##VIDEO ID:9hTRSaeePYo## e e e e should I ring the bell or should I my tap on now you can this meeting is being held in conformance with the Sunshine Law notice of time date and place has been furnished to the Bergen record in the Ridgewood news notice has also been posted on the bolon board of the administration building would the clerk kindly take the role mayor Gano here Mr brck here miss sakola here Mr martinello here Mr rundo here Mr Richie here Mrs Weber here everyone colle stand for The Pledge Allegiance Pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands one nation indivisible liy and justice for all let us have a moment of silence for our walwick veterans and all veterans across the country who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we can could assembl the way we are and keep us into in a free Nation the clerk kindly do a prayer we thank you for everyone gathered here now thank you that you know each of us by name and have caused us to walk with you we say that we are dependent on you and our trust is in you completely as we surrender ourselves in adoration we ask that you would come by your Holy Spirit and Inspire our hearts today come fill our lives with your love fill our conversations with your grace and truth fill this meeting with your presence we ask this for your glory and praise amen amen okay good evening everyone and thank you all for being here tonight uh under our committees under my report uh first of all I'd like to thank uh Kelly and Tatiana and every and the council for uh taking part in our tree lighting Christmas tree lighting ceremony that took place on uh last Friday it was a great success we still hearing Graves about how everybody likes where it is and how everything was done hopefully every year we will will do it much better uh yesterday Tatiana and Kelly went to um van Thorn Park and decorated our Christmas tree uh that we get every year from uh the county after we decorate the tree as's a contest and then after they announce the winner we have our DBW go down and pick the tree up and we bring it here into walwick and we plant it the Dee of this year's tree is uh train uh when you see your new calendar for 2025 you'll notice that the uh um the cover is the train station and it's also the Train Tower um Andrea mrea who designed the original picture for our 75th Anniversary uh has made it for us so that'll be the uh the Dee for the calendar for 2025 and since it's the Dee we made it so that the whole Dee for this year will be trains even at uh Van Park also I'd like to thank the Lions Club and the fire department for going around for Santa Claus this year uh we've heard a lot of people saying um nice things about it's a tradition that Everyone likes and some people were not happy that they were woken up early but it's Christmas GM and Barrett and that's all I have to report Financial administrative committee Mr Richie thank you Mr Mayor uh good evening everyone uh no report for me this evening I'll save my comments for the ordinance thank you fire and police protection committee Mr brenick uh thanks Mr Mayor just a couple social events um you kind of stole my thunder there with your opening line but uh we very happy to uh support the town in the uh tree lighting ceremony uh Santa was around on the fire truck last week and again most people liked it a few and uh and last we have operation Santa which is a project that the fire department does annually uh it's underway uh the fire house is opened right now and tomorrow night um for items to be dropped off if necessary operation Santa is on many different websites and although I could go into detail about it uh well this type this time of year there's elves all over the place and I don't want people listening to things that perhaps they shouldn't listen to so uh if you're interested uh by all means get on a website and uh the town website of supports it and uh that's all I have okay thank you very much Public Safety Committee missa thank you mayor the walvac responded to 48 calls in November two being Mutual Aid Ashley studo responded to the most calls at 24 April trainer responded to the second most calls at 19 and Adrien kamaga and third at 14 calls the majority of runs were on Saturdays and Sundays a unit arrived on scene in under 5 minutes for 75 % of all calls in November wak also provided standby assistance to Ramsey vac at the donbosco playoff game on 11:22 for walck Access for all I attended their meeting last night and the current chair Deb deia was elected to serve as the chair for next year we discussed budgets and plans for next year they're also seeking a new intern as their prior intern did a fantastic job but is getting ready for college and future plans if anyone knows of anyone that would be interested please reach out to me they also expressed interest in being involved in the burrow Park Rehabilitation project to try to to make the park Ada accessible during the design phase and additionally they are attempting to work with the Board of Ed to ensure that parking lots are Ada accessible thank you thank you uh in January we're going to probably have a meeting um with um the ambulance Corps about uh the Bristol okay so once we set up that date we'll see how your schedule is and we'll work it out okay okay you're welcome Recreation and heal committee Mr martinell thank you Mr Mayor um for tonight just a few reminders on Sports uh registration for wrestling and basketball be still ongoing I'm sure they're still willing to take more children into the uh programs uh baseball will be opening there spring registration uh for the holidays and they're excited for the town to see the new improvements down at the park for opening day in April more to come there I'm also a reminder of the mayor's fourth annual house decorating contest the deadline for register is 2: p.m. on the 13th so get your registrations in the judging will be done on the December 17th uh reminder that our manora lighting is on December 22nd um at 400 p.m. in front of the walwick library there'll be songs sweet treats and prayers um also the American Legion is hosting a Toys for Tots through December 13th please consider donating a new unwrapped toy um drop it off at the American Legion for those less fortunate than us during this holiday season uh on the health committee during November Co and food rates continue to be low there is an increase in RSV rates um in hospitals uh child health clinic still is on the third um Wednesday of every month and we saw one child in November uh just have one note 430 is it minor 4:30 excuse me um during uh November eight retail establishments were inspected by the health department one complaint was reviewed and our vital stats we had three marriage applications five marriage licenses applied for five deaths and two births that's it thank you Mr Mayor thank you very much Public Works committee Mr rundo thank you Mr Mayor uh couple items uh new hydrant was placed on Lockwood AV uh to address the brown Water issue uh that's been replaced put in place in addition to what's currently there to help with the situation uh they had a sanitory sewer clog on East Prospect on Sunday uh the DPW resolved that uh Sunday morning and took care of that staging work is being completed to prep for the water leak on the corner of white golf and Crescent AB so we can resolve that issue with the winter months being here they want to avoid a slippery situation uh thank you to the DPW for cleaning and set up for the park for the Christmas tree lighting uh and I'd also like to thank Tatiana and Kelly for such a beautiful program last Friday and everyone that attended thank you Mr Mayor thank you very much building and the grounds committee Miss Weber thank you Mr Mayor I don't have much of a report this evening I just just wanted to really thank everyone um on the mayor and Council here for that wonderful tree lighting especially Tatiana and Kelly they do such a great job working uh to get that up to speed and the residents really enjoyed it we had a great turnout even though it was chilly uh a lot of people came and I really appreciated that we had a good time um that's really all I have thank you thank you and I want to thank you for getting us to horse anybody needs a horse on our administrator anything thank you Mr Mayor um real quick I also want to just thank Kelly and Tatiana for a great event and all the staff and the mayor council it was a really nice night I know my kids had a blast and they love seeing the Grinch so thank you to the PD also um for the other part of my report I think in a few minutes we're going to have a presentation from um the L Conservancy of New Jersey on our our recently drafted open space and Recreation plan thank you Alor clerk Kelly thank you mayor um I also would just like to thank the mayor and Council for their support and the event for the Christmas tree lighting as well as um the DPW Police Department Wallback or the fire department Ander as well as our sponsors for this successful event um Tatiana I do really love putting this together um it's it's actually one of the fun things we get to do so we do look forward to it and um we'll look forward to doing it again next year um just a reminder to sign up for for Constant Contact our new platform for the weekly uh Community News and update as well as our our monthly newsletter uh nixel will continue to be used for PD for their emergency notifications only and just uh happy holidays to everyone thank you thank you a b attorney uh thank you Mr Mayor uh nothing uh nothing from my report the uh the ordinance is here and then I have one item for Clos session no uh no action will be taken after the close session now okay great thank you consent resolutions and resolutions that are governing to Bar oh you want to go to Barbara first okay yeah we'll do the presentation first that's all right no no problem uh so I'd like to introduce uh Barbara heskins uh Davis from the Land Conservancy of New Jersey who the past several months has been working on um an update of open space and Recreation plan for us um so tonight we are going to have the first public session on this and hearing um and presentation from Barbara thank you good evening so my name is Barbara huskins Davis I'm a licensed planner and I work with the Land Conservancy of New Jersey I worked with Steve Verona and I was really um honored to be able to come to Waldwick to do your open space and Recreation plan as a quick reminder the open space and Recreation plan is being done to Green Acres guidelines so Green Acres requires two public meetings this is the first of the two the second will be in February um at the planning board where they'll consider it for adoption slide so why do you want to create an open space and Recreation plan well in Waldwick it's really a good idea this is your first open space and Recreation plan you've had an open space trust fund um since 2004 your voters approved it in 2003 the last time you accepted Green Acres funding was in 1976 um you do have a series of parks in your municipality that your residents use you could probably use additional open space it's difficult to purchase land in Waldwick burrow and it's expensive um the burrow with your open space and Recreation plan and having an open space trust fund would qualify for State funding go ahead so I want to talk a little bit about the Green Acres Program and I'm going to bring it up a couple of times and I'm doing that on purpose because I have the burough counsel here um Green Acres is the State realtor so if the um Bur wants to acquire land for parks of recreation if the Land Conservancy wants to acquire land we all go through the Green Acres Program to um apply for State funding um as I mentioned Waldwick has received one state Grant back in 1976 for $39,600 to buy Brook Brookview Park um you haven't received and haven't applied for Green Acres but you applied once but then turned it down um for Green Acres funding um the advantage of Green Acres funding is is that it it brings additional dollars just a base Advantage because you have an open space trust fund and because you'll have this open space and Recreation plan you'll qualify for an enhanced program to the state of New Jersey so what that means is that um you basically open an account with the state of New Jersey so that if I Mrs Davis want to sell my property to the municipality for open space you negotiate with me we agree on a price you apply to the state for my property and you're not in that program it's a 60-page application it's tied to my property it's very cumbersome um and then if I decide not to sell you my property you lose that money whereas when you have an open space and Recreation plan and you have an open space trust fund if I change my mind first of all the application is the plan so once the plan is complete once you've adopted it I'll work with Steve to submit it to the state it's already been reviewed by greenacre so you already know that you qualify um and then the application is the plan if you want to apply for my property you would just do this as you would any other realy transaction you would do an appraisal a survey an environmental assessment you'd sign a contract with me and if I changed my mind it would be disappointing but you wouldn't lose the money you could apply the money to any other property within the municipality that meets the goals that are stated within your open space and Recreation plan and that's a big deal and in addition you qualify for more money if you have an open space and Recreation plan plan is good for 10 years you don't have to apply to the state you don't have to do anything but it gives you an option and I think that's important as decision makers next slide so we identified four goals for Waldwick burrow um and these all make sense you want to be able to provide parks and recreational areas within 10 minutes of every resident you want to offer a variety of recreational Pursuits you want to safeguard your landscape and you can see this just as well as any other Town um and you want to ensure your cultural heritage I really got a charge that your calendar is going to have the train station on the cover it's important go ahead as I mentioned your program started really in 1976 with the acceptance of the Green Acres funding you um applied your voters approved an open space trust fund in 2003 you're one of the most prolific applicants to the Bergen County open space program and I really congratulate you you've gotten 30 grants almost $2 million through the county open space program that is a remarkable achievement go ahead and this just illustrates that your um open space trust fund has collected just over 1.5 million you bring in about 82,00 ,000 a year um Bergen County has awarded just under 2 million and the state's awarded 39,600 go ahead you have six Parks totaling 61 acres and this is a list of your Parks um I'm hired by the municipality I like Waldwick I grew up in Bergen County not far from Waldwick burrow I'm going to tell you your Parks really could use some improvements and this gives you those tools to be able to do that go ahead so this the Green Acres requires two sections a why do you want to preserve open space and then what do we recommend so the wise are what we've talked about you want to encourage physical activity Healthy Living is a big component of Waldwick you want to enhance your um homeowner value property values within the municipality you want to improve air and water quality you want to protect natural areas and you want to continue to improve quality of life go ahead thank you so what are your recommendations you want to improve and expand your Parks you hired us we're encouraging you to apply to the Green Acres Program you want to preserve historic places you want to make sure your lands are kept healthy and you want to connect people and you want to expand Parks go ahead so we provide a series of recommendations I have um I really have to congratulate Waldwick burrow I thought what you did this spring to purchase the former Wagner property was a really remarkable acquisition and you can expand it there are opportunities