TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—The Township Council on Feb. 16 approved a bill to conduct a property appraisal of 450 Pascack Road, abutting Memorial Field, only eight months after the property’s developer withdrew an application to build a 44-unit senior complex and four senior townhomes.
The property’s developer, Nick Tsapatsaris of Lakos Construction Inc., told Pascack Press on Feb. 22 that “our agent is in contact with the [appraisal] firm retained by the Township and will be showing them the property. In the meantime it is on the market for sale.”
Nearby residents advocating for preservation of the mostly wooded tract—one of the last remaining forested areas in the township—say the appraisal is the first step toward possible acquisition via a negotiated offer or possibly eminent domain proceedings.
The council approved an appraisal bill for McNerney & Associates of Glen Rock on the property. The measure was neither passed as a consent resolution agenda resolution nor mentioned on the meeting’s agenda. Our records request showed it was passed as three single bills in the bills list.
Mayor Peter Calamari did not reply to our questions on the matter by press time.
In a 40-second council update Feb. 16, Calamari told members “The matter was discussed in closed session and a plan is in the process of development and implementation,” which included “ordering an appraisal of the property.”
He later noted he did not know what an appraisal involved so could not elaborate.
After noting the appraisal, he mentioned the property was currently zoned for single-family homes on half-acre lots, and that the township recently received a judgment of compliance and repose on its affordable housing obligations through 2025. This means that the Superior Court approved its low-income (i.e. affordable) housing plan and no further units are needed until after 2025.
Calamari, and later several council members, noted that the township has a commitment to open space, acquiring available open space, as well a commitment to its Master Plan.
Questioned by callers on the meeting’s call-in portion, Calamari said he could provide no further information about 450, citing the mere potential for negotiations or litigation on the property.
Robert Morris, one of the property owners, told Pascack Press Feb 21 that he had received a letter from McNerney & Associates to appraise his property. In response, Morris said he was contacting both Cody & Company, his property marketer, and Tsapatsaris to tell them of the township’s imminent appraisal.
Morris, who is in his mid-70s, said he was unsure if he would let the appraiser enter his home over to a Covid-19 fears but that most of his property was land and a couple improvements, including an 1,800-square-foot home.
Morris said about six years ago, Mayor Janet Sobkowicz’s administration was on the verge of purchasing the property, partly with Green Acres funds, and somehow did not follow through with an offer and the next administration also dropped the ball, he said.
We reached out to Sobkowicz several times for comment on Morris’s claims and have not heard back.
Morris said that an inspector also visited his home’s snow-covered driveway in mid-February noting someone complained about the home’s porch, which is partly covered by a blue tarp. He said the inspector did not enter his home.
Morris said he told him that he had an agreement not to repair his property from the Township following Superstorm Sandy and was told not to make repairs as the township was moving to purchase the property. That purchase did not occur, Morris said.
He called the township’s effort to appraise the property “an illegal procedure” and noted he was aware that the next step may be an offer on his property from the Township.
He said he suspects the plan is for the township to make an offer, and then he will respond to the offer, negotiate, and then both will make plans from there.
This may include a possible move to condemn or take his property under eminent domain laws, he said, which he does not think fair or reasonable given his family’s long land stewardship and contributions to the Township.
This includes allowing school children to take shortcuts to nearby backyards and Ridgewood Boulevard East through paths in the woods.
In addition, he said his father, John, granted the town an easement to place a sewer line across the property.
He said the appraisal letter mentioned that his property appraisal was being undertaken with condemnation as a possible outcome.
He said he does not like what the township is doing, given that his family has owned the property for 70-plus years. He said he is consulting with Edward K. Bonner of Cody & Company and Tsapatsaris to find out what next steps to take.
450’s Current Assessment
According to Township tax records, the 450 Pascack Road property was assessed for $320,100 and paid $7954.49 in 2020 property taxes. In 2020, the home was assessed at $65,500 and land assessed at $254,600.
Although on Zillow the property is currently listed as off market, the real estate website lists its estimated value at $516,753.00. A property description and advertisement on STEAM Realty LLC lists the property for $2.1 million for a “build to suit redevelopment project.”
It was unclear what types of redevelopment were envisioned or possible for the site.
“To me it’s an ongoing situation. It’s a beautiful day outside and life is good,” Morris told Pascack Press on Sunday, Feb. 21. “I’m aware of the escalation [appraisal] and I’m reflecting it up the chain of command.”
He said he would look for Tsapatsaris to likely respond to the township’s overtures, though he said he would not rule out considering an offer by the town, as long as it was not a low-ball offer.
He repeatedly said the town had chances to acquire the property in the past and never followed through.
“My real interest here is basic and simple: if someone can benefit from this property then that’s all well and good, but I have to do the right thing for my heirs,” Morris said.
Two of three nearby Ridgewood Boulevard East homeowners, who hired an attorney to send a letter to council to recommend eminent domain as a possible way to acquire 450 Pascack Road, commented at the Feb. 16 council meeting.
Resident Michael Proto praised the council for its “diligence” in seeking the appraisal and asked if it took into consideration all “building constraints on the property.”
Also Joseph Scalia, who wrote a second letter to members urging action on 450, said he was “here to support the mayor and council on the assessment process and the timing of the process.”
He said residents “need more transparency about overdevelopment in town,” thanked the mayor for his 450 update, and noted residents want to help with the effort to acquire and preserve 450 Pascack Road.
Later, Councilwoman Desserie Morgan said she would be in favor of a town forum focused on overdevelopment following upcoming budget meetings.
Diane Ferrara, a nearby homeowner, told Pascack Press that the appraisal process needs to take a number of considerations into account, and planned to advocate for such property limitations.
“For all intents and purposes the lot is unbuildable according to the zoning code requirements for district AA,” she said.
She added, “Any assessment would have to take these lot dimension constraints into account; and since the lot has never been legally approved for a subdivision, no appraisal could value it at more than what it actually is: a landlocked piece of property for one single family home, without sufficient width to allow for public vehicular access for additional single-family homes.”
She said, “In fact, the developer got around this by proposing an apartment building where the access road simply stopped at the front elevation of the 350-foot- long apartment building—nothing along the sides, and all parking underneath.”
Ferrara said, “There was absolutely no room left on either side of that apartment for emergency vehicles to access the back end of the apartment complex in the event of a fire there. They would have had to come through the yards of the neighbors on Ridgewood Boulevard East—complete insanity.”