TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—While the Township Council is focused on acquiring the 3.2 acres at 450 Pascack Road to be used for passive recreation purposes, the council voted unanimously Feb. 20 to apply for a $100,000 state grant for the design and planning of recreation improvements at the slender site.
Township officials recently said they hope to make the site into walking trails and possibly a part of nearby Memorial Field, the town’s flagship recreational field used for multiple sports and community events. No further details were provided.
The property is sandwiched between a dozen Ridgewood Boulevard East homes on its southern side, a few homes on Jackson Avenue to the west, and Memorial Field and Washington Elementary School on its northern side.
The grant application to the state Department of Community Affairs Local Recreation Improvement Grant program is to help “correct drainage, flooding and related issues, and preliminary site work and investigation.”
The township plans to purchase the property for $750,000.
Administrator Mark DiCarlo told Pascack Press that structure demolition costs “are an eligible expense” under the grant’s guidelines. The site currently features three structures, including a run-down home fronting Pascack Road, plus a deteriorating garage and barn behind it.
DiCarlo said he anticipated knowing whether the grant would be awarded approximately 90 days after the grant’s Feb. 27 deadline.
The resolution notes that the DCA Local Recreation Improvement Grants “provide funds to municipal governments for assistance in the development, improvement, and repair of municipal recreation facilities to ensure public access to community facilities and related unmet needs.”
DiCarlo told Pascack Press that no public hearing was required to apply for the LRIG improvement grant. “However, public input will be part of the Township’s process at the appropriate time once more definitive plans are developed based upon topography, drainage and related issues.”
DiCarlo told us that township attorney Kenneth Poller said the agreement of sale will be finalized and signed shortly; closing should take place within 90 to 120 days.
The township was also awarded a $550,000 county land acquisition grant in December to acquire the 450 Pascack property for passive recreation purposes. The Township Council also approved an $825,000 bond ordinance in late 2023 to purchase the property, including funds for soft costs such as legal, architect and engineering fees.
The township has had on and off negotiations for the property since it became available over three years ago, and for nearly a decade before under a prior administration. After a 48-unit senior complex was proposed by a developer and withdrawn in summer 2020, the owners have marketed the property for $2.1 million on several commercial real estate sites.
Initially, the township offered $430,000 for the property in late 2021 following an appraisal but then that appraised value later increased based on appraisals included with its 2023 county Open Space grant application.
Neighbors on Ridgewood Boulevard East have been pressing the council for its acquisition as open space since summer 2020 when it was first proposed for development.
Last year, then-town council president Desserie Morgan and Mayor Peter Calamari exchanged sharp words over the need to acquire the property after Calamari alleged a developer was eyeing it. All negotiation updates were discussed in closed session and not made public over the past two-plus years.