there and it's a great property it connects from one end to the other it's accessible it's right on the sidewalk it's a beautiful piece of property go ahead um and then we provide in the plan very specific Concepts um about expanding existing recreational areas whether it's the Wagner property Brookview park or interestingly psng owns a lot of RightWay within the municipality I've worked with other towns where they've been able to utilize the ground above the PSD G infrastructure for um Trails or Pathways in one instance a community garden which I would not recommend um but it's another option especially if you um don't want to acquire that land go ahead and you want to connect parks to people so one of the priorities in the state of New Jersey right now is the concept of overburden communities and environmental justice and we specifically included this in your open space and Recreation plan because there's enhanced funding if you're add overburdened communities and Waldwick buror does have a census track that qualifies as an overburden Community um and we explain this in your open space and Recreation plan and that corner of the municipality is just beyond the 10-minute walk to any other park within the town um it doesn't have the same access to Parks and Recreation that other segments of your municipality does if the burrow were to acquire land within this segment there would be enhanced funding through the state of New Jersey to help you with that and then applying to the Green Acres Program so again I'm going to bring this up a couple of times and I'm here to answer your questions and you should take advantage of that so green ACR um if you apply to Green Acres funding it comes with strings just like any other um grant funding might occur so you've acquired the former Wagner property it was an expensive acquisition you qualif ify for with this plan for a 50% Grant to cover the cost of acquiring that property it covers the acquisition cost and 50% of the soft cost used to acquire that piece of property it's a reimbursement type of Grant so you can apply now the applications due February 5th and we would help you to make sure that you would get in um and then you could apply for reimbursement because it's would be surprising if they awarded that much in your first go around um so what comes with that you'd have to update what's called a recreation open space inventory so you have a recreation open space inventory it's from 1989 and it includes all of your parks that you currently own um it does also include the rifle range which we would recommend that you appeal to Green Acres to remove from your rosi because it's not really a park it's just included within I think it's burrow Park um and then you would add the Wagner property to it so what happens when you put a property on your Rossi when you put a property on your Rossi it's restricted for any other use but Parks and Recreation but you already have a Rossy so you already do that the Wagner property you purchased with open space dollars so you already know that that property is going to be restricted so okay so that's that's kind of a check mark you already know that that property is going to be a park what's the other string well it has to be scheduled so if I live in Randol and I want to have my soccer team play at your new park you know I could contact the town and there are rules for that you um have to charge me a fee it could be more than what you charge you know your current residents and it would have to be scheduled where your residents get first priority so these things are not you know unusual or unreasonable it's just you have to be aware of it um the other thing that we like to make sure municipalities know is that when you put a property on a rosi especially the Wagner property which is is going to be new is that if you have a structure on that property or if there's infrastructure on that property that's not Parks and Recreation or doesn't support outdoor recreation don't put that part of the property on the rosi it's just makes sense because if you have to improve that infrastructure or you're going to use that building for something other than outdoor recreation it's inconsistent with Green Acres and they'll get upset so that's your Green Acres Grant you want to preserve your historic places next slide and Steward your public lands next slide so where are we well we um we started this um back in February we had several site visits I really want to do commend Steve and Kelly it's such a pleasure to work with your professional staff um we prepared multiple drafts of the report which have been reviewed by your professionals and we're here tonight to present the plan um the plan is on the website which is great so the public has the opport Unity to review it um the planning board will review it and hopefully adopt it February 5th which is great timing because the application to the state is due the same day and as I mentioned they've already reviewed the plan and we've addressed any comments that they have so this evening what I ask is that um you ask me your questions um and hopefully I can answer them open it up to the public so the public has the same opportunity to ask questions um if any changes need to be made to the um plan and based on what I've heard tonight our office will quickly do that so that you can have a final report for your planning board and with that I thank you very much and we thank you for being here and explain everything to us um since you and since Kelly and Steve walked around why don't you start you know what you've what you you didn't walk around I didn't walk around I've just worked with oh okay um yeah we took them around to all the different locations all the different playground grounds and and Parks just to identify so they could actually put their eyes on it and see what's going on we talked a lot about some of our goals with updating some of the park areas and playgrounds around town um so it's kind of where this stems from and we just want to set ourselves up to be able to apply for State funding if that's the direction we want to go in uh to recoup some of the money that we've invested in open space so basically at this time just kind of um Pitch it to all of you if you have any questions for Barbara or or myself yeah I just have a quick question thanks for the presentation very nice so if the bear were to take Green Acres money for you mentioned the Wagner property a few times so let's say the Barre takes Green Acres money what kind of restrictions does that put on resale of the property if in a pinch are we able to resell that property or do we are we prohibited now from selling that forever so my understanding is that you used open space funds to purchase that property if you use did we we did not no not okay that's good all right so if then then your question has a lot of value um but I'm going to answer it two ways so just to finish my thought if you used open space funds you could not resell it okay you used Capital dollars to purchase the Wagner property since you use Capital dollars there's no restrictions on the future use of that property so you could keep it you could subdivide it you could sell all of it but um my understanding is the intention was to purchase it for open space But since you purchase it with capital dollars right now no restrictions um just to give you all the options um you could choose right now to sit tight right you purchased the Wagner property was a big investment you could choose to sit tight not apply to Green Acres this year and give yourself the time to properly plan for that property have your planner look at it have your engineer look at it your Recreation folks and make a decision that works for the municipality and if you choose to restrict all of it or part of it for a park you could apply next year right now it looks like Green Acres is going to have funding every year if that changes I'll let Steve know but it does give you some some leeway and you would apply for reimbursement funding does that answer yeah so if we take green Acer's money for the park for any improvements we're still able to sell that property no so it does restrict our ability to sale right thank you yeah sorry thank you yes thank you again for your presentation just uh follow up on your one question you talked about when we have parks that are in the rosi uh once you're in there they're basically open for use from folks from other towns and whatnot if they want to use our soccer field or or whatnot is that only if we take uh Green Acres funding or as soon as any of those properties are on that list they're all available for outside toties all available because you accepted Green Acres funding in 76 so the parks that you have listed on your rosi are essentially open to all residents of the state of New Jersey I'm going to guess since that you've had a rosi since 1989 um and it didn't come up as an issue when I was doing your plan that it's not currently an issue in Waldwick and if we take more money nothing changes we just add the Wagner property to that list yeah exactly anyone else thank you very much for your time um there is there a length of time that we would have to take Green Green Acres money for say like the Wagner property we decided to do it in like four years or yeah that's a good question um in my I've been doing this so I'm at the Land Conservancy 25 years and I served as chair of my open space committee for um probably 5 years before that so I've been doing this for a while and um I have had towns go back and seek reimbursement funding several years later so um my only caution is that you know they have the money now so if you want the money you should think about that but I do um very much understand the thoughtfulness that you're going going to take in order to decide how that property is going to best be used yeah cuz there are two structures yes on that on that location so we would have to remove them from the overall acreage only if you plan on using them for something other than outdoor recreation so um if you plan on using them to support outdoor recreation like I think there's a barn and a house right so if the barn is going to store equipment for managing the field that can kept on the site if the house is going to let's say be a community center and that's going to be indoor Recreation you should talk to the state you know about whether to have that on or off um you should also I mean I can emphasize enough to have your engineer look at that property just in case there's any water infrastructure or sewer in infrastructure or any old easements you want to make sure that those are not listed on your Rossy okay thank you very much okay now if we just follow up on that um B ordinances do they override any open space restrictions for example one of our Parks we only allow children under 12 to play on there would that ordinance override any open uh requirements from the state I yeah I can't think of a burrow ordin I mean unless the that's a really good question that that's um it really depends on the ordinance I mean like even like times of use you know s up to no you can you can dictate the use of your Park the only um requirement that Green Acres has is that in your list of uses that you um allow for the scheduling of people from outside the community you know they can pay more but they can be you know second to your own residence but if an outside Community member wants to use your Park on an organized basis it just has to be allowed and scheduled and I'm going to say that since you've already accepted Green Acres funds I'm sure that that's already part of your you know Litany of ordinances right yeah when we uh rent when someone applies to use our burrow Park uh and you're not a resident there's a fee for them and they have to present us with insurance it'll be the same thing with uh what everything else that we're going to be doing exactly now the house that's on that property right now which is the rental say we leave it that way as a rental we just take that off the russing yes and then could we get leave it as long as we want that way and if we decide now to get rid of the home and uh add that to the uh the development we we just let the state know and then we just put that back on the rosy am I correct you can we what what we do is we we do a subdivision right we have to do a subdivision carve those pieces out right with different lot numbers right okay so not to correct your attorney I'm really sorry um is that the the rosi interestingly enough it doesn't have to be a formal subdivision if you're going to have one lot and a portion of it is going to be off the Rossi they'll actually accept a line on a map you know I agree with your attorney the cleanest thing is to you know have a different lot then there's no question the other thing for your attorney is that the property if you go to put it on your rosi has to have a deed restriction right so there's language from the state that your attorney then would file with the county clerk so any title search it would come up okay anyone else from the council yes yes Mr Mayor uh quick question with regards to the structures that are on the property if we subdivide it and put those as separate entities does that prate the actual dollars that are available based on the overall aage yes yes it's a good question so if you paid half a million dollars for the property and the house is worth 100,000 that may affect it that's really a Green Acres question I can I'm just going to confirm uh with our land preservation director at work um about that and I'll email Steve tomorrow with a a a more robust answer my gut is yes but I just would feel better if I asked herbody wearing that jacket anyone else from the council if not anybody from the public would like to come up and uh just state your name and uh you could ask any questions you want about this topic if not we thank you oh yes hi John vort from Waldwick um ma'am you mentioned um you recommended something about the the pistol Ridge that what what were you talking about I didn't understand that I'm sorry I wasn't clear so the pistol range is currently part of the same lot as burrow Park correct it's currently part of the same lot as burrow Park and the entire lot for burrow Park is included on this Recreation open space inventory and the pistol range isn't a recreational use it's used as a pistol range it's not outdoor recreation so my recommendation is that the municipality should apply to Green Acres to have that removed from the rosy mean get the pistol no no no no no no it's just no just on the piece of paper sorry thank you John we have a list of all our properties that are part of this and that's in it what we're going to do is we're going to remove it okay but you could still stay there scared anyone else if not I thank you very much for coming here and explaining everything to us and have a very happy holiday now can we do cons resolutions thank you mayor okay consent resolutions and resolutions of the governing body be it resolved that the following resolutions here with listed by consent have been been considered by the governing body of the B of wck are hereby passed and approved 2024 303 approval of consent 2024 304 approval of minutes regular and close session meetings November 26 2024 2024 305 approval of support for a constitutional amendment to increase the veteran property tax adduction from $250 to $2,500 over the course of four years 2024 306 authorized partial release of developers agreement for DNR Waldwick LLC the worldwi station 2024 307 authorized emergency resolution and JSA 48 col 4- 46 2024 308 award a fair and open contract to Alpine Painting and sand blasting contractors for ground storage tanks one and two improvements in the amount of $525,000 2024 309 authorized special council meeting for Monday December 23rd 2024 310 authorized special budget meetings various 2024 311 cancellation of appropriated Reserve balance in current fund 2024 312 approval of budget appropriation transfers 2024 313 payment of vouchers and addition for tonight is the um 2024 315 to authorize an amendment to resolution 2024 240 