‘Greater good’ vs. ‘it’s a house that’s up for sale’ on 450 Pascack

BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS

Townshipof Washington

The division between the council president and mayor over whether the township should purchase 3.2 acres of mostly wooded property at 450 Pascack Road came into sharper view at the Jan. 17 council meeting and leaves the tractʼs acquisition in doubt.

At the same meeting, approximately 10 neighbors on nearby Ridgewood Boulevard East pressed the council to purchase the property for preservation and possible use for rec or parking. They worried the developer who proposed a 48-unit senior housing proposal in 2020 might be eyeing the parcel, a line espoused by Mayor Peter Calamari.

Calamari and council president Desserie Morgan, both Republicans, took turns Jan. 17 stating their views on purchasing the property. Calamari is for, and Morgan is against.

Neighbors have publicly and regularly urged the propertyʼs purchase since summer 2020 when a 48-unit proposal was pitched by Lakos Construction Inc., and then withdrawn following public opposition.

After a summer 2021 appraisal, town attorney Kenneth Poller submitted a bid of $430,000 for the property — adjacent to both Memorial Field and Washington Elementary School.

Council members have not revealed their thinking on how a town-owned 450 Pascack Road might be used. In contrast, the council openly discussed how it might use the formerly private swim club property on Ridgewood Boulevard North before bidding on the property

(That propertyʼs use is still undecided as council considers whether to accept a nearly $439,000 county acquisition grant and plans for needed studies on drainage and topography.)

Calamari said the town should acquire 450 Pascack Road as it lies adjacent to Memorial Field and Washington Elementary School. He said he believes a developer might be waiting for 2025 to propose a multifamily housing project there that includes affordable housing. The next round of state-mandated affordable housing begins that July.

Morgan said she was not in favor as there is no development proposal or threats to the site. She called out the mayor for his “scare tactics” due to his speculating “this could happen, that could happen” and said that leads to more rumors and speculation.

She said if 450 Pascack Road was “the only spend” that council was considering that might work for her. However, she said in her time on the dais, the township tried to buy 95 Linwood Ave. (for a DPW headquarters, or failing t hat, a police headquarters); bought the swim club property (for $800,000), will build a new DPW at the municipal center (estimated at $4.5 million), has begun paying off the new emergency services building (about $6 million), and now is considering 450 Pascack Road.

“Iʼm sorry but the spend is way too much, too quick, in the short time that Iʼve been on,” Morgan said.

She said she was not against improving the town but wanted to “put the brakes on a little and evaluate whatʼs a need and whatʼs nice to have.”

She told residents that the opposite of Calamariʼs assertion could be said, too: that no one is proposing a project at 450 Pascack.

Lately, Ridgewood Boulevard East residents have posted “Stop Overdevelopment” signs up and down nearby roads, following rumors that 450 Pascack might go to affordable housing. (Several councilors said this was only a discussion point in closed session; no decisions were

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