WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—Mayor Carlos Rendo cited three long-discussed properties where planned development has stalled, along with concerns about a private pond, in a July 20 update to residents.
Rendo said he had received inquiries and complaints about “general maintenance issues in and around town.”
The concerns focused on an abandoned gas station at 126 Broadway, the former Faber Carpet building at 216 Broadway, Woodcliff Manor at 25 Prospect Avenue, and Storm Pond, off Saddle River Road and Stacey Lane.
“The property that consistently comes up is the gas station on Broadway,” Rendo said. “I’ve driven by there this weekend. I’ve driven by there a lot. It’s getting worse; it looks worse.”
“To me it’s an abandoned property, nothing has been done on it,” he added, urging the council to act.
Administrator Tom Padilla said he recently spoke with property owner Martin Malek and his attorney, and that Malek indicated work would begin the following week. Padilla said Malek planned to seek permits to clean out the building and prepare it for demolition.
Plans approved last year call for converting the former filling station into a three-story, mixed-use building with eight apartments and 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. See “New life for long-abandoned gas station site as borough approves multifamily/retail building,” Aug. 2, 2025, at thepressgroup.net.
Rendo said he had heard similar assurances before. Padilla said he advised the property maintenance official to cite Malek for property abandonment and issue other summonses July 21.
Rendo also raised concerns about the former Faber Carpet building, approved for conversion into six apartments. He said there were reports people had moved in and questions about whether the property had a certificate of occupancy. He also noted the lack of landscaping in front.
See “Proposed six-unit rental building special hearing March 30,” March 26, 2022, at thepressgroup.net.
At the former Woodcliff Manor, Rendo said he believed a new design had recently been approved. Clerk Debbie Dakin said the contractor was addressing drainage problems in the parking lot before beginning a larger project.
Rendo also discussed Storm Pond after a Stacey Lane resident asked the borough to dredge and clean it. Because the pond is privately owned, he said, the borough has little authority over it.
Officials contacted the county Engineering and Health departments to determine whether any action could be taken.
Rendo said the pond is fed by a tributary of Musquapsink Brook and suggested the county might be able to address conditions upstream. Padilla said a complaint about algae in the pond was investigated and the algae was found to be beneficial.
Officials and residents have long raised concerns about development — or the lack of it — along the Broadway Corridor and efforts to better connect the borough’s eastern and western sides.
In 2021, then-Councilor Josephine Higgins, a former mayor, presented a resident survey on the borough’s future, Broadway Corridor development, and long- and short-term planning.
See “Higgins lauds survey responses; Broadway corridor a hot issue,” May 24, 2021, at thepressgroup.net.