which is the cancellation and refund of taxes for Block 73.7 lot 5 do I have a motion a second to accept motion by Mark second by Michelle anyone on the council have any questions about this yes I uh just to touch on uh 301 301's walwick station um when they build a development like that they post a developers agreement that gets recorded with the county the reason this is a p obviously that the that development down there is fully rented out it's stabilized uh they're probably you know they've asked for a release of the developers agreement but there's a continuing obligation for the maintenance of the storm water system that's on site that's why it's only a partial release anyone else clerk please take the role Mr brck yes Miss arola yes Mr marelo yes Mr randoo yes Mr Richie yes Mrs Weber yes okay now we're going to talk about ordinance number 2024 d33 Mr attorney I'm going to be recusing myself from this thank you mayor so uh as the council knows this is the ordinance this is the public hearing on the ordinance for the Redevelopment plan you have in front of you or you should have in front of you the December 4th letter from the planning board Council in regards to their review of the Redevelopment plan uh I just want to touch on some some uh comments that they made and then we have the presentation by the potential redeveloper to address some concerns that were brought up at those meetings as well as questions that the council may have so the in response to the in looking at the letter the main point is that the planning board did find that this Redevelopment plan is consistent with the uh master plan that's the main part of their review as to determine whether there's consistency with the Burrow's master plan and as it says on page one going into page two that they did find this consistency they noted that there was um a large contingency of the public there at the first meeting more public than they've ever seen at any meeting um they did not get to speak that night but uh you know they were told they could speak at a later meeting but uh I guess it it didn't happen because the letter was pre-drafted by the third meeting but um you know going through the one thing I note in the letter is the board apparently seemed to be split and divided as to the comments there's no consensus of board members it doesn't say that the there was a consensus of board members for certain comments but they do go through and say that certain board members had uh questions one of the big comments was about about the timing of things and why the right a property was not included and you know as requested I went to the to the planning board meeting to try and address this comment but uh the board did not want to uh hear from me um in regards to that but just to reiterate and to talk about that comment this process started in 2022 we went out to with the area in need of Redevelopment for the parcels by the train station we then included these Parcels portion of which is being discussed tonight RFP it was decided at the time the council would seek rfps for potential Redevelopment projects one project came in that encompassed the entirety of all those sites but there was a misunderstanding with the uh with the entity that submitted that they wanted the burrow to to acquire all those properties and the burrow to sell all the properties to the developer so that was rejected um as not being a viable option there's been a couple this being one and then another one uh next door we have not received any proposals for the rate a property so we can't discuss that we can't include that it's you know there's just nothing on the books yet for for a proposal for there that's why there was no proposal for the r property before the planning boorder we could start with that project um you'll hear so going through they talk about the parking that's going to be a site plan issue um but you're going to hear from the redeveloper potentially about parking in the area and the number of spaces required one of the board members I guess they're talking about the height and the the four stories and the 50 ft tall I'm sure the de proposed developer in his presentation will discuss about that I do know that there might have been confusion as to the fact that that 50ft height is not the entirety of the the whole project it's literally the corner of Harrison and Prospect but I'm sure that'll be you know discussed by the potential redeveloper uh the talked about the timing and why the righty property wasn't first uh you know the last two paragraphs talk about you know things that are really outside the scope of what the Redevelopment plan would do you know the second to last paragraph of the comments talk about unusual level of personal interest in a Redevelopment project by members of the govering body I don't I watched and listened to all three meetings that was not brought up in a public meeting I don't know where that came from same with the next about the bonafides of the re developer that was not brought up at the public meeting so I don't know where that came from from either but the reality is it's not really relevant and even though it's not relevant I'm sure the redeveloper is going to talk about his bonafides to develop this parcel and his you know his qualifications and all the projects he's done throughout the state to uh to make this Council comfortable that he can pull this off so with that said you know I've gone through the um the letter since you know they can be discussed but what I would recommend is we hear from the potential redeveloper present the plans to the public so that the public can be informed when they come up for the public comment portion and then once we hear from them if the council has any questions from the redeveloper they can ask them potential redeveloper they can ask them and then we can open it up to the public so there's no problem with that I ask uh Council if he wants to approach and introduce this plan you know what the concept is I don't know no that was in the open space looks like good evening members of the council my name is Bruce Whitaker from The Firm of McDonald Whitaker I've Had The Good Fortune of appearing before the burough of Waldwick your land use boards for many years I've been involved with many of the projects that have come to fruition throughout the town including your downtown many the shopping centers some of your housing projects as well as your subdivision projects and I'm pleased to introduce you tonight to a project that we are excited for and that's the harison Avenue Redevelopment LLC uh applicant uh the property as you know is block 107 Lots 1357 8 9 10 and 11 that's referred to in the planner's report as the plan area you're familiar with the area it fronts on three streets and has a mix of residential commercial and vacant properties we've had the benefit of looking at your planner's report Mr GLE who's been your planet for many years and has the author and developer of the various Master plans that have been ProMag to the township over the years before him it was uh Richard Price as I recall his other partner in any event what he found is that the plan that is being proposed supports the Central Central Business bu this District it will take advantage of Transit oriented housing which is a very important uh Statewide kind of concept for housing these days it will provide some new commercial space it's going to provide importantly different and varied types of housing which again is something that is a guideline that the state has out there these days and then most importantly it's going to help address the Burrows affordable housing obligations as we approach the fourth round of affordable housing which is upon us at this time our client has assembled a team of well-respected Professionals for the implementation of a Redevelopment plan for this property uh I take the opportunity tonight to give you a very brief overview of the plan itself which consists of 22 apartments and 21 tow houses it would be a rental development and therefore they would be a 15% set aside for affordable housing and the affordable housing requirements that are promulgated in the fourth round would be met by this developer most importantly the developer has done many many projects in the past and the developer is not only an owner but also an operator so from the standpoint of accountability and you'll hear from the developer shortly uh the accountability is there before I introduce though the developer I'd like to take you through the project itself and on that basis we have have Robert zampolin who is a very well-known architect uh and he's been involved with the design of many different types of housing Styles uh I've worked with him for probably over 30 years uh he's worked on mansions in Saddle River and Alpine luxury and affordable housing the whole Gambit of Housing and uh he has created very upscale designs for various properties Bergen County and I think when you see what is being proposed tonight that this is a very upscale type of project uh he's going to introduce and describe his background to you and then he's going to give you an overview of what's being proposed which fits within the Redevelopment plan as promulgated in uh Mr gle's report as I stated the municipality also needs to be concerned about the perspective developer and in this instance we have Richard I uh he's the principal of Harrison Avenue Redevelopment I know there was a concern raised in the letter that came from the planning board attorney um and uh just a little background he's been in a line of construction work for like this for over 35 years have a booklet we're going to pass out tonight to show you the type of work that he and his company DMR construction uh which is here in Waldwick for many years and uh he is the owner of of that also and he is not only in charge in of development and in engineering and construction but also uh has had the Good Fortune of retaining developments and U running them and operating them um he's not only done private developments and this is a very important thing to note for those concerned about that paragraph at the end of the letter pertaining to uh who is the developer Mr radich and his companies has been certified by the states of New Jersey and New York to do state projects that's a very hard test to pass and he's done it and he's done it with great success not only for his company but for the projects that you'll hear about tonight that he's done on behalf of the state of New Jersey so with that as an overview of the application unless there's any preliminary comments or questions of me I would turn it over to Mr zlin to walk you through the project thank you Bob thank you Bruce uh Bruce gave me a a great buildup my name is uh Bob samplin I've been a licensed architect since uh 1985 in preparing for tonight I just realize that next year it's our 40th year of Private Practice so whenever I think about that I I just I just it just time just flies by you know the M my late 60s it's uh it's crazy uh but uh the office has been uh located in Westwood New Jersey for 37 years uh 3 years when we first started out in Emerson uh obviously we've done lots of town home projects and Department building projects uh some of the town home projects that we've done are Saddle River Grand and Saddle River on chest road we did the uh uh The Enclave in Mont Vil on Lake Street uh those are projects from 10 15 years ago uh we've done the belir at Alpine Country Club and we're currently finishing up the woodlands uh townhouse project over at the frck states in demerest and we're been designing uh for a number of years unfortunately the uh it's called the farm at the freck States in Alpine but uh it's it's Alpine so everything takes number of years in Alpine uh so those are some of the projects that we've worked on and uh Bruce said we also do you know obviously uh many residential homes in the area and we've done I'm thinking about tonight you know we also did it was called pasc Community Bank at the time we did that Bank building that's on Crescent and uh I think it's white Glo Avenue I think now it's a Provident Bank but that was when pasak was a small Community Bank so that's just some of our experience over the past 40 years so with that being said if that's okay I'll I have three boards that we put together in I sorry board as I'm talking about but I have a a board from conf Associates that we now it's his conceptual site plan and then we have our two 3D renderings and the illustrations for the uh for the different type of building typologies that we're looking to develop uh the first board that I'll talk about is is our town hall style home it's 3D rendering of town houses and as brce said there's 21 town houses that were proposing on the development uh 13 town houses will be located on the haris streets Street which this rendering shows a view looking kind of south on on Harrison where you see uh the mixed residential and Retail building in the background going toward the West Prospect and Frederick Street will be on the left hand side of the in and what we've done is we designed the town homes in a uh you know traditional uh turn the century style uh it's in all brick thead there's would be pre-cast detailing both at the window PS and the Sills as well as obviously the front doors and preest LS of the garage doors um you know the windows of the old double hun Windows traditional type of windows at that time window in terms of design the windows will all have light Cuts in terms of the design so it's very traditional and then going to T site plan from conf Associates the 13 town homes on Harrison Avenue uh all have a stepping pattern in terms of where T it's not one continuous faade uh every two Town stagger approximately 3 to four to 5 ft so you have a little bit of a rhythm in terms of theage and there might be some changes in elevation in terms of Photography so Town step and in addition to that when you look at the we've also created different types of candle box bay windows uh angle Bays box bays and some units will have no B just to kind of Barry theage of the Town Halls so there's a little bit of a differentiation in addition to that there'll be a uh you know a traditional style architecture have a heavy Corner SM one thep carit line just to give it some nice nice cing detail to the town halls and then moving to the uh second rendering that we have this rendering will be a view as you're standing on uh here's a Harrison Street in West Prospect so you're kind of looking to the West which would be towards the r property I believe that's the barber Barber Shop salon on the right hand side and go to FR return by now Bruce said that we have 22 Apartments there's 21 apartments that were proposing in the upper stories of the uh residential component of the building and there's preexisting Apartment One One V apartment in the in the barber shop on so hence it's 22 the preliminary unit mix that we're looking for in terms of the the apartment sty there'll be eight1 Apartments it's seven the new building that's being proposed and that one that's preexisting uh there's 12 2 apartments and two three apartments for a total of 22 using the exting build for building and again you know everybody sees some of the new developments that are happening where you know when you have a big building complex they model different textures and materials and colors and try to create variations U but when you really look at some old older buildings in historical context you know which is classic clean architectural line it's all high quality materials all brick work pre-cast arches there's a colon a that's created at the retail level Where the Sidewalk from R Harrison continue underneath the building and continue by the retail area which will be a nice aesthetic uh there's lots of CIS molding that we have both at the rooftop level on the fourth floor as well as some detailing with the building steps back I know we a conversation the building the cortis molding that we have at the top of the building is approximately 4 tall so it's a significant amount of detail sure could Swit the building