TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—An age-restricted active adult community development first proposed nearly a decade ago on the Washington Township–Hillsdale border was approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment Feb. 23.
The project will bring six single-family adult condominium units, and a single-family dwelling on another lot, to the township.
Applicant Golden Orchards Associates LLP was granted preliminary and final site plan approval for the condos, plus one single family home, as part of the active-adult, 55-plus community. The single-family home will not be part of the condominium development, said the applicant.
When the project was proposed, its high density became a flashpoint for nearby residents. It was downsized after litigation.
The development is 37 single-family condominium units: 31 in Hillsdale and six either partially or fully in the township, notes a Jan. 16 public notice.
The notice states that 17 of the 31 units planned for the Hillsdale side are already constructed, and 11 have been sold and occupied. The applicant received approval from Hillsdale and has fully constructed the roadway, stormwater drainage facilities, and utilities that service the entire development.
“After many years of Zoning Board meetings, plan modifications and project name change, the Golden Orchards application (off Pascack Road on the Hillsdale border) was put to a vote and approved at last night’s Zoning Board meeting,” resident Diane Grimaldi wrote Feb. 24 on the Township Taxpayers Group Facebook page.
Grimaldi until this year’s council reorganization meeting was a member of the ZBA. Late in the nearly two-hour meeting a divided governing body dropped Grimaldi and ZBA chairman Frederic Goetz.
In discussion on the ZBA composition for 2021, Councilman Michael DeSena said, “I implore the council to retain the members that are currently on the board. They went through a pivotal year with the Orchard Holdings application; they’ve already started. These members are already intimately aware of it.”
He added, with member Steve Cascio’s support, “To remove these members, I think, would be a detriment to the township, so I would make a motion that we keep the three board members as they are.”
But member Arthur Cumming disagreed: “I think we need a fresh look from some of these people. I think that we do not have a fresh look and the outlook we’re looking for.”
Online, after the meeting, Grimaldi—who works in municipal administration elsewhere—wrote incredulously of the call for “new eyes” in planning and zoning.
“The land use ordinances are quite clear and should be adhered to when possible. There are times when variances are granted for the right reasons and now, as a former member of the Zoning Board, I want to say I am concerned that these ‘new eyes’ are only another way of saying the new guard is looking to rubber-stamp variances for their supporters.”
The applicant sought a use variance from the site’s AA zoning, which permits only single-family homes on half-acre lots, plus variances from various bulk restrictions, rear and side-yard restrictions, and proximity of buildings to the rear lot line.
A brochure posted online said the community features paver driveways, patios, walkways and sidewalks, underground utilities and irrigation, extensive landscaping, and exterior maintenance by the condominium association. It says all homes have a first floor master bedroom suite, center island kitchen, vaulted great room, home office, laundry room, two-car garage, and two upstairs bedrooms and baths.
A settlement agreement in March 2016 between the Northgate Condominium Association and Caliber Builders Inc. (property developer) of New City, N.Y., spells out requirements related to planting trees, stormwater runoff and drainage, landscaping foliage and canopy, and landscape maintenance required of the developer.
The agreement also addresses issues including siltation and cleanup of detention basins, bonding requirements, fencing, and that there will be no easements granted, including drainage easements, by Northgate to Caliber.
We sought comment from Council President Stacey Feeney and the Northgate Condominium Association president but did not hear back by press time.