamination, which is required at least every decade by statute.
Borough Administrator David Troast said that special redevelopment counsel Joseph Baumann did not have enough time to review the comments before the council’s June 14 regular meeting. He said the Planning Board comments were returned within the 45-day period required by law.
The redevelopment plan amendments were proposed by Council to accommodate a proposed redeveloper, Claremont March LLC, and its proposal for a four-story, 250-unit, luxury apartment rental complex on a 5.4-acre site formerly occupied by a Waste Management transfer station near downtown Hillsdale.
Troast said the June 9 letter arrival was “not enough time to address some of the concerns and issues that they brought up to present to the council.” Council motioned to carry the decision to July 12.
Mayor John Ruocco said the Planning Board comments could be made public, and Pascack Press requested and received them via an Open Public Records Act request.
Planning Board Planner Tom Behrens reported that at least two provisions were “inconsistent” with the Master Plan.
“The proposed increase in maximum impervious coverage for Blocks 1210 and 1211 from 70% to 90% is contrary to the Borough’s land use goals and objectives to mitigate stormwater runoff and is contrary to the Borough’s smart growth strategy to reduce impervious coverage,” states a letter from the Planning Board’s legal counsel, Cleary Giaccobe Alfieri Jacobs LLC.
“In addition, the increase in maximum impervious coverage is an urbanized condition that does not support the Borough’s general redevelopment recommendations to maintain the Borough’s suburban character,” the letter notes.
The letter further noted, “Although the proposed self-storage use itself is not inconsistent with the Borough’s Master Plan and Reexamination Reports, the elimination of the buffer between industrial to residential development does not support the Borough’s general redevelopment recommendations to maintain the Borough’s suburban character as same would create an urbanized condition.”
Following a Planning Board discussion, board members voted 5-3 that “on balance, Ordinance 22-08 was inconsistent with the Borough’s Master Plan and Reexamination Reports.”
Moreover, the board added four additional comments on Ordinance 22-08.
The Board was concerned that the proposed requirement that future development only meet NJDEP Stormwater Management requirements outlined in N.J.A.C. 7:8 would not sufficiently mitigate stormwater runoff or meet the intent of the Borough’s Master Plan, particularly considering that the subject Blocks presently have high impervious lot coverage.
The Board recommends that the proposed maximum impervious coverage for Blocks 1210 and 1211 remain at 70% to support the Borough’s land use goals and objectives to mitigate stormwater runoff and to support the Borough’s smart growth strategy to reduce impervious coverage.
The Board recommends that the proposed self-storage use be eliminated to support the Borough’s general redevelopment recommendations to maintain the Borough’s suburban character. If the proposed self-storage use is to remain, the Board recommends that the buffer from industrial to residential be restored to match the Borough’s underlying zoning requirements.
The Board supports the setback requirement from the bank of the Pascack Brook and further recommends that the Redevelopment Plan include a requirement to provide public access to the Pascack Brook.
The Board was concerned with the provision that every unit over 28 units per acre constructed as part of an approved Density Bonus may be rented or sold at market rate and shall not be subject to the affordable housing set-aside percentages in this redevelopment plan. However, the Mayor confirmed that this provision complies with the Borough’s Settlement with Fair Share Housing (Center).
At an April 25 special meeting, Borough Planner Francis Reiner, DMR Architects, reviewed what he said were the four major redevelopment plan revisions proposed by the amendments.
He said the amendments provided a definition of self-storage facilities, which previously were only permitted on Block 1210, and were wanted in another location by the redeveloper.
Also, he said, minor tweaks included changes in setbacks, bulk standards, signage, and one parking space for every 15,000 square feet.
Other proposed changes reported were that Brookside Place can be vacated, mandated electric vehicle charging stations be included, and that under stormwater/floodplain/sewer, that any future site plan application meets all NJDEP standards for such.
Following the amendments’ introduction, the proposed changes were sent to the Planning Board for review.
See “Hillsdale Tweaks Redevelop Plan To Suit Luxury Rental Complex,” May 2, 2022, Pascack Press online.