down and get those contemporary buildings that small bands but you know hisor there's there's room for archways and and some detail unfortunately that Mar think a little bit taller but again at the turn of century there no zy wanted to so that the look style building so and that's so as far as the 50 Foot is concerned where is that basically located is it over the entire site or just in one portion of the site it's one portion cuz what we're looking to do is the FL retail level uh has a 14t high fer ceiling height that's in order to get emergency access Vehicles into the back of the property but it gives it nice high colonade of look that open airiness kind of the field the retail component then we have the uh second Flor residential Wing which lines up uh at the at the same plane as the colonade below then the building steps back we're looking at approximately 5 to 8 ft or so and the building pushes in the upper fls and we're still working you know subject to moving forward with the rest of the design obviously we're looking to uh obviously keep the tallet section of the building right at the at the intersection of Harrison Avenue and West Prospect you know so there's like kind of like cascading fact um in connection with the three uh the stories that we have on this uh uh building right in many of these projects that we've seen in the last few years we see um a three and four story project for housing um in which we've got flat facades and we've got um a very long um vertical without any type of architectural elements for Aesthetics um you've already stated that You' stepped it back i' just like you to walk us through uh what the step back is and the purpose behind that well the step back is obviously that not just one vertical plane going up you know 50 50 ft so it' be essentially a 254 building and between 5 and 8 ft back into 25 12 building so you know the sheer perspective you know obviously at a part distance you'll read the 50 ft get closer up the perspective works in your advantage where the building receiv a little bit and if we can actually work the back half build close to the W push it back a little bit more you can play R those changes in elevation so by virtue of what we're proposing here we're not maximizing the footprint by doing a vertical wall four story no and we had other studies that we did uh that didn't wasn't well received so we been invol in pursuing those so it be correct to say that we' selected Aesthetics here over maximizing the square footage of the building it's right right we had other elements that went all the way up on other iterations um looking at the conent associates plan on Board number one right there just point out uh and account of where the tow houses are located for the board members and members of the public some of them are internal correct exactly so the 13 town homes on Harrison Avenue we have our three town homes on Frederick Street so we have the 13 on Harrison three on fedick and five of them are actually on the interior of the site which is really only seen from the parking lot from the uh from from the right and all of these town houses uh will have their own garage correct yes the one garage all the town houses are has two bedom town houses so T has it with one car garage with with one car outside so according to tor's analysis we complied with all the parking requirements this schedule shows uh 85.6 required and 87 is proposed on the on the property and the parking that's uh proma here you've done a number of these types of projects um which is a more of a transient because of the proximity to public transportation um that U this type of parking that's being proposed um in your opinion is sufficient for the type of use of the building correct correct 1.5 is more than sufficient in today's environment okay so I've had the question asked of me before in making presentations in town about the affordable housing element and it describe it somewhat as an elephant in the room we know we have to comply with it um and there are certain requirements and guidelines that affordable housing has uh including account so you just walk us through what the affordable housing guidelines would be so it's 2020 and 40 and then you pick the other 20% so it's 20% 1es 20% uh uh 3es and 40% twos and then you pick whichever other iteration you want for the balance of 100% so it's kind of like but you have to head those certain minimums you have to have at least three and one you know 1 three and 1 one so the question being many times is why three bedroom in a facility like this is basically required for be affortable correct corre we're not creating a series of three bed no right now we have two but two is a PD depending on the final layout of the massing uh correct to say though that as far as the um amount of affordable housing and and the guidelines and there certain building requirements for the interior of the units what we're proposing here can be all of those absolutely absolutely no oh well no the the streetcape itself what are we proposing there oh you know obviously the streetcape for the ordinances will have these stamps or P conrete or cers I know there street lights that are part of the whole streetcape which obviously not in the rendering but you know obviously should we move to the next step we'll get more more detailed renderings that show whatever type of shade trees are required in the right way sidewalk pattern in the L schedule you've had the ability to look at Mr report and the specifications the standards fol standards as they call it uh for this piece of property is it correct to say that what we've got here on these boards and what uh con Associates has prepared as far as a conceptual site plan that needs all the requirements within that report and that proposal right I focused on these Aesthetics a lot you know and I really honestly feel like I need PA requirements thank you I have no further questions at this time yeah you can you can either ask questions now or listen hear from Mr radich first and then ask questions all all at once should we hear from Mr I probably hear that way it's not peace meal yeah than use the microphone Mr R just introduce yourself to the board and tell them who you are and what you uh what's your business okay my name is Richard radich I'm president of DMR Construction Services we're located at the 160 Hopper Avenue uh across the street from the tennis court um we've been there since uh 2017 almost 17 years now and uh we love being here it's a great town unfort haven't had the uh opportunity to come in front of the board but we're looking forward to trying to get something accomplished in that regard tonight and what does DMR construction do DMR were predominantly started out as a public works contractor um I did personally a lot of major infrastructure work throughout New York City and we gravitated to doing uh similar work uh in New Jersey public work so we our biggest clients are Port Authority New Jersey Transit Metro North and many the many of the municipalities throughout throughout New Jersey um we've in the last 10 years have done about $100 million worth of work at the hoken train station doing everything from repairing that train wreck that occurred many years ago when that signalment fell asleep to rebuilding the immigration building with a 2 million um historic facade replication and and we actually put a substate inside of it so they they maintain a historic look of of the station and some of the historic buildings and at the same time made it made a utility out of it from Sandy the objective is in New Jersey to raise the grid up out of the ground and put it overhead and that's been a f of work that we've been doing down at at the hoken station now you're not only a principal of DMR construction but also you're the principal of um the Harrison Redevelopment uh Harrison Avenue Redevelopment LLC cor yeah yeah that's right yeah we we I'm the president of Harrison Street fre development uh about 10 or 15 years ago we started doing a lot of vertical development work and um we I'm I'm a licensed professional engineer as well in New York and New Jersey years ago I used to do a lot of presentations to the board but uh you know since that all must be the early 90s or something we just gravitated more just specializing in construction and we've owned and purchased and bought and developed many properties uh you know a lot of them most of them in New Jersey and we have an office in South Florida as well and we've done some very highend homes down there and highend Tow houses on the ocean and we're very familiar with the entitlement process the Land Development process the acquisition feasibility analysises I mean we kind of a full service company we we have probably 80 people working for us um between in the office about 20 at at our Waldwick office and another 40 or 50 out in the field uh another things we self-perform a lot of our work so we're not just a contractor that um Subs everything out we own a ton of equipment and we self perform most of our site work and we do a lot of the Civil trades concrete form work you know uh more on the public work we self- perform a lot and the private stuff we tend to just do most of the site and you also have the occasion to be not only the developer but also uh as an owner operator uh of a rental facility after it's completed yeah we have we have a few facilities now that we that we rent and we own and uh this is going to be you know a staple project in town because you know it's here it's our home base and uh you know we're really kind of excited to be building this project in our town and if there's anything every every anything wrong there nowhere to find me I'm right down the street I'm always there in the office pretty much 40 50 hours a week so you know there never any lack of communication in that regard we'll always be there to address any any of your concerns I mentioned to you uh to the board uh to the council this evening that um besides being the private developer building private and you mentioned it private developments that you mentioned that you started out doing State work both in New York and New Jersey so you had to be certified and qualified to get those type of projects um and become a developer of those projects correct yeah no the bonding work is uh it's been our strength for many years we probably have I don't know close to $300 million in b capacity um you know we you know that's pretty much been the backbone of the company and uh but we've equally spread out it's probably about 5050 in the work that we do private and public so we passed out a brochure this evening of of the DMR um company and some of the work that they've done right just very briefly you would just walk us through um what that that uh shows sure well this first cover page is a project we just finished you know probably less than a year ago it's in the West New York on the corner of Bergen Line Avenue in 49th Street um it's a it's a 10-story building it's 100 units you know it's a a unique product we we we had a particular design just to let you know from a architect I don't want to say any names that we weren't happy with and we basically redid the entire facade and redid the layouts we did he had like 15 different window sizes which is not economical and just made the project very cost you know ineffective and so we value engineered it and we're just good at that I mean I'm an engineer I got a bunch of Architects that work for me we have other Engineers mechanical guys and civil guys so we're famili with the process um you know from start to finish uh as we glance through here Apon Village this is a townhouse project that we did in Floren Park um high-end stuff these are all over a million dollars these houses they had elevators and um you know we just finished this about two years ago um similar project this other one gstream views this is right on the ocean in a town called Bry breezes it's about 3 miles north of Del it's on the water this is all Oran cast piles Concrete Construction um you know 180 mph wind wind resistance structures a lot more expensive building T houses in FLorida than it is in New Jersey with the with the different um restrictions that you have but anyway that was the project we did a bunch of high-end homes the here to show a few these were just finished a couple years ago this is Elden Street in sad River then you have Kenwood this was a very special home with an indoor pool that we finished and then you have Old Mill this is woodliff Lake finished this not too long ago uh the station this is a project that we did design development on on 51st Street uh this is the acola this is a property that we own in Florida we're currently getting approvals for this building the acola that's uh going to be 22 units it's two South two blocks south of Atlantic Avenue which is a pretty famous Avenue and in the process of getting that approved and similar to Four Street we own this property in Bon and we're getting approvals for 153 units down here as well uh so with that so with that said and showing this you've had the opportunity to uh put this team together we have reviewed the Redevelopment aspects we reviewed Mr gle's report uh his requirements as far as Folk standards are concerned you obviously have been working with Mr zlin and his staff in creating what we have here on the board this evening you're confident this is can be built out this way and you're confident in a success of the project yeah and I it's a great project I think it's uh perfect for that area that's a kind of need for redevelopment and uh I don't know it's relatively simple build and uh yeah it's not a problem this is a great project we really excited to build it it's light up our Alle you know thank you yeah questions see I I would say open it up to the council now for any questions from the from the potential redeveloper and then any comments the council has and then we can open it up to the public to hear from the public before the uh consideration the ordinance yeah can I just ask a quick question thanks for that presentation I think it looks beautiful um we've heard a lot from some council members from the planning board about the height just what's the probability that this moves forward that you get financing if this gets rejected and we we push it down to a two over one three-story building well the project is is not going to be feasible because you just don't have the economics just on work that they were stretched out at the economics as they are right now and I I looked at the proposed Redevelopment plan and it seems to you know I think we fit within that plan so I was like you know based the model on that if we reduce sizes it's just going to not the uh the capacity of what we're looking to do out yeah I just want to follow up on his question I think one thing that would probably help the uh residents understand what that all means right so do do you guys have any kind of valuation any kind of numbers that can we can share with uh with the town to understand what that breako is right so there's got to be a number of units that makes it feasible for you guys and also makes it feasible for for the town to you know meet halfway in the middle there and make it a good project is there anything that we can share that helps us understand that number yeah I mean you know a lot of times you guys looks pretty simple overall the business from from you know a high elevation view uh you know if you buy units at $100,000 a door and you go to rental you know I mean any developer tight it's a tight number you know for a rental it's a very tight number if you want to go for sale maybe it's okay but these were looking to do for rental and it's about what the property is costing $100,000 a there's just no room to build less you want just then you be 150 or 200 a door it's not going to work on rentals I don't care what just how does the the the requirement that we have to put COA units in these these types of developments how does that affect those numbers because you obviously have to factor that in well it does you know that it actually you know reduces or increases the the rate