Things are getting interesting
Just when it seemed that a consensus had built for increased development to boost ratables and help ease the homeowner tax burden, a group calling itself the Teaneck Coalition for Community Preservation has burst onto the scene to raise community awareness of three large scale projects.
To be fair, this opposition is not of the simple NIMBY variety. A level-headed flyer circulated recently in certain neighborhoods raises a number of important questions about a proposed residential development on the site of an old soap factory near Herrick Park and urges residents to attend the Planning Board meeting on August 10 to voice their concerns.
One of those questions the TCCP raises stands out as perhaps the most important of all- "Will this development cost the township more than it will yield in taxes?" Given that a private entity is seeking government action to re-zone an area for its benefit, it is certainly crucial that the Township not take this step in order to appear pro-development and inadvertently disadvantage Teaneck's taxpayers.
The question is, if it can be proven that this and other development projects provide a net economic benefit to Teaneck while complying with the dictates of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment, will the TCCP drop its opposition, or is the TCCP really just an angry group of neighbors in disguise? All of Teaneck is watching.
posted by Teaneck Blog @ 7:19 PM
11 Comments:
One of those questions the TCCP raises stands out as perhaps the most important of all- "Will this development cost the township more than it will yield in taxes?"
Only to those few who share your limited perspective.
The question you highlight as most important - the economic benefit - is just one question of many that my neighbors and I raise in the flyer we circulated (not the TCCP, although we do provide info about their website). We are not "an angry group of neighbors," but people who are concerned about the quality of life in our neighborhood and the Township of Teaneck as a whole. I am posting the text of our flyer below. If you would like to post it in its original form, I can email you the file.
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PROPOSAL TO ADD
196 LIVING UNITS TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
Holuba Realty is petitioning the Planning Board to re-zone 520 Palisade Avenue, the old soap factory between Herrick Park and the railroad tracks, and the green lot south of Herrick Park. The proposal calls for:
• 3 five-story “multi-family” buildings with 176 units and 20 three-bedroom townhouses
• Nearly 400 parking spaces
• Road access directly through Herrick Park
SOME OF THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY THIS PROPOSAL:
• Is high-density development appropriate for our neighborhood?
• How will this development impact Herrick Park?
• Is the site, formerly a chemical manufacturing plant, free of ground contamination/pollution?
• How will this development impact:
o traffic
o the sewer system
o storm water management
o emergency services
o commuter parking on neighborhood streets
• Will this development cost the township more than it will yield in taxes?
THE TEANECK ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION SITE PLAN REVIEW STATES:
“The project should be totally rejected as unsound at every level.” (12/7/05)
ATTEND THE TEANECK PLANNING BOARD MEETING!
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2006 AT 8:00 PM
TEANECK MUNICIPAL BUILDING
818 TEANECK ROAD
MORE WAYS TO BE INVOLVED:
• Go to the Teaneck Coalition for Community Preservation website at:
www.teaneckccp.org/2.html
• Call members of the Town Council – their contact information is at: http://www.teanecknjgov.org/council/aboutcouncil.htm
• Spread the word to other residents of Teaneck – talk to your neighbors!
• Write the local papers – The Record: letterstotheeditor@northjersey.com
The Suburbanite: suburbanite@northjersey.com
Your neighbors,
Dara Picard & Reed Carroll, Barbara & Peter Cole, Miriam d’Adolf, Mark Gold, Rochelle Rudnick
To be added to our email list, contact us at getinvolvedteaneck@gmail.com.
As a resident of the neighborhood in question, I am opposed to this not as an "angry neighbor" but rather a very concerned resident. Palisade Avenue is already a narrow, congested street. I shudder to think of a new street emptying 400 new cars onto it. Palisade Ave was just not designed to handle all that traffic. And what about the environmental impact of excavating the site of a former factory? That also makes me shudder.
Tom Abbott,
Why are liberals always so angry?
Why do the anonymous ask stupid questions?
TomAbbott said...
Why do the anonymous ask stupid questions?
Hey!
The question you highlight as most important - the economic benefit - is just one question of many that my neighbors and I raise in the flyer we circulated (not the TCCP, although we do provide info about their website).
Thank you for the clarification. I understand now that you are not affiliated with the TCCP but simply referring people to the website.
As I mentioned in the post, you raise a number of important questions about the project in question (which, for the record, I neither support nor oppose), however, the one I think is the most powerful is whether a complete assessment of the potential costs and benefits to Teaneck of this development has been done. I do not dismiss questions of neighborhood character or environmental impact, but those are the exact issues that the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment are tasked with deciding. Any concerned parties should certainly make their voices heard, but I don't worry that these issues will not be considered because they are built into the process. There is, however, a danger that even if this project meets all the basic requirements, it will be hustled through without sufficient consideration of the bigger picture in the name of promoting development. That could turn out to be self-defeating.
By the same token, if the TCCP as well as more informal collections of neighbors position themselves as obstructionist forces even to reasonable proposals that would benefit the town overall, no progress will ever be made toward fixing the fundamental fiscal issues that plague Teaneck.
Currently the luxury condos off Degraw and Teaneck roads are more that half vacant. They are unsalable and are now being offered for rent. How much money did that make the town? Zero.
Also, who would want to live next to railroad tracks that have deisel engines running on it all night?
From what I have heard, the design of this development is attractive and it is being positioned to sell to people who would want to be walking distance to the two shuls in the area (because their children own homes off those streets) or young couples wanting to get started in the market before buying a house, and NOT wanting to live on top of a highway. The point about the railroad tracks is a good one, but that will be for the marketplace to determine if it's a negative, and the developers should take that into consideration because that location is where the smelly engines idle for hours at a time (just ask those who live across the tracks on Chestnut St! That being said, I think it will get "slammed through" with modifications and some downsizing. Just hope those who are more seasoned Planning Board members will be able to get through to some of the newer members who seem to be only interested in approving development for tax ratables, and not so concerned about quality of life issues.
It seems bizarre to me that a scale model is not required by the town to show the scale and impact of projects. The only plans available for this project are engineering plans--No Design--No Architecture, omitted completely. No wonder people are concerned! What has this guy ever built??? Probably crap!
What makes this model better than the one build in Bergenfield or Rutherford or Lodi? Let's see it!
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