WOODCLIFF LAKE —Mayor Carlos Rendo said he would appoint an advisory committee and seek ideas from the public about developments they might like to see on approximately 20 acres at BMW’s massive borough campus soon heading for sale on the commercial market.
Rendo said he and borough administrator Tom Padilla met with the agents selling the campus, at the north end of the property near Glen Road.
He said he wanted to keep open communication with the property agents and report back to them what he was hearing from residents about options for the site.
He said he hoped to keep in touch with the agents to find out what types of developers were interested in the property.
The mayor revealed his plans Feb. 15 during his second Facebook “Live” broadcast that featured a question and answer session with DPW superintendent Chris Behrens, who fielded questions from Rendo about the department and services provided.
The 76-minute broadcast, archived on Rendo’s Facebook page, featured a 36-minute Q&A with Behrens, about 25 minutes of updated community news items from Rendo, and about eight minutes of Q&A with residents via texted questions near the broadcast’s end.
Rendo said each upcoming broadcast would feature a borough employee for residents to get to know on a personal and professional level.
Rendo said some possibilities for the BMW property that were mentioned by the real estate agents included townhouses, mixed-use development (such as a retail-residential complex), and a senior living facility.
He said he hoped to hear from the public and listen to the borough professionals (architects, engineers, and attorney) to get a grasp of what makes the most sense for such a tract of land.
Of course, Rendo said, there’s no guarantee that a future developer will be willing to do what the public, or borough, wants, but at least those looking to develop the parcel may have a better idea of where residents stand with different types of developments.
He noted “challenges” with marketing the property thar may include future affordable housing mandates, the economy, and inflation.
He said the property marketers told him that corporate structures were “dead”; commercial/retail properties are difficult due to online marketing, and pharmaceutical companies (research and development) are heading to Princeton and Clifton.
He said the real estate agents told him that getting Party City headquarters to relocate to Woodcliff Lake was “an accomplishment” given that few corporate offices are relocating anywhere. He said Party City was still committed to donating $250,000 to the Galaxy Gardens passive park.
Rendo noted he put together an Economic Development Committee at February’s meeting and he proposed to create a similar advisory committee to make suggestions about the BMW property’s future. Rendo appointed Warren Feldman, Robert Friedberg, Robin Malley and Alex Couto to the Economic Development Committee.
“My promise to you is I will let you know what’s going on with that property,” said Rendo.
In 2004, BMW of North America purchased a 45-acre property adjacent to its then 40-acre Woodcliff Lake campus, to create an 85-acre headquarters campus, according to an April 8, 2004 BMW press release. The BMW campus is in the Office–Research (OR) zone.
Recently, however, BMW and the borough were involved in a legal dispute over taxes. In early 2021, the Borough Council unanimously agreed to refund nearly $4 million in commercial taxes to BMW of North America LLC, for the tax years 2009–2012 as part of a settlement that was contested in court and upheld by a state tax court judge.
In a resolution on Feb. 8, 2021, the council had agreed the payments will be made by the borough over a four-year period, with no interest charged. Although some residents had alleged missing tax files make the refund payments suspect, few concerns were raised then by council about the settlement.
Rendo said the mayor and council continue to work on changing the flight patterns of private jets whose traffic has increased over the borough, and other Pascack Valley towns.
Rendo, a Republican, also said he was disappointed that the council, with six Democratic members, made a unilateral decision to hold future council meetings at the Tice Senior Center, which was recently upgraded with an improved audio and broadcast system for in-person and hybrid meetings. He said he was not consulted before the decision was announced.
He said holding the meetings at Tice Center was not the best choice because documents needed for council consideration could be more accessible at borough hall, that venue was also improved for broadcast of council meetings, and he said “the business of government should be run at the Borough Hall,” which is paid for by the taxpayers.
The next council meeting is March 20.
Behrens told Rendo that annual leaf collection is “an enormous operation, all hands on deck” and that during the winter season, besides preparing and handling snow/ice removal duties, lately the 12-person crew has been filling potholes, repairing catch basins, clearing catch basins, assessing roads, and servicing equipment for spring.
Both Behrens and Rendo agreed how successful curbside recycling has been over the last two years, with Behrens noting the cost savings.
At one point, Behrens and Rendo discussed sanitary sewers, and Behrens noted residents should not dispose of cooking grease or flushable wipes. Behrens said they share a sewer camera monitoring system with Old Tappan as well as a JetVac truck for flushing the sewer lines. He also thanked Rendo and the council for assisting with upgrading sewer pump stations.
He said DPW will be getting a leaf vacuum truck next year that can be operated by one man, versus the three now on a truck.