per door for the market rate uh the thing is that we always hope for because you know it's tough to see how the that whole thing unfolds is you know is it a break even is it a 10% gain is a 20% loss you know what I mean so we don't even understand that that total Math yet but we'll figure it out we'll fight for what we need to I think maybe from an architectural um perspective can you help us understand where you come up with the 14 ft for the first floor and then the 10 ft for the other floors and how we come up with those numbers to get to the potential fo put 14t is obviously T we have to gety vehicle access coming into the back of the buildings and you need the 14ot CLE come through for fire truck even though in the design age with people I pushed back saying the fire truck's not going to come into an interior parking lot build on fire away usually they'll stay down the street but but it's it's the requirements for the boat so see was right I was wrong and you want so we have to start lifting is holding up higher just to get the TRU to come in obviously ceiling reil space but being you know being at the building bridges the entrance to the to the back of the Interior parking lot uh you know and and again the parking lot is nice and private and and contained it's not like you know having a big parking line in front of a residential devel just DET trct to the street so when I start doing the initial ning I kep the parking all hidden thinking that we'd be okay you know and then as it kept evolving you know it just would look M Street to support is that entryway the only access point into the center so that's why it needs to be 14 ft thank you I don't have any questions but I have a statement i' like to make yeah have comments too but we should finish questions first yeah finish questions there's any more questions I guess for the clarity for the um public that's here the the the push the step back area the total footage is 48 ft or is it to the 50 ft I mean you know buing at at the top of that Crown detail push back the push back four floors okay thank you on the top of that second floor is there any plans for anything there is that open space is that going to be terrrace space what is that well we were thinking about teror as well for the apartment kind of nice any other questions well I have some concerns of course but this is going to be a major decision that we're going to have to make I'd kind of like to hear from the residents great if you want to do public comments or if you want to do comments from the from the council first before we open it up you know if anybody you know yeah comments coun yeah I I have I think for the for the benefit of the the community I have a few things I'd like to make first I'd like to talk about the timeline of event elaborate a little bit more on the timeline of events that that got us here uh address some of the planning board's comments and then my own assessment of of the particular plan so um you know this this goes back for me this goes back 3 years this goes back to the campaign when councilwoman saraha and I were knocking every door in town we were hearing constant feedback from everybody we need to revitalize we need to Redevelopment that downtown uh it became I think a core part of of our campaign such that when we were elected we started meeting with uh members of the governing body uh individually uh having coffee trying to gain a consensus that we move this forward uh by March of 2022 3 months after we took office there was that consensus from the governing body that we wanted to support this we wanted to move this forward we hired Redevelopment Council so that was just just three months in um I should note that really our responsibility is to designate areas Redevelopment zones work with redevelopers try to recruit them in we do not own these properties we don't spend tax dollars on buying these properties we certainly don't have the money to do that we don't spend tax dollars on building on these Lots we certainly don't have the money to do that either um and so in March of 2022 we set down this uh entire uh Endeavor um that that led to having our planner uh basically uh uh do a a study for us we sent it to the uh to the planning board there was a hearing and then we designated the first property we designated was what I call the rocket property which is across the street from this an area in need of Redevelopment I have to say I was at that meeting there was overwhelming support from the residents of that area uh we had people saying not only we support this but we want out we want to expand this we want our properties included I think there was a real hunger for people in this area to see a revitalization some new new properties on what's otherwise you vacant land uh at the moment um that was about a 6 to n month process by June of 2023 we hadn't received any proposals so 18 months into this process nothing and I be I began personally to to lose faith in whether there was real interest in in Waldwick having uh Redevelopment uh you know moving forward so rather than give up we sat with our administrator at the time Patrick wey and said hey we should try to recruit some developers to come into this area submit some proposals so we we as a governing body supported a resolution that put an RFP together that recruited redevelopers to come in we received one proposal I think Craig spoke about that earlier Not only was there some miscommunication but the the design that was being proposed was massive it was was like six stories it was a wall from Prospect to Frederick it would totally transform this town in a negative way and I think we rejected it immediately it's not at all what we want to do here as a governing body uh in Waldwick so now we're 18 months in we received one plan then nothing November 3 months later we said hey maybe there's something fundamentally wrong with the the the the property that we designated back at at Rocket maybe we should could expand it and look at the property that we're talking about today the r Aid property Harrison app maybe there's something about the rocket property that makes it un undevelopable I have I have no idea so we had that discussion um and and that was in March or that was in November of 20123 finally in March of 2024 we received two more proposals one proposal was for Rocket the rocket property we looked at that again high density Apartments kind of a wall six six stories whatever five stories from end to end book end to book endend it wasn't what we were looking for the governing body here rejected that plan as well I think we received an initial plan from the developers that are here I'm not sure it was from a developer that looked to develop the Harrison a property as well we looked at that and we said it's getting closer to what we want but it's not hitting that critical piece of retail on the first floor of prospect that's a key Hallmark for what we're I think trying to achieve we want to maintain first FL retail so we rejected it sent it back that was November of 2023 right so we're now two years into the process three proposals none of them kind of fitting with with what we want uh downtown so finally um 6 months later uh we we receive a plan right we we received this plan um and I think that there was a majority consensus not a unanimous consensus but a majority consensus that this gets closer to what we want it's building I think a beautiful property on otherwise vacant land um luxury uh it checked all the boxes and so we uh you know decided to introduce this ordinance we unanimously consented to send this to the the planning board planning board did their review in November and December and we're now here so three years four proposals two two to three hearings multiple close sessions tons of work went into this you know the long story short is I I think we've worked very hard we are not getting proposals quite like the proposals we're getting are far more outlandish than than what we're seeing here so for any concern over the height what I can promise you is what we've seen before dwarfs this it's it's it's insane so um that has been the process to date now as I relas to the planning board let me just say uh I I greatly appreciate the planning board for you know taking this up I think that uh when you're on a board in walwick whether it's the planning board zoning board the the Board of Education uh it's a thankless job and it's a volunteer job and everyone works very hard so I thank everybody for for kind of uh taking the effort forward I will say though I had some concerns about the way that these meetings were being held not the members of the board but the way that the attorney was running these uh meetings we had uh at the start of the first meeting council members asked to stand uh uh basically acknowledge who they were and threatened to be kicked out of the meeting because it was a unscheduled visit from Council to a planning board meeting and to me that felt like intimidation at best illegal at worst um so so it was it's it did not get off to a good start uh the planning board did the best that they could to discuss the plans uh they had very little information I felt as what we were trying to achieve the history that it took to get us there um and they actually adjourned that meeting without public comment despite the fact that we had quote 2,000 % more people in attendance at that meeting than has ever been seen before that would be like us ad journeying this meeting tonight and sending you all home without public comment that that's what it felt like it was kind of a punch to the gut they planned their their second meeting as again a work session with no public comment they heard nothing from public comment and then took a vote at the end of that meeting to to to basically turn this down with with restrictions so you know again uh I'm not sure if that violates the public meetings act but it sure as heck felt like it and it made feel like the residents really didn't have much of a say in what what the planning board was was putting out there that notwithstanding they did mention the height I sympathize with their concerns over the height when I came into this when we when we set this out we had Grand visions of redeveloping our downtown with a two two stories all the way through yeah like a man Tucket type antique little shops we we thought that we were going to be able to rebuild this town with just just absolute quaint beut but I think we we found out very quickly that's not the type of proposals that are coming in that's not the type of Redevelopment that happens uh and the proposals that we saw were were were just were crazy um they were too big and what we have here I think is is is beautiful and it's it's an absolutely it's a middle ground it's the best we're going to get if we vote this down we're essentially going to be stuck with just an empty lot there for the next 10 years that I'm convinced of because it's it's just not going to move forward as it relates to uh the comment of a uh member of the governing body having U um an abnormal personal interest I can only I can only imagine that that is directed at me uh because I have a great personal interest here uh and and I've heard the rumors um let me just be clear my personal interest is only in the interest of Waldwick I want this downtown to be beautiful the residents of Waldwick deserve more than vacant Lots run down properties an unsafe not not a prosperous downtown we we deserve more and so I'll continue to work hard and for for whoever is is thinking that this is this is you know uh too fast too passionate uh too hard I promise you this is one 1,000th of the amount of energy that can be put into projects like this and I will ratchet it up in the next 3 years to make sure that we do the business of of the burrow I promise you that much as it relates to addressing the right a property you know I sympathize with the planning board I also agree I think we should be looking at this from a holistic point of view I've tried to get the the the council to look at this from a a holistic point of view I would love to address the Right Aid property I would love to see first floor retail all the way down uh Prospect I would love to turn that Right Aid into a community center into a senior center I would love to take the streetcape along Franklin Turnpike and turn it into a Greenery with Memorial we need to continue using that parking lot for all of of the parking that's going to come into this downtown we can't build on that structure I think we need to be having these discussions but we don't own that property we can't buy that property and we certainly can't build on it we can't do anything unless a developer comes in and I promise you this tonight if we vote this down no developer is going to come within 10t of Waldwick for another 10 years and we're going to be stuck with vacant properties rundown buildings empty R AIDS and a parking lot that's just falling into absolute disarray so you know if you haven't figured it out by now I 1,00% support this bill as is I understand that there's concerns on the hype but I I and others have worked very hard for three years to bring us to this point and I think this is the best we're going to get there's a couple reasons revitalization as I said we deserve better we deserve a safe prosperous fun Community to go to I shouldn't have to go to hocus I shouldn't have to go to Ridgewood I should not have to go to Allandale to go out with my family to go out with my friends to go out with my neighbors I think we all deserve the right to walk down and and and enjoy a meal spend some time with each other I think that we also are in deep financial trouble here in walwick I've been saying this for the past year as I've worked at the finance committee I mean WWI has done a great job keeping cost low I've never seen a budget so tight in my life we could not cut a dollar out of this budget it's just not possible it's not there but we have no tax revenue and we are not investing in our infrastructure sure enough we are not investing in the community we need to get creative we need to find ways to generate more tax revenue and this will bring us more tax revenue this will give us you know several times uh excess on what we're gaining in taxes on this property alone and it will spur a dominal effect where we get more and more beautiful properties coming into this town revitalizing that downtown and finally this is my last point you know by passing this tonight we maintain control on what goes into this property we pass an ordinance that says we want X Y or Z into this uh we've just been we've just been hit hard with a COA mandate from the state 180 new units we have to put in into this town 180 new affordable housing units we have to put in to holdwick if we break this down tonight my fear is that this is going to end up in the courts the courts do not care about what the residents of wah Brook think they do not care about what the planning board thinks they do not care care about what the council thinks if this ends up in the courts we're not going to have a four-story building that looks beautiful we're going to have a 10-story building with 90% co-a units I really think the town deserves better I really think that this puts us on the right path to Prosperity it helps balance our budget it puts us it just puts us in a good position and I would just urge everyone here tonight to don't be shy come up voice your voice your approval voice your descent I think we want to hear from you we we we need public opinion on this because I think we're obviously we have some concerns up here uh and and uh you know at that I will uh I'll turn it over to the other members of council thank you I like to hear from the public I'd like to make my comments no do you have a comment yeah go ahead okay thank you uh thank you for the presentation as Mike mentioned it's absolutely beautiful and I'm in support as well I'd like to share some of my thoughts so as Mike mentioned we worked on this project for 3 years the council sent rfps designated two areas as Redevelopment zones and held multiple planning