Abraham Bunis
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The township is currently in mediation with Fair Share Housing Center and Garden Homes in an attempt to reach settlements on two issues related to affordable housing — the exact number of units West Orange will be obligated to construct and how many of those units will come from Garden Homes’ planned development near the West Essex Highlands condominium complex.
The mediation began last year after the township requested a declaratory judgment on its affordable housing obligations from New Jersey Superior Court. Fair Share, a public interest organization with the court-appointed authority to set the affordable housing number, used a formula to determine that the township should be obliged to provide 1,362 affordable housing units townwide. But that number was seen as too high by the township, with West Orange’s affordable housing consultant Shirley Bishop pointing out at the Feb. 21 Township Council meeting that Fair Share is asking for more units than the township has room to build.
Garden Homes subsequently intervened in the case, offering to build some of those units as part of its development in exchange for approval to build the long-gestating project. So the Superior Court appointed a mediator and an April deadline for all parties to come to acceptable terms. Bishop said a settlement would be the best-case scenario considering the effects of a trial.
“It’s very costly, it’s very extensive, it’s draining on the municipalities,” Bishop said, explaining that West Orange would be tasked with hiring experts to provide data on why the affordable housing number should be lower. “The expectation is that there will be some type of a settlement. But again, if it falls apart, you have to realize that you’ll be in a costly, extensive, time-consuming process.”
Mediation sessions involving the parties were held Nov. 2 and Feb. 7. Bishop said Fair Share has already offered to lower its initial number to 953 units, though that obligation may change if a settlement is reached. The consultant also said the township has some credits from building more affordable housing than required in the past, which it could use to offset some of the obligation during this round, which is the third round of affordable housing numbers required by the state. But she said West Orange does not have nearly enough credits to cover all 953 units.
A representative from Fair Share told the West Orange Chronicle that it was not allowed to comment on the ongoing mediation. Mayor Robert Parisi did not respond to requests for comment.
During the mediation, Garden Homes presented a new proposal for its development to the West Essex Highlands Condominium Association in December that features 782 luxury apartment rental units. That number might change if a settlement is reached, though.
Any settlement approved by the judge would have the potential to move Garden Homes’ development of the 124-acre site adjacent to the West Essex Highlands one step closer to getting off the ground after years of dispute. That issue started when the West Orange Planning Board rejected the developer’s initial proposal to build 136 single-family homes, which resulted in Garden Homes filing a lawsuit alleging that new zoning regulations and a tree ordinance infringed on its right to develop its property. But in 2015, the township and the developer agreed to a settlement in which Garden Homes could create a new concept plan with the option of resuming litigation at any time. Garden Homes held a public presentation in February 2016 that detailed a plan for 104 single-family homes, although it is apparently now focusing on luxury apartments.
Any plan Garden Homes comes up with will eventually have to go before the Planning Board, even with the court’s OK.
Yet many West Essex Highlands residents are not happy that anything is being built on the property, resuming protests that the forested land should not be developed at all. West Orange resident Abraham Bunis told the Chronicle that eliminating trees from steep slopes will cause flooding for the houses below. Plus, Bunis said, numerous species of animals will be displaced, including the endangered Indiana bat.
And, Bunis said, the blasting the project would require has the potential to harm property and damage building foundations. And though Garden Homes has assured residents in the past that such damage is not anticipated, the West Essex Highlands resident is not convinced.
“A blast is a blast,” Bunis said in a Feb. 23 phone interview. “We don’t know what’s going to give way, what’s not going to give way.”
Fellow Highlands resident Rita Yohalem agreed that the property adjacent to the condominium complex is not the best place to build. For one, Yohalem said the roads in the area are very narrow, already making it difficult for emergency vehicles to maneuver. Traffic is already an issue as well, she said, since the Highlands only has two roads leading out that are used by both residents and those at the Grande and the Pleasantdale Chateau. Adding even more vehicles to the area would be disastrous from a safety and convenience perspective, she said.
And though Yohalem has no problem with the idea of affordable housing, she said putting such units on that property would not make sense because anyone without a car will have a difficult time accessing public transportation from apartments located behind the West Essex Highlands.
“Just from the top of the hill here in our community out to the front by Eagle Rock is over a mile,” Yohalem, who leads the West Essex Committee Against Rezoning Excess community group opposed to developing the land, said in a Feb. 24 phone interview. “So now if you’re building something even farther behind us — that’s a couple of miles. Who’s walking from there out to Eagle Rock Avenue every day to take a bus?”
Several other residents spoke out against the idea of developing the land during the Township Council meeting, with many decrying the loss of its natural beauty in particular. Some even suggested questioning in court whether the land was even buildable.
But township attorney Richard Trenk reminded those in attendance at the council meeting that a judge had ruled the land was to be developed by Garden Homes.
Now with the land tied into an affordable housing matter, it appears it is more likely than ever to be developed. That is disheartening to Bunis and Yohalem, but they do not think the situation is entirely unsalvageable. They both said that they hope the mediation will result in the lowest number of units possible for the area.
Garden Homes did not respond to request for comment before press time Feb. 28.
Council President Joe Krakoviak shares many of the same concerns about developing the property as the West Essex Highlands residents, telling the Chronicle that he hopes a judge will consider the characteristics of the land before approving an affordable housing number.
Krakoviak said he is also concerned about the idea of building many affordable housing units in general when the township has so little property left. Fulfilling the 1,362 number Fair Share had originally put forward would require a whole lot of residences to be built, he said. But Garden Homes’ property is the last major developable private property left in town — and even then, much of its acreage is unusable due to its slopes and wetlands.
Additionally, since developers will not be gaining any money through the construction of affordable housing units, Krakoviak said the cost of other housing units will be increased to make a profit, so the residents will be the ones paying in the end, he said.
“Affordable housing is not without a cost — and a substantial one in the case of West Orange,” Krakoviak said in a Feb. 23 phone interview.
The council president also pointed out that adding families with children to the township would put an extra burden on the schools, which are already packed with students.
Photos by Sean Quinn
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