Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake VOLUME 23 ISSUE 52
MONTVALE
APPLICANT SEEKS TO BUILD 170 HOUSING UNITS
PA S C AC K VA L L E Y ’ S BEST H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R
BOLD, AMBITIOUS ‘CURTAIN’ RISES PHHS Players mount a winning mystery
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
A previous affordable housing settlement appears to limit a proposed 170-unit, multifamily activeadult development on a 28-acre Summit Avenue site to a maximum of 115 units, said Montvaleʼs Planning Board planner and attorney at the first public hearing March 3 on the development. A second hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 17, though due to two other applications on the agenda that night, it was not clear that the application would be heard. Planning officials advised interested attendees to contact Planning Board Secretary Lorraine Hutter for details prior to the meeting. During a recap of previous rounds of affordable housing agreements by Planner Doreen Green, Montvale Planning Board Attorney Robert Regan said a prior round “substantive certification” in June 2006 limited total development on the once-larger, 45-acre site to 195 units. Regan noted 80 units are already built at The Reserve at Montvale, an 80-townhome development built by K. Hovnanian in 2017 on about 16 acres. The new development proposed by Waypoint Residential Services LLC is on an adjoining 28.4acre site to that development. Based on the 2006 certification, Regan said the proposed 28.4-acre site was eligible for a total of 115 units and not 170 as proposed. “Thatʼs an issue I have and Iʼll leave it at that,” said Regan. Montvale Borough Planner Doreen Green said the previous property owner had legally appealed for up to 12 dwelling units per acre but was denied by the Council on Affordable Housing and the zoning
See MONTVALE on page 394
MARCH 16, 2020
PASCACK VALLEY
EMERGENCY SEES EVENTS CANCELLED, TRAVEL RESTRICTED
BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT: PHHS Players Director Allison Andresini, in her first year at the district, describes ‘Curtains: School Edition’ as ‘a laugh-a-minute celebration of classical musical theater with a murder mystery twist’ — and a great challenge.
MONTVALE—Kudos to the Pascack Hills Players for presenting the hilarious musical whodunnit “Curtains: School Edition” as their spring production. The Tony- and Drama Desk Award-winning musical drew crowds to the Pascack Hills High School auditorium March 5–7. Director Allison Andresini, in her first year at PHHS, described the show as “a laugh-aminute celebration of classical musical theater with a murder mystery twist.” The troupe said in promoting the show, “The year is 1959
and Bostonʼs Colonial Theatre is host to the opening night performance of a new musical. When the leading lady mysteriously dies on stage the cast
PHOTOS BY MURRAY BASS
and crew are suspects. Enter a local detective, who happens to be a musical theatre fan.” Packed with glorious tunes by world-renowned duo Kander and Ebb, and a witty, charming script filled with delightful characters, “Curtains: School Edition” marked a hilarious journey for performers and the audience. The original Broadway production of “Curtains” was a hit for 511 performances and garnered eight Tony nominations,
Continued on page 20
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the declaration of states of emergency in New York, New Jersey, and Bergen County, along with many other places worldwide, and with them come an unprecedented wave of cancellations, school closures, travel restrictions, at least one major sports league season suspension, and corporate work-from-home fallbacks. The aim of the social ALSO isolation is to I N SIDE protect the worldʼs most Rapid-response vulnerable— COVID-19 test fatalities have gets emergency befallen senapproval iors and those Page 2 — with underlying health Schools will problems to a close, shift to greater degree online distance —is to save learning lives and avoid — Page 5 overburdening the health system. Some worry that the isolation and the loneliness it may bring many seniors—for example those in care facilities where visitation is now restricted—is itself going to take a toll. With the economy reeling, President Donald Trump on Wednesday departed from earlier comments dismissing the coron-
See COVID-19 on page 234
SMARTLY INDUCTED
B ck in time...
IHA welcomes new members of its Science National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta, the National Mathematics Honor Society. SEE PAGE 7
His office is now a CVS, but a century ago Dr. Simeon J. Zabriskie made house calls on horseback from 289 Broadway in Westwood.
SEE PAGE 4