board hearings and countless Clos sessions on the matter this Council rejected multiple plans from developers because the proposed density was too high too large or didn't prioritize the retail space we've seen what the other development options are and they are far worse there's been a majority consensus from this Council for this exact plan all along and this Council voted unanimously to support and send this Redevelopment plan to the planning board I urge everyone to votee with the same consensus this is a beautiful plan that solves multiple problems for the burrow it contributes to the need to revitalize our downtown it initiates progress toward a fully rebuilt safe and prosperous downtown it helps to now our budget deficits by adding much needed tax revenue without putting a greater burden on the current residents it solves the need to find a place to start adding the co- units that we were just mandated to add by passing this we maintain control over what type of Redevelopment is built in this area voting this plan down at the 11th Hour will potentially set up a battle in courts and the courts will control what is built in this area the courts don't care about us and we risk having a 10-story building effectively a housing project like I said before I urge everyone to vote for the plan we've been working on and do what's best for Waldwick it's time to give Waldwick a facelift the people have been asking for a more vibrant downtown year after year and this will finally help create that vision for too long we've sat on the sidelines and haven't made updates to our downtown here area let's take action and breed new life into our downtown and create a place where businesses want to invest families want to settle and residents can enjoy local restaurants shops and Recreation when we hesitate on responsible Redevelopment we risk falling behind and losing out on the potential growth and prosperity let's do what's right for Waldwick thank you I'd love to hear from the residents as well any sorry any other comments from the council before we open up to the public seeing none uh just a motion to open it up to the public motion to open up to the public okay motion by councilwoman Weber seconded by councilwoman okay public you come up just state your name address is not required uh bla Bradley have been a a resident in walwick I now have my second home here I heard a lot of words today such as a itics pleasing looks things of that nature but things that are true that we need to really focus on with this and what I feel is it can be a beacon for Economic Opportunity um what I feel or what I want to say is that there has to be perception or increased perception in the value in Waldwick and I think that this project would add on to that at least that's my full perception with a young family and wanting to see where it can go for the long term that being said you know if we don't keep it on a hype local level and focus of how we can invest into it and if it goes to the state level as mentioned that is preposterous in my mind if that is to happen that being said um you know I certainly think like I said yeah sure it's aesthetically pleasing it's all of those things but the biggest thing is the economic driving Factor um and hoping that it would do the same that we've seen in other towns so that's my two sons thank you thank thank you okay Al golden um I'm going to do you Fells the favorite here tonight you know this place is full of people that come come you know out of their homes on a cold night to hear what you guys have got to say and you stand up here and you're talking to the the council but you're forgetting that you got people back there in the back row you don't need a microphone but so you fellas do and a few Fellas on the you know Council also you have to learn to use a microphone that's why they put him here and uh you know I'm sitting in the first row and some of the words you're saying I can't hear because I'm looking at your back but you got people all the way in the back there they would like to hear every word you say the only question that I have about this thing is where you going to park the cars on the site shows us one car each town in a garage and one car out and the bance of the parking there 42 uh 42 parking spacing for the town homes and we need another 40 uh 42 and evidently in the parking area that laid out on the interior site believe it's 87 total Park we have 4 43 or 44 parking according to where's the parking area the yeah the parking the parking lot is behind the buildings it's on the interior your house so yeah all the parking lot is on the interior of the site that's why we have that one Ingress regress um from West Prospect you know for the fire truck access to come inside and all the balance of the parking it's all on inside and according to the engineer re I don't see one cor it looks beautiful but yeah there's no wouldn't see any cars on the retail area all the parking is through the private garage door and hidden behind the buildings okay thank you you okay sorry I'll be I promise I probably don't need a microphone either hi everyone I'm Nadia Lupino I'm a lifelong walck resident um I actually moved back after getting married because I love Waldwick so much and I decided to raise my children here because I have so much pride and such a sense of community for Waldwick um it's where my family immigrated from Italy and where a sense of family and Community has always been in really close to my heart um like Mike had mentioned walck is a town that sandwiched between gorgeous other towns The Architects had mentioned Alpine and Montell and I think that walck has just been a Passover town where people generally don't hang out even as a child or as a teenager I did not hang out here I went to other towns to hang out um and I really want my children to have this I really want them to be able to come and be safe and be in the town which is walwick which is gorgeous it has beautiful towns people who are obviously very excited tonight it has top-notch schools and very dedicated officials um and I really think that they care about the future of our town and in doing that I really think that what's missing is the broader appeal to others and to have the potential to have be a town that draws people in not only fors charm and close-knit Community but also as being a standout location within Burgen County because right now I think that Waldwick isn't that when I say I'm from Waldwick people generally ask where that is and I have to say it's next to Ridgewood and I have to say it's next to ramsy because they have these beautiful and quaint downtowns where people are going to um I think that this is the key lock potentially to help unlock and have walck become that special charm and be really a standout in terms of where Bergen County or where it is on the map for Bergen County um lastly I just want to say that as a parent I really think this is important and I really encourage the board to not think about what it is today but what it's going to be for the future and that's my children right and I want my children to be safe and I want them to have a place and I want this to be a legacy where they saw this progress and then they can even better to help it and this is a sustainable endeavor that they can also build upon for themselves so thank you members of the council you know Kelly Steve Craig good evening my name is Randy Reb I'm the owner of the properties at 37 39 41 and 43 Harrison Avenue I also on 28 West Prospect Street which is di only across from these properties I purchased 208 W Prospect Street in 1998 when I purchased that building there hadn't been a building touched west of Harrison Avenue in probably over 30 years so I took the initiative I bought the property I moved my business there I renovated it I sub I'm a builder I'm not an investor I'm not a developer I'm a builder so my business model is I buy properties I use my coer renovate it and I sell it I bought 34 West prosect Street 323 before I sold that you know two Lafayette placeat five Lafayette Place I brought up from the ground by the way I just finished renovating the VFW building on Houston Avenue that was a labor of love strictly a labor of love my point is is that we're west of Franklin Turnpike this is a Zone that's not get any attention that you know from from from people would want to move there case in point I have the vacant lot over there at Harrison evue now uh why while I'm working in my construction business I'm still trying to do something with the lot so I know an attorney who has a has contacts with real estate divisions and and real estate broker with Chase Bank with Starbucks with chicka Fil-A they're not interested they don't want they don't want to think about it they want to be a player on the highway or maybe on Franklin turnike but not off of Franklin turnike not west of Franklin turnike it's a struggling area no question about it so I uh I'm intimately involved in this property before I owned the properties about 14 years ago I'm over at West 208 West Prospect Street and by the way all these properties properties there and and then there's my property at 20 West PR I'm the only owner who's in the area everybody else is an abente owner investor they're not watching our properties so I see the rats going around on the streets about 14 years ago so we found out they were like hired an exterminator and uh he found a source of the uh of the infestation he found a nest and invaded them they were on the commercial properties where the people aren't there all the time they come in and work they leave they don't even know what's going on so he baits them I go to all the houses and try to contact the owners I can't find them talk to theend I went to the Bur Hall I got the tax records and I contacted him and I told him we had a problem and I got him to agree we I went out and bought 12 steel garbage cans cuz the plastic garbage cans on six Residential Properties had holes 4 in big in the bottom of these garbage cans so this is the kind of thing we're dealing with it's I'm the only landlord in the area and the only owner in the area who was there so I see these things going on now you know quite frankly this is the first time I've seen this rendering and know what this project is about I thought it would be a lot bigger you know here here's what's going on you you you want to develop today consider that real estate's gone up 20 % easily in the last 3 or 4 years consider that building costs have gone up 50% in The Last 5 Years this is a reality when you go around all of Bergen County any place there's near a public Center or near I public transportation or near a town center you're not going to find buildings less than 10 four stories high this building is much smaller than I envisioned it when I was talking to the people who want to buy it for the last two and a half years by the way right and this is this is a gorgeous building this would be the shot in the arm that west of Franklin turnike needs hey what's on the Sid of these properties you know to the West is rocket to the east is rate to the north is Columbia Bank and the north side of the the right8 property and to the to the South is West Prospect Street which is a viable viable Commercial Street and an area that's desirable oh Chuck watermaker myself with the w Community Alliance we approached the burrow was it over 10 years ago Chuck right and we uh we we did all the new sidewalks we organized all the sidewalks on West Prospect Street and the burrow put into vintage lighting which really turned that street into a really nice little place to be it's become a little more homey so I got approached by somebody you know who could do this which I couldn't and I was just happy as could be for that area World cuz it will absolutely transform us no question about and I I do hope you see to approve this project thank you for your time hi everyone I'm Jen Richie uh so I come before you today to basically just say how in dire need we are of this Redevelopment I've been a lifelong resident here uh I just can't believe that we're not unanimously voting for this to be approved I find that very ironic uh right now in walking distance to my home there is an empty parking lot and run down homes and I have friends all over in Upper Saddle River Saddle River MAA mville that's why most of them moved out of Waldwick because they have lucrative downtowns places for where their kids can go hang out have fun and for the adults as well we don't have that here in Waldwick um we need to be comparable to Ridgewood hocus right now we're not even comparable to them so instead of being always in mediocrity let's make Waldwick again prosperous flourish and especially for my children I have two little girls and for my family so I can be proud to live in Waldwick thank you [Music] Frank mcgo I live I've been living wal more than a half century I got family and friends on all my relatives who lives in this town and me and my parents both Came From Italy and we sat in here and I tell you I love walwick because all my kids are here my grandkids and and right now this project is the best thing could ever happen to us because every time I pass by cuz I don't live too far from there every time I pass by all you see name the L parked cars it look like a junkyard and um also it brings more brings money to the to the community because we don't have that much going on and they keep raising a tax and they can take some of that money offset of that project it's just like I used to live in wal before I moved up up up this way and the same thing with the de Martini lomard it looked like a junk rats were staying run around all over the place now they fix it up and looks beautiful and they also increase the the value of the house that's why they all gone up I know everybody wants to live in Waldwick for me this is the best thing could ever happen thank you have a good night hello everyone um I'm quite loud as well um my name is Jamie gilet um I've only lived in Waldwick now for five years it has been five amazing years I actually got married In This Very Room to my husband um so we don't have any plans on leaving and therefore I am in I am invested um in this town for me one of my favorite things about the town is its walkability when we were looking for homes I my husband would always laugh cuz I'd say I want to be able to walk to a bar and now that I have a child it's now I get to walk to the Whistle Stop and things of that nature and so for me getting to be able to walk to Dunkin Donuts and walk to the farmers market and the library are my favorite things about this town so for us to develop something like this with all new retail space I think just only improves the walkability and the nature of that for this town I'm I kind of like Waldwick being a Hidden Gem so it's not so much for other Outsiders to come in but rather for our own town to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor so thank you hi I'm Nicole St an um I grew up in Waldwick um spent a couple of years in Connecticut and moved back here just finished renovating my house in Waldwick with my two children my husband cuz I'm playing planning on staying here I have my parents here in town I have my sister here in town um and I believe you know that Waldwick you know is a really great place um to be and I think that this is really something that we need I can think back to growing up and I can remember in woff when there was only you know the Grand Union there in Boulder Run and like now seeing what that is I feel like you know this is like the stepping stone of I remember you know that all turned and I live over there in that Boulder Run Shopping Center as I'm sure many of you do and thinking you know there's the ability for to turn around and and build something great I think we should do it evening everybody uh I'm Eric Wall I just moved here with my wife uh three three years ago she's originally from walwick she grew up here she spent her whole life here um I'm a huge supporter in revitalizing this as as an outsider um coming in and not trying to make fun of it like there's no Main Street