450: Calamari, Morgan at odds on property buy

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Following nearly a dozen residents urging the council to purchase 450 Pascack Road and Calamari saying he has long supported its purchase, he noted that two r ecently approved large-scale housing projects (Vivianoʼs American Dream 66 units and Franklin Court 44 units) both resulted from affordable-housing settlements.

H e called them “COAH” housing, referencing the defunct Council on Affordable Housing declared “moribund” by the state Supreme Court in 2015. Since 2015, state Superior Courts, towns and Fair Share Housing Center have negotiated affordable obligations.

Calamari said he was “speculating” that the developer who proposed a 48-unit senior development at 450 Pascack Road in 2020 was waiting until 2025, when a new round of affordable housing begins, to propose a development including affordable housing.

He said the Viviano and Franklin Court developments did not go through the Zoning Board but rather the Planning Board after the affordable settlements were approved by the courts.

Public comments, including concern for tree canopy Ridgewood Boulevard East resident Michael Proto said about 2.5 years ago he was handed an application to develop property adjacent to his backyard for a 48unit senior complex. The proposal at 450 Pascack Road by Lakos Construction Inc. was submitted in mid-2020 and soon withdrawn.

Proto said all over North Jersey, examples of developments “jammed in where theyʼre not supposed to be” can be found. Proto said unless the town buys 450 Pascack, “This threat remains. [Lakos Construction] can come back at any time.”

Proto said the town can protect residents by “acquiring the property and guarantee that no affordable housing is jammed in there.”

Noting Washington Elementary Schoolʼs planned expansion and nearby Memorial Field, he said, “Weʼre not just talking about our interests. Weʼre talking about the interests of the entire town. This is the last remaining open space.”

Morgan told him that she had to “look at the town globally” and sometimes make unpopular decisions. She told Proto he needed to separate the sale of 450 Pascack Road from Memorial Field. She said 450 Pascack Road was “not Memorial Field…itʼs a house thatʼs up for sale.”

Proto noted the prior application to develop the 3.2-acre parcel and Morgan told him thatʼs why the township has a Zoning Board. They argued about trusting the ry homes, noting itʼs not laid out for a larger development, and no development proposal for the property has been approved.

She said “buying (450) and spending money on property we donʼt have a plan for does not resonate with the rest of town.”

Zoning Board, as Morgan said, “doing the right thing for us.”

Morgan said the Zoning Board should protect residentsʼ interests.

P roto said he was unsure about trusting the Zoning Board, citing the Four Seasons Marketplaceʼs proposed 17,000-squarefoot retail complex at the PascackWashington intersection. No decision on that proposal has been made.

Morgan said that she understood why people donʼt want certain things near their property and that while Proto saw 450ʼs acquisition as “a greater good for the town, I donʼt see it that way.”

Morganʼs newly public opposition, and whether a council vote could occur on purchasing the tract remains up in the air after thousands of dollars in legal expenses over 18-plus months were likely spent to acquire the parcel.

Also, the initial $430,000 bid included a threat of condemnation, with Poller telling Pascack Press that the township had “more than enough” justification to condemn the property. The township, according to a public records search, had not begun legal proceedings to condemn the property.

The township tried to acquire 450 Pascack over the last two decades, going back to the administration of the late mayor Janet Sobkowicz.

Sobkowicz had told us she offered Robert Morris, one of the propertyʼs owners, $700,000 for the property, but that later Morris sought more for the property. Morris denied this account, saying that several administrations had dropped the ball in acquiring his property

He previously told Pascack Press that he has not fixed up his property because the township was going to acquire it and failed to do so.

In late 2021, Morris hired a property marketing company that listed the property and its “development potential” on several real estate sites for $2.1 million. An “available” sign has adorned his front yard since fall 2021.

Morris has declined to speak with us about negotiations, although heʼs generally complimentary of press coverage. He has repeatedly told us the township dropped the ball in acquiring his property.

Morgan said the only development she could likely see at 450 Pascack Road might be two luxu-

Councilman Tom Sears noted b etween 2017 and 2023, he l earned that the township lost more trees and tree coverage, going from a 29% reduction of tree canopy in 2017 to approximately 49% loss of tree canopy coverage in 2023.

“We are removing more trees than we are replacing; we are not planting the trees we are taking down, that concerns me,” said Sears.

He told residents to not call him and tell him to vote a specific way or suggest a colleague to vote a certain way.

Sears asked for more time to talk about 450ʼs acquisition. He said it would not take 10 months, and stressed there are no known plans for development.

Ridgewood Boulevard East resident Cari Orbe wondered if the township could subdivide the land at 450 Pascack for a parking lot at one end and the rest for open space, and possibly pursue an open space grant to reimburse costs.

Poller said the township could subdivide the property but he said he could not comment on grant potential.

In other news, the council approved applying for a $68,300 grant from the state Department of Community Affairs Local Recrea tion Improvement Grant program. The grant would provide funds to study the swim club propertyʼs topography and drainage to determine what uses are possible, said grants consultant David Biunno of GLD Associates. He said officials should hear back within 120 days on whether the grant was approved. He said should the council accept an awarded $438,750 county Open Space grant for the siteʼs acquisition, it could return those funds if an environmental investigation showed problems on the site.