Wanaque struggles with unfinished housing
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

By JAN BARRY
STAFF WRITER

WANAQUE -- Officials are weighing the fallout now that three major housing projects might be dead.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has apparently blocked the Lakeside Manor and Mountain Lakes Estates developments off Conklintown Road. Those projects were started years ago but ran into regulatory and bankruptcy troubles.

Meanwhile, housing proposed for a site off Union Avenue has been withdrawn by the developer, Borough Administrator Tom Carroll said. That plan, called Water's Edge at Wanaque, was being considered by the borough Planning Board for the past year.

Borough officials were counting on the Water's Edge project, which consisted of 96 condominiums and town houses on a 35-acre tract, to provide more state-mandated housing for low- and moderate-income people.

Mayor Daniel Mahler said the real estate climate seems to have done in the Water's Edge project.

"The real estate market is very soft," Mahler said.

On the other hand, he added, the owner might try to find another developer for the site, which is zoned for high-density housing that was designed to help meet the borough's quota for the designated housing.

Rosario Presti Jr., lawyer for the Water's Edge project, did not return a phone call for comment.

Looking to expand tax ratables, borough officials were hoping that the 47-unit Lakeside Manor town-house project, which received local approvals years ago, would finally get state approval and be built.

They were resigned, however, to the likelihood that the state DEP would raise regulatory barriers to constructing the 128-home Mountain Lakes Estates, which was designed for a wooded, 138-acre mountainside tract next to a state forest. Runoff flows to the Wanaque River, a major water-supply stream.

"Now we're going to have to look at the option of demolishing things," Carroll told the Borough Council on Monday in an update on the neighboring Lakeside Manor and Mountain Lakes Estates developments.

Carroll said he sent a letter to the developer asking that he finish paving the street, which serves an isolated enclave of existing homes, and provide a plan for the unfinished buildings. If the developer doesn't do this work, the borough may have to, Carroll said.

A new street and three single-family homes at the entrance to the subdivision were partly constructed by the developer, Jacinto Rodrigues of Sumo Enterprises Inc. of Kearny, several years ago. Several town houses on an adjacent 9-acre parcel also were started, but never finished.

Last month, the DEP ruled that both projects come under the 2004 Highlands Act's restrictions on large-scale development in the Highlands preservation area. The DEP rejected Rodrigues' request for an exemption to the Highlands rules. It also found, among other things, that unfinished sewer lines were installed illegally.

"This has been an ongoing nightmare," Borough Attorney Anthony Fiorello said Monday of Lakeside Manor and Mountain Lakes Estates.

Various complications dogged the construction site. A stop-work order was issued by the soil conservation district over impact on a local stream. A neighbor sued the developer over runoff problems and the placement of the bridge for the new street. And a development partner, Kara Homes, declared bankruptcy.

Rodrigues did not respond Tuesday to a telephone message requesting comment.

E-mail: barry@northjersey.com

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.


Wanaque - Developer George Capodagli began presentation of his application for preliminary site plan approval before the Wanaque Planning Board on October 19th after a September postponement based on improper legal notice. The hearings will continue on December 21st. The applicant proposes a 96-town home development (19 of which would be affordable units) that would be built on 35  acres just off of Union Avenue on the shores of the Upper Twin Lake.

The tract is in the Highlands Planning Area and sits at the base of historic and environmentally sensitive Federal Hill in Bloomingdale, which has been central to several development battles in Bloomingdale in years past. Upper Twin flows into the Lower Twin Lake along Ringwood Avenue in Pompton Lakes, the location of Pompton’s municipal well. Any runoff and pollutants generated that went into Upper would also affect Lower Twin.

 Sewage for Water’s Edge is problematic, since it is not included in the Wanaque Valley Regional Sewerage Authority’s wastewater management plan, and is outside their service area. Most of the plant’s existing capacity was allocated to Wanaque Reserve, and the plant has run over capacity in recent months with only half of Wanaque Reserve occupied. Plus, odors from the plant have reportedly been a problem for Wanaque Reserve residents, causing the Plant to run citrus scented fans toward the buildings according to a report in the Suburban Trends. In spite of this, the town is entertaining new developments that would exacerbate the sewer capacity problem.

The land is steeply sloped and new development will likely require blasting, and create erosion and runoff. The project currently has no stormwater management plan, but the developer’s experts say that one is in the works. The lake’s dam is in disrepair and may cause a hazard downstream. In addition, several threatened and endangered species have been sighted within 1/4 mile of the tract.

 The Borough offered up Water’s Edge at an August COAH hearing as a demonstration of their good faith efforts to comply with affordable housing regulations, informing COAH that they have fast-tracked the project in an effort to fulfill their Round 2 affordable housing obligations. COAH however, was not completely convinced, and asked that the Borough develop a comprehensive COAH plan covering all their outstanding obligation, and to prove the Water’s Edge site has ’realistic development potential’ before they will give their blessing.

 The Borough missed a golden opportunity in 2002 to force Pulte Homes (Wanaque Reserve) to shoulder more of their substantial COAH burden. Instead, the developer provided only 60 units out of 755 total (with only 10 actually built on site).

CLEAN has hired our long-time experts to work with us on the issue. Our land use attorney Michael Kates is representing us in the case and environmental engineer and planner John Thonet is fully analyzing the site plan to present his findings to the Board.

 
The next Preliminary Site Plan Hearing will be on December 21, 2006 at Borough Hall, 579 Ringwood Avenue, Wanaque at 8pm. Attend the hearing to learn of the developer's plans and to voice your views to the Planning Board.

Water's Edge related Press:
7.23.06 Article: Project could trigger boom
8.6.06 Article: COAH shortfall swells condo building plans
8.23.06 Article: COAH Plan called into question