it's just streets in wli um the one thing that I haven't really heard anybody kind of specify and I'm genuinely curious if you all an answer or the developers is if we're bringing in more people and more transient people coming in um we I keep hearing safety is a concern more safety and that's great um my wife is also just recently on the um School Safety Committee that was started up but we heard she heard in that meeting there's not enough cops to help with school pickup and drop off and there was unfortunate a little girl who was struck by a car um a couple months ago so I would just be curious of how are we handling that I would have imagined there's a new increase for Public Safety and what does that do to how do we afford that and if more people are coming in we have a great educational system in walwick which was one of the reasons why I was happy to move here with my wife and my now three-year-old daughter um how are we handle I would assume more teachers more need for space for students um I want to make sure we're maintaining that so our children can all grow up in in the place that we love and enjoy and we're setting our children up for the future so those are be the two questions I I'd like to address a little bit of that uh one I think this project brings in that Financial benefit that we need as a town to do those things to support increased police force to support um infrastructure changes you know each and every meeting we we're here we have residents come up talk about water or talk about roads and those things all cost money and we need to invest invest in that infrastructure in the town and bringing in these new uh units brings in that tax revenue that we need in order to do that without increasing all of our taxes beyond what we can possibly do um you know that includes the the schools right because they get a large percentage of your tax dollars um that go there and actually leads me to a question and maybe one of you guys might might have the answer is being that this is a rental units a lot of one-bedroom a lot of two-bedroom is there any studies about the number of children that it might add to our roles and and things like that that if residents are concerned about I recently did a project and our planner at that project testified uh based on demographics and based upon studies of other similar projects the project had 28 units and there was as I recall six children under at the age of 18 with four in the school system so it was it was a concern I was at a planning board getting an approval of a project which we did and that was a question that was raised by one of the members of the public and they had the studies already done so that's the best I know of it um they're two bedrooms for many people it's where they start out for other people it's where they go back to when they downsized um it's U it's one when two or three kids come along they're no longer in a building like this uh so I understand it's much less um of a school population than the single Bice and just just to address so everybody is aware and probably should if if this plan gets approved tonight the developer still has to go through the full site plan process through the planning board where they'll have a planner and they'll have a lot of those questions addressed as well at that time during the public Hearing in front of the planning board and Craig but we have a full Financial kind of overview on the impact to the to the burrow at that time or does that come later uh it depends on how quickly we we sit down and and work with our financial analyst on that okay you know okay we could have something shortly either around that time or shortly thereafter sure any other good evening everyone um Rocco Lupino I live on 92 ridgewald Avenue relatively new to Waldwick but uh my wife was Nadia who came up here um I absolutely love this design this looks really nice um it'll it'll create a buzz in the in the community and uh also bring in other patrons from other towns right um but uh yeah hopefully it gets approved thank you good evening everyone I'm Christine figlio I live on duranti road I grew up in Brooklyn moved to Queens and then we moved to Ridgewood New Jersey we had a bustling downtown we still do in Ridgewood it's beautiful I've lived here 27 years and I've longed for a town like Ridgewood um I've been on the Chamber of Commerce in this town for 23 years and we tried so hard in the beginning to get business uh to join the chamber it was so difficult because we didn't have enough that we had to open up the Chamber of Commerce and we became an open chamber in order to grow it so we invited other towns to join us um I I concur with u Miss sakola and Mr Richie on the plan I think this is fantastic I think we need to do something to revitalize this town to bring in business that will help our taxes um I too go to other towns for dinner and to uh go out with my family and I would love to be able to just stay here and do that here so I support this plan 1,00% it's time for Waldwick to get back on the map and to be the town we're in the middle we're we're the gem in the middle of all these great towns so we need to stand out and when we do Revitalize you'll see what happens you build it and other people will come other businesses will come and will be truly prosperous thank you thank you Christine now one thing I'd like to add about uh local businesses right we add new residents to town we attract customers to our local businesses in walwick we're lucky enough not to have a lot of chain businesses right we have a lot of small family businesses you just look around that area you have nals you have um Charlie's place you have has tekka you have Rin holes these are all family businesses a lot of them who live in town um and I think that it'll benefit those um communities and those businesses support our community they're at our kids fundraisers they support our our schools they're doing our 5K they do our anything we ask our businesses to do in town and I think this helps them and maybe attracts some new ones that would help us too good evening uh my name is Rich sakola I came here in support of uh at least exploring the development of uh the property in question but uh I'm going to switch gears a little bit um and I want to address the council when I say that behind me is what I believe to be almost like the dream team of construction I've been in the construction business for 35 years Bob zin's plans have been in front of me many many times times DMR construction the same thing uh to work for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that is a a challenge way way bigger and and and more impact than what we're doing here so I was pleasantly surprised when I see these two individuals you will not get a better product for the town of Waldwick with these people here so that that's all I have to say thank you Josh Josh Sheriff uh I gotta say who doesn't love Waldwick I mean this is amazing and these guys are like awesome I mean this is when I used I got to say I work in I work for the for Whole Foods in Woodcliff Lake and I when I see those beautiful buildings I think of like wow Waldwick is going to get this now like just like and I am like really impressed with the um the architecture I think the brick reminds me of how our burough Hall is and how our Municipal and then how our public safety building is I think the brick is it is so beautiful and I can't say that I can't tell you how I think we we we're not we shouldn't turn this down tonight I think I think everybody's already in support as I've heard people come up to the microphone and um I'm excited I think we're going to you know like I said we we uh we I used to I would go to I've lived in wal a long time now growing up here and I have to say that uh who would would I used to go to White C with my friends and you'd see Boulder Run and you like wow look all this place you could hang out and now you get to go to our own little Boulder run but even better W wal defi you know it's pretty cool so I'm excited and uh I can't wait for the final product these guys are going to do is like Mr saraha said it's it's going to be great so we got this thanks hi I'm Mary Beth nappy and I really just wanted to kind of reiterate what uh Christine said I'm also on the chamber in town it'd be nice to see a nice uh downtown and we've you know we have a lot of local people from Waldwick also do um you know working and running their businesses in town it'd be really nice to have something like this like some of the other towns have so I'm just in support of it and that's all I wanted to say thanks uh Jim Schultz 52 Harrison Avenue as far as the parking spot you said there's 85 is that just for the residents I understand it's 87 that includes the retail as well for the retail and will there be any parking on the street on Harrison a no not a proposed the burrow planner did an analysis of the type of parking requirements for these type of units in retail and he uses different manuals one's called the it manual for transportation engineers and planners and they look into that and they calculate what the parking would be required for residents and their guests and they come up with these numbers and he showed that number in his report and we exceed what that number is by one parking space and and if it doesn't fit where do they Park then so if there's 90 cars cuz I don't know if you've ever been in that area at lunchtime or din time okay that happens in any downtown I understand what you're saying but I don't want you to come up here and say there won't be residential parking because I guarantee you at 6:00 at night there going to be to park more here the restaur that's there that's there so that's an issue that the planning board will address at the time we as Council for the board has said that's something that we still have to address this is very preliminarily I'm not saying there would never be any parking there what I'm saying is that based upon the town the Burrow's planner he is saying that there'll be sufficient parking on site for the normal day okay uh as far as cuz I was a little surprised that we have to have 180 Co units within how many years well so just to clarify 100 180 is the number that the DCA just released for the next 10 years uh we are working with our planner to determine if that's an accurate number we don't necessarily believe it could be an accurate number but it's it's going to be something and we have to plan forward for the next it's a 10-year period in which we have to to fulfill those numbers I think you the uh the important part about that is by January 31st we have to submit a plan to the state of what we need to do or what our recommendation is obviously the state is releasing recommended numbers based upon uh a seemingly arbitrary calculation based upon what they see on a map they don't know what worldwi is other than I can point to it so that is is an important point that we're trying to control a little bit with some of these projects and present state of New Jersey a plan that works for Waldwick not necessarily to put 180 units in because I don't think any of us really want to do that and Mr sh we we get I believe it's a two for one credit if we build this development here so for every COA unit that goes in we get credit for two if if we do this project so looking at this it's 15% so what's that about six units six units here and then is is at any given time are you going to change that 15% to 50% in that building or it's always only going to be 15% restricted to the 50 to 15 uh remember Mike you mentioned something it's good because we're looking at dilapitated areas at the last planning board meeting I mentioned this there's a piece of property on West Crescent Avenue 99 and 103 and I think they had a fire in the house about 10 years ago and it's dilapidated it's sitting there and nothing's being done property next to it floods is there any are we looking at doing anything with that property uh Yes actually just recently our our zoning official has been out there we've been working with that property owner um the exterior of the property has been cleaned up significantly and then the next phase is to actually work on the interior of that property as well okay so he's going to put Windows in and doors and take all the all the plywood that's there uh as far as the financing for this so I was at the planning board meeting they mentioned something about using a pilot program are you guys familiar with that or who who's who's responsible for the financing of this project then that is something that still needs to be determined you've heard from the Builder developer here as to what he has the capability of doing and the type of projects he's done in the past he recited over 300 billion in bonding so one way or the other it can be done okay and are we going to Pilot this or we not going to Pilot this if a request comes in for a pilot we will sit down with the developer and discuss a pilot um with the developer on the project I be completely Frank I would anticipate that request to be made and we'll discuss and I can tell you that depending on the negotiations most likely the municip the municipal portion the municipality from the burrow side over the lifespan of whatever that pilot would be would receive more tax revenue than they would under a conventional taxation based on 100% occupancy I'm going to guess well that the calculations are they'll be a financial analyst that will do it and it's it's based on the stabilization of the uh of the building correct is was the train station was that a pilot program that was that was not a pilot any reason why that wasn't a pilot they did not request one at the beginning of it they came to us late in the game and requested one but they had already started construction so it would have it was impossible for us to do because uh they already had a shovel on the ground the pilots got be requested before shovels in the ground okay uh so from an environmental study side so I'm guessing everybody here's donee some type of project you renovate your home or something and you just don't go in and say oh change my bedroom and tell me what it cost later on right does that make sense I'm I'm not going to do work I'm not going to let you work at my house and then tell me after you do the work how much it cost safe to say okay so I'm hoping that there's going to be some type of environmental study here which basically says you know what you're going to have additional waste sewer water education what's going to be that additional cost of time because I look at it like this if it's $100 and it's going to cost us $120 we're down $20 so I really don't want to do this if we lose money I mean are we going to lose money on this the the bur will not lose money do the taxpayers lose money no so when I when this is done we're not going to lose money correct no the premise of this is the gain positive the whole the whole purpose is to is to redevelop this area so that the burrow increases their tax base and increases the tax revenue to the burrow and if we use that pilot program it increases based on the occupancy level of the building correct the way the way the pilot program works is the burrow negotiates a certain percentage of the gross revenue of the project so obviously as the project gets leased up and more people are paying rent the higher the P the higher the dollar figure is that comes to the burrow okay so I was looking through the development plan CU I mean we always talk about the master plan and we talk about the goal of Redevelopment plan so are we doing this to revitalize the center of town or are we doing this for affordable housing which one if we had to prioritize it which one is it for me it's revitalization it's always been about revitalization now that we have have this new COA mandate we absolutely are integrating that in but that came in at the last minute of all of this but I will I will say not to step on any c walwick has always been proactive in meeting their co- and numbers ever since this first started back in the 80s so that we weren't faced with having some type of 200 