Snubbed 188 Broadway applicant returns, seeking variances

The Broadway Corridor—pictured in a Borough of Woodcliff Lake-commissioned study—has long been studied for future uses.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—A developer whose previous application to build a two-building, 60-unit apartment complex at 188 Broadway was rejected has applied with a similar proposal to the Zoning Board, citing years-long declines in office space made worse by Covid-19 and new demands for housing caused by city dwellers escaping urban areas during the pandemic.

The applicant, 188 Broadway LLP, is represented by Kaufman, Semeraro, & Leibman LLP, of Fort Lee.

Zoning Board professionals are reviewing the application and will likely soon set a hearing date, said officials.

The applicant is applying for a land-use variance, two bulk variances and three waivers. Its original application was denied unanimously 18 months ago by the Zoning Board of Adjustment after eight hearings.

Following the Zoning Board’s July 2019 rejection, 188 Broadway LLP appealed the denial via a lawsuit currently before Superior Court Judge Gregg Padovano. Recently, Borough Attorney John Schettino said the outcome of that lawsuit is unlikely to affect the current preliminary and final site plan application submitted to the Zoning Board.

“This (Covid-19) pandemic has dramatically changed how the world operates and drastically reduced the demand for and utility of office space,” states the application.

“As more workers have adapted and begun to work remotely as a result of the pandemic, office uses have become even more obsolete, resulting in an increase in vacant, dilapidated office buildings,” states the proposal.

It notes “economic inutility” is a special reason for a land use variance, which is being applied for due to the site’s current Special Office (SO) zoning.

“Further, as a result of the pandemic, there has been a significant demand for housing outside of New York City,” states the application, which notes Woodcliff Lake “does not currently have enough housing to accommodate this demand.”

Taken together, demand for use and site suitability constitute a “special reason” for a land-use variance, states the proposal.

“The applicant’s proposal to convert an existing outdated office building into multi-family residential units repurposes an obsolete use and provides additional housing to meet increased housing demand. As such, the applicant respectfully requests you consider the proposed multi-family residential use in light of the change of circumstance as a result of the pandemic.”

A vacant two-story office building, with an underground parking garage, stands on the site. This building has a total footprint of 21,167 square feet and under the proposal, will be converted into 36 apartment units.

The 60-unit apartment complex includes nine affordable housing units, a 15% set-aside for rentals in new multi-family housing required by the borough’s 2017 affordable settlement.

The applicant also proposes to construct a second, three-story building behind the existing building with 24 residential units, with a total footprint of 8,350 square feet. The existing office building currently has a nonconforming front yard setback, which will remain unchanged by the new construction.

The proposal notes the new application resolves previously unresolved issues raised by the fire department, board planner and board engineer, cited in the board’s 2019 resolution of denial.

The Zoning Board previously cited high density, traffic, current zoning for office space, and quality of life concerns in rejecting the original application.

The applicant requests the following three variances. A use variance to place multi-family housing not permitted in a SO (Special Office) zone; a bulk variance for an additional half story in height for Building 2’s three stories where only 2.5 stories are allowed; and a variance for interior parking landscaping, where it proposes 185 square feet while 1,320 square feet of interior parking landscaping are required.

Moreover, the applicant seeks three waivers from site plan requirements. These include maximum main approach grade for walkways of 4%, where 5% is proposed; a minimum swale grade of 2%, where 1% is proposed; and minimum of one off-street loading berth where none are proposed.

In a related matter, the Borough Council has a public hearing Feb. 8 on an ordinance to hire a planning consultant, Philips, Preiss, Grygiel, for $45,000 over five years to update its Master Plan and address planning issues including Broadway Corridor.

According to the borough attorney, Master Plan updates and municipal revaluations can be expensed over five years via a special emergency appropriation.

At a Jan. 27 Pascack Valley mayors forum, Mayor Carlos Rendo used the occasion to criticize the council, charging they “[do] not understand the importance of planning” and said they appeared poised to vote against updating the borough’s Master Plan.

He said the Master Plan was being challenged in a pending lawsuit by a developer denied approval to build a 60-unit, two building complex at 188 Broadway about 18 months ago.

“I’m not hopeful that that will pass based on conversations I’ve had with the council,” Rendo said.

He said without an updated comprehensive Master Plan “in the end that’s going to damage Woodcliff Lake in the future immeasurably.”

Rendo said Jan. 27 that the pending lawsuit charges that “the economic conditions of the (corridor) area has affected them therefore they need the variances to build” and without an updated Master Plan “leaves our Zoning Board and Planning Board vulnerable to those types of litigation.”

He said without an updated Master Plan, property values will decline along Broadway Corridor, the borough’s downtown, due to the presence of dilapidated and abandoned buildings.