WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Central Valley corridor may soon get a lot more parking space as the West Orange Township Council approved a resolution designating six properties in the section as a condemnation area in need of redevelopment during its Oct. 26 meeting.
Mayor Robert Parisi told the West Orange Chronicle that there is no clear-cut vision for the redevelopment area yet, but the township’s primary goal is to provide additional parking for the businesses in the Valley Arts District. West Orange initiated foreclosure proceedings earlier this year on the two properties owned by Selecto Flash — 18 Central Ave. and 4 Tompkins St. — which is land that Parisi said would provide “ample room” for parking. Meanwhile, he said, the township is exploring commercial uses for some of the other properties as well.
And while the decision to declare a redevelopment area was not unanimous — Councilman Joe Krakoviak voted against the resolution — Parisi believes it is in the best interest of the township.
“Any time you can bring some attention and some funding to an area that has been kind of shut down for so long, I think it is a huge win for the neighborhood and ultimately the town,” Parisi said in a Nov. 3 phone interview, pointing out that many of the properties have been vacant for years.
Parisi added that a revitalized Central Valley corridor will complement the adjacent Harvard Press redevelopment, a complex situated half in West Orange and half in Orange with plans to construct 100 rental apartments on the West Orange side. The mayor said the project, which recently started its demolition phase after being stalled for years due to government funding issues, will bring a lot of activity to the area. That means additional parking is needed now more than ever, he said, and the redevelopment area can provide it.
The potential for more parking played a big role in Council President Victor Cirilo’s decision to vote in favor of the resolution. Cirilo told the Chronicle that having a multitude of parking spaces in addition to apartments attractive to commuters will increase the ridership of the nearby Highland Avenue Station. If that happens, he said, NJ Transit will be more likely to refurbish the station, which is used by many West Orange residents. NJ Transit previously maintained that not enough people frequent the station to justify an investment, the council president said, so redevelopment will hopefully spur the corporation into action.
But not every property in the Central Valley corridor will be able to be redeveloped immediately. Those at 18 Central Ave. and 8-10 Central Ave. are known to be contaminated sites and therefore must undergo environmental remediation first. Parisi said the township is already looking into federal and state funding that could eventually be used to remediate 18 Central Ave., which is actually an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. Peter Lu, who owns 8-10 Central Ave., told the Chronicle that he is hiring a licensed site-remediation professional to work on the property while the EPA is also doing groundwater sampling and testing.
Of course, the township also needs a redevelopment plan before it can move forward with any project. Parisi said the administration is working on one now with Matrix New World Engineering, the firm that conducted the initial corridor study recommending redevelopment. The mayor said he does not know when the plan will be presented to the West Orange Planning Board, but he hopes it will be in the near future.
Peter Van den Kooy of Matrix did not respond to request for comment before press time Nov. 8.
As for the possibility of using the township’s power of eminent domain, which is what the “condemnation” aspect of the redevelopment area refers to, Parisi said he really does not want to go in that direction.
“We need to work with the property owners,” Parisi said. “Hopefully they’ll see the benefits and work with the town to redevelop their properties. We hope to put a new face on that little area. It should be good for everybody.”
Lu is not so sure. The property owner requested through his attorney at the council meeting to be excluded from the redevelopment area, to no avail. Looking ahead, he told the Chronicle that he is interested in working with the township, but only if it allows him to make improvements instead of continuing to fine him. Lu said he has been fined approximately $118,000 for property-maintenance issues since purchasing the land for his rice import business in May, though he said he was never given enough time to correct the problems.
While Parisi said the township does not plan to use eminent domain, Lu said he is still concerned about how much money he will get if it does. Cirilo said the township would pay the market price of the property, but Lu said he is worried West Orange will end up paying significantly less.
Lu’s objection to being included in the redevelopment area is exactly why Krakoviak voted against the resolution, according to the councilman. Krakoviak pointed out that the property owner has already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the land, and he intends to pay substantially more. He deserves the right to do so without being encumbered by the restrictions of a redevelopment area, Krakoviak said.
But Krakoviak is not opposed to the redeveloping the other properties, stressing that it has to be done correctly. According to the councilman, this means pursuing commercial development instead of residential construction that will only add to West Orange’s already-crowded schools. He said the township also needs to make sure that it is “extremely careful” when offering incentives because the larger they are, the longer it will take to reach a net benefit for the town.
In fact, Krakoviak said the township needs to proceed cautiously overall.
“Creating a redevelopment area opens a Pandora’s Box of potential problems as well as potential benefits,” Krakoviak told the Chronicle in a Nov. 7 email. “Town Council and residents must pay close attention to the process, and residents will need to provide input — since they’re the ones that foot the bill for (any) incentives.”
Aside from the two Selecto Flash properties and Lu’s land, the redevelopment area also includes the residential properties located at 25 Mitchell St., 27 Mitchell St. and 29 Mitchell St. All six were recommended for redevelopment by the Planning Board after reviewing the Matrix study prepared by Van den Kooy and Sean Moronski.
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