unit high density uh structure in town we were always you know we filed our plan we filed the court actions that we needed to to protect ourselves against Builder remedy lawsuits that's what they're called when you you know towns get forced on this so yes this was in the works but we knew that there a number was going to come down the line eventually for this fourth round from 2025 to 2035 so it's part of being proactive to address those numbers so that we uh we're ahead of the game and you talked about downtown right ization right so some people will say well that's not really downtown well Define where downtown is to me this is a trigger this is a starting point of a much larger project um and it Spurs development in other areas we improve the facade of that area maybe across the street also wants to do something ry's done his property there maybe the next property does It Right Aid goes whatever happens there with their business and that property gets developed and maybe something happens down in in Prospect Street in the center of town I know the mayor in in the past has worked with the business owners there to try to improve the Aesthetics of those buildings I think it's all wrapped together in this and it helps us to um get around or comply with the COA um regulations as Council just said W has done an amazing job with the different types of housing types that we've used the Bristol the Habitat for Humanity home the group homes those are all things that we've done to meet the quotas now this next one's going to be really challenging that's why we have to come up with a really good plan to um defend world I mean looking looking at the houses on Harrison a and what was done on Wayne Court could you put five beautiful houses on Harrison and then take that other piece and put the coware houses there instead of putting something like this up not it's probably not financially viable I mean otherwise that that's what would be proposed I mean we single no one's going to come in and demolish single family homes and put single family homes back up there's just no return for a developer there and I think unfortunately we're living in the reality of they also need to make money um it's just I just don't think it's possible I mean you also have to this is what's being proposed y we we've sat on this and we've asked for proposals and you know it's I mean you know know I'm for revitalizing the area I'm just my main concern is the C to do it and as long as everybody's willing to sign up tonight and say it won't cost that this as long as everybody when we you guys pass this it says it won't cost the taxpayers one penny more that's my question what is your concern concern concern one okay I appreciate the people saying for safety in this you're going to put commercial space in there you put a vaping in there you put something in there people don't want guess what we're talking about safety is it really safe maybe it is I don't know but you know what we need to look at it from a financial side all right and maybe if we can't raise tax revenue maybe we need to reduce expenses all right you can do that you're always not going to make additional Revenue so look at the expenses in town and reduce that right and for and from a fiscal standpoint this this development is not going to impact the residents in a negative way as long as as when and and you people I I don't know if people like the design don't like the design I don't know but I know that it will not yeah I mean that proportion it will not yeah I mean the 50 Foot I'm not happy about Cuz Mr Mayor he lived on Durant they put those town houses there he didn't want it at 47 ft and we all came and said 47 ft was too high so I'm not happy with the 50 I don't want it to cost more money than it should correct because you know what it's additional water it's additional waste it's additional students in school and let's not kid because you know what if you go out and look at the cuz I I appreciate you how many kids it is but look up the Center for Urban policies at ruter look up The Joint Center for housing studies at Harvard and they're going to give you a different number to what you came up with that that's what you should be looking at okay but again hey memorialize this and just say that it will not affect the taxpayers by one penny you you can come to my house if if we lose money on this I'll give you my address we we give me your house I don't you so your house look at that we there's just no way I mean we would not be doing this if we weren't going to make more money it's an absolute we need we need the money as the basic economics there's needs and there's wants all right to me this may be a want cuz if it costs more if it costs more money and the taxes go up you're going to have one angry person here I understand right and just Memorial wi it will tax pay will not have an increase this day on this day we say that because it won't it w it's beneficial for the from the finance side I would just love to see when the financial report comes in whoever does it make it the way to uh I mean these just so so you know just as this is an ordinance that has to be considered in order to enter into the financial agreement there's got to be a public hearing just like this you will see a report from the financial analyst that will outline will probably put it on a board like this or maybe up on the screen and you will see the difference in the re if you can do it the same way the town does it now with that simple budget breakdown which is beautiful because you can take Finance 101 and understand it that would be perfect thank you I appreciate your due diligence thank you good evening uh my name is Jason hnik I live on Dury Road um lived in wal for 16 years uh have a wife two kids and uh I think something like this is what walwood needs um my 14-year-old son almost 14 him and his buddies they ride their bikes all over the place to Burger King they go to Ridgewood they're here they're there I'd rather see them go to somewhere downtown where they can go get a $9 cookie instead of driving to Ridgewood to go get it um you know I I just think that something like this would give the whole entire Community something to look forward to um and also it's probably a springboard intoed development all the way down West Prospect um newer families moving into the area is always a plus more kids in the schools um I think the whole thing's great newer families move into the schools the only requirement I have is that the kids play baseball that's right anybody else I just basically have one question I'm Bob Rose I lived in Waldwick since 1949 I'm looking at the building here and it's beautiful I'm not arguing that point the the question is when they built the structure on D Martini's lot they wouldn't let him go no higher than three levels if you remember we had a plan here four levels and they were told they had to take that top level off reasons one was the fire department the have the proper equipment to take care of something that high now I'm looking at a four a building here has four structures High what's the difference between them and that that's four structures no matter how you look at it and and along the railroad track they had to take that whole top floor off and almost didn't pay for them to build it what's the of the the height of the railroad the height of the station's 43 ft to the top of the uh of the structure um the the the diff I mean in regards to difference that would be something that would have to come up at the planning board as to whether what the fire department review letter is you know the difference is that was uh I don't know if the walwick station W before the planning board or the zoning board I presume it had to be the zoning board and the they approve that whereas this is a Redevelopment plan so the council's CRA crafted the Redevelopment plan to fit this project um so that that's really all I can say and I do believe there's I'm questioning only because that's four high and can only go three over there I do believe there's portions of the station that's three over the parking garage there's it's three it's three over one it's three over one it's three three stories over one level of parking so that's technically four stories in certain areas I'm only by what they said at the time they had to take that whole top floor down from one end to the other originally if you looked at the plans what they had at the time that was four stories high from one end to the other end and they had to take the the fourth floor out was it four stories over one five St it was five stories high at the time so it was four stories over one story of of parking now it's three stories over one story of parking making it effectively four stories which is the same same as this and it's a larger project this is a smaller Corner section too so and it tapers down much quicker than the the station ad the first story over there is parking here the whole bottom floor right so that's think of that as the first floor and then there's three residential units above right that's four stories there's three above the parking yeah three stories above the first flooor of parking right that's four stories this happens to be right but when they wanted to build they wanted correct they were looking for that top floor and they had to take that floor off because it would have been five stories well somewhere in there but they still had to take the floor out right to keep it at four stories no buil I don't think we would five stories here would would not fly would have said the same thing to an additional story so this is consistent with four stories here with with the train track okay I think I think and I and I I don't know what the plans were I think the difference probably between the station and this is the station probably has 8 foot Heights in their Apartments I really don't know so I'm only going to buy what they said at the time they had to take the top floor out so you would have 10 ft for the parking garage and three stories at 8 ft which would be is is that still right yeah it gets you to about 4 yeah it gets you to about the 43 ft but they had to take off the the the top story which because it was going to be five stories tall if you go down there there's three apartment units above the parking the parking in the front of the complex in the parkings on the first floor right okay uh good evening my name is Alex Kia I live on 24 boner Place uh I've been in Waldwick for like 14 years now um I've recruited my brothers up here to come and um live up here and it's been amazing up here and I'm I'm super happy for this new project especially coming from boner place I know that uh zetti used to be what it used to look like and then what it looks like now the walkability and the Aesthetics is phenomenal our kids love riding their bikes through there um so having something like this you know I'm 100% in agreement with it and um I I I thank you for your hard work for for the community members I think that's uh that's something that uh needs to be said uh thank you uh for this and hopefully everything goes uh goes as planned thank you thank you anybody else my name is John Murphy I live at tend Daya Drive in walwick uh my wife and I have been here about 50 years our second house and we raised our kids here I drive up and down the streets here every day I had breakfast at Matthews I had dinner at Andreas I went to the hardware store and I bought two trays of cookies today at rein holes to bring to the whitef Y I go to him get my five car serviced I drive up and down a street and everything I heard today that you guys talked about and the people out here talked about they love the town you guys are commended for the service you provided to town and I came to the conclusion I wasn't planning to be here tonight I was going to go home and watch uh the uh FBI stuff but this is like an FBI story because I i' never been in this room before my life I pay my taxes so if you guys can have this beautiful building I think the town can have that beautiful building and I think people like him and everybody else in his town will benefit I'm an old guy three Cape cards would do fine in that piece of property but it's time for change the town needs it I love this place so let's take a shot and just do it thank you thank you wo anybody else motion to close public motion by councilman Richie second by councilwoman sraa all in favor I okay public or public uh Council comments and com for a motion for a motion yeah motion to vote vote we get the ordinance so to be a motion to approve the ordinance so it's a motion to approve ordinance 2024 33 an ordinance of the burough of fck adopting Harrison Avenue Redevelopment plan pursuant to the local Redevelopment Housing law njsa 482 A-1 at SEC for a property located at 37 to 49 Harrison Avenue and 13 West PRC Street as identified as block 107 Lots 135 7 8 99 10 and 11 need a motion motion by councilman Richie seconded by Council woman sraa roll call roll call please I'm not used to this Mr brck thank you what I'm going to do right now I hope it's an exercise in good [Music] government I also believe in Redevelopment and I believe that worldwi needs it quite frankly I'm not sold on this I'm not sold on the size of the building what we're going to try to contain within the size within the constraints of the building however when I came here tonight after examining the letter from the planning board as well as other documents I felt it was in the best interest of the town you people that I would vote no for this I still believe in development and I believe in the future of worldwi I personally don't believe that this is the right fit for us however I'm sitting up here because you people voted me in here that's why I wanted to hear the comments from you folks when I think I'm one person you people you people are W so when I heard that there's nothing here but positive comments I'm going to do what the residents of the bur W want me to do and I'm going to vote Yes Miss saraha yes Mr martinello that was uh very inspiring Andy um I just like to add a couple comments I know I said a lot tonight but first of all I love this town and the community that we've created here my wife was also born and raised in walwick we raised our children in this town my boys have gone through walwick school system and I participated in multiple organizations within the town I want nothing more than to preserve the heart of what walwick is and to help it evolve for future Generations I can assure you that nothing about this decision I take lightly and I think there is much we can accomplish over the next several years to solidify the financial strength the environmental impacts and the Aesthetics of our town to me this is a great opportunity to start the ball rolling and a first step in a successful uh revitalization project so I vote Yes Mr uh based on the feedback from the residents in town as Mr BR State uh the residents want this then I vot in the apartment Mr Rich yeah well said by everyone uh and thank you everyone for coming very much I vote Yes Mrs Weber I I came here tonight not really sure to which way this would go and I really wanted to hear from the public and I'm thrilled that you guys came out and that you guys voiced your opinion um I love this town I grew up in town um my father grew up in town we I Mo back here at raise my kids and I want to do what's best for the town and like like Andy said you guys voted for us and you put your trust in in our hands and I'm thrilled that you got came and voiced your opinion and with that being said I'm voting yes ordinance passes yes thank you very much everyone have a happy holiday you look forward to getting this thing started take care yes okay anybody have unfinished business everybody please we still have a little bit of business thanks anybody have any unfinished business on the council any new business from the council nope Public's comments anybody want to comment nope do I have a motion to go into to close motion by Mike second by ktie all those in favor all those opposed there'll be no decision when we come out right