TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—The township attorney said that acquiring 450 Pascack Road remains “a priority” and discouraged council members from talking about the property in public, as it pertains to negotiations and possible litigation.
At the May 3 council meeting, Township Attorney Kenneth Poller said he expected to have the appraisal of 450 Pascack Road, a 3.2-acre mostly wooded lot adjacent to Memorial Field and Washington Elementary School, in hand that week.
He did not say the matter was currently a matter of negotiation or litigation.
The council hired McNerney & Associates, of Glen Rock, on Feb. 16 to conduct an appraisal for $2,500. Council also hired the firm to provide testimony, at $150 per hour, should that be required.
In April, Poller talked at length about the need for the council not to discuss closed-session items in public. Examples were the town’s interest in the Swim and Recreation Club, and in a $60,600 deal struck to park public works equipment at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church for up to two years.
“It’s not the wise thing to be putting out thought processes, approaches, strengths, weaknesses, and things of that nature when you’re doing a negotiation or litigating,” he told the council during the May 3 Zoom meeting.
“So as far as you know what’s happening in terms of arguments, and values, and numbers, and steps and things of that nature, I would have to leave that to the council because as we all know those are discussed pretty much in closed session; it’s an ongoing thing,” said Poller
“It is moving ahead and it is a priority and that’s all I can say on that,” he said.
Later in the meeting Councilmember Michael DeSena, who is running for mayor, asked Mayor Peter Calamari where the $850,000 figure came from in the town’s resolution to start negotiating for the swim club.
After being asked for the origin of the sum multiple times, Calamari replied, “It was a negotiated number.” He did not elaborate.
Location, location, location
Interest in 450’s rare buildable residential strip has been keen for years. Immediate past mayor Janet Sobkowicz recently speculated about the value of the site and Pascack Press had reported on the property’s marketing efforts pitching it at $2.1 million.
Several weeks ago Sobkowicz alleged she had offered one of 450 Pascack’s current owners, Robert Morris, $700,000 to purchase the property a few years ago, that he first appeared to accept the offer, and that the deal fell apart after he pressed for another $100,000 to close the deal.
Efforts seeking Morris’s reaction to Sobkowicz’s recollection of events were not returned by press time.
Pascack Press reported Sobkowicz’s statement and recently reported on two marketing companies contracted by Morris, both selling the tract for $2.1 million, mainly based on its development potential.
Both companies offered development plans and one offered “scenarios” for property use.
No development proposal has been approved for the property, which is zoned “AA” for single-family homes on half-acre lots.
A previous proposal for a 48-unit senior complex by Lakos Construction Inc., owned by developer Nick Tsapatsaris, was withdrawn last summer partly due to public opposition.
A local citizens group, Stop Township Overdevelopment Projects, or STOP, has pressed the council not to consider the site’s “speculative” value during its property appraisal. Poller told the residents that that would not be part of an appraisal.
STOP member Diane Ferrara contends the property is “unbuildable” due to its narrow width and lack of room for property setbacks and regulation-size streets for subdivision access.
Moreover, STOP claims emergency vehicles cannot access the property due to steep slopes, high-density housing and on-site environmental constraints.
Lakos Construction’s Tsapatsaris said the property is on the market
On other property marketing sites, including Zillow, where the site was listed as off-market, the property was listed in the $500,000 to $600,000 price range.
It is assessed at $320,000 for local tax purposes, and has been for eight years, with annual property taxes of about $8,000. The land is assessed at $254,600 and improvements (home, farm structure and barn) assessed at $65,500.
Its current assessment followed a 2012 assessment of $541,900, which was reduced.
Ridgewood Boulevard East resident Michael Proto told members May 3 he was “a little bit concerned” that the township was looking to purchase the Washington Township Swim & Recreation Club for an agreed-upon price of $850,000 — and not 450 Pascack Road.
Poller reassured Proto that 450 Pascack Road was a priority, “and remains a priority. It is a process that’s going to be handled through negotiations, litigation, whatever it takes.”
Proto and a dozen nearby Ridgewood Boulevard East neighbors have continued to call council meetings to inquire about 450 Pascack’s status.
Moreover, three Ridgewood Blvd. East homeowners hired an attorney to send a letter to council calling for either rezoning 450 Pascack Road as open space or acquiring it for public purposes via eminent domain.
— With John Snyder