Update: 8/08

The Borough of Ringwood continued to stall throughout 2003 in an attempt to derail the sale of the Hickory Road Tract. This included putting the tract up for tax sale in late 2003 in spite of Passaic River Coalition's contention that the property was not subject to rollback taxes because of their tax exempt status, and was therefore no in arrears on taxes. Ultimately, the property was not sold at tax sale, and the complete ouster of the incumbent Borough Council members in November 2003 based on several environmental and open space issues -- including the Hickory Road Tract, ended with the property being purchased by Passaic River Coalition in late 2004. Today it is preserved in perpetuity thanks to Passaic River Coalition and Green Acres.

Last minute wrangling could derail sale of 

Hickory Road tract 

May 25, 2003

The Borough of Ringwood placed some conditions on the sale of the Hickory Road tract to the Passaic River Coalition which may prove to derail the sale on technicalities. Council members discussed these conditions at last week's council meeting. The Borough will reconsider the offer this coming Tuesday evening (May 27th) at the borough Council meeting, Ringwood Borough Hall at 8:00 pm.

Residents received a letter in the mail on Friday pointing up several conditions the borough had placed on the sale which were deemed unacceptable by NJ Green Acres and Passaic County, who will partner to fund the sale. The borough claimed in the letter, incorrectly, that several of their provisions must be stricken from the resolution to allow PRC to obtain funding. In a flyer distributed to residents today by Drew Solis, community liaison on the issue, and Bill O'Hearn, PRC Land Trust director, several issues were clarified:

Concern 1:  Will there be buildings or other structures on the property?
Every piece of land purchased through the NJ Green Acres plan is protected as open space “in perpetuity” – forever.  The Passaic River Coalition  will place a “conservation easement,” or restriction, in the contract and the deed so that this land can NEVER BE DEVELOPED.

Concern 2: Will there be a parking lot on the site?
The PRC has agreed that no parking will be allowed on the property, and will work with residents to add large rocks, plantings, or other barriers to keep motorized vehicles off the land.

Concern 3:  Will there be hiking trails and trailheads?
Normally, the PRC likes to have trails on its property.  In this case, the neighborhood has concerns about trespassing on nearby yards, so they have agreed – no trails, no trailheads.

Concern 4: Will this land be widely advertised as a hiking trail? 
No.  Because the land is being purchased with State and County funds, they are required to let the public know how their money is being spent, so they will list Hickory Road as an open space purchase.  However, they will not promote this land as a hiking destination, nor will the land be shown as a trail head in hiking guides in our area.

CLEAN has been involved in this issue since June of last year, when borough officials tried to sell the property to developers at auction, prompting an outcry from local residents to preserve the site. CLEAN urges residents to attend Tuesday night's meeting and voice their support for preservation of the site.

Hickory Road Tract to be Preserved by Green Acres

March 25, 2003
The Passaic River Coalition (PRC)will be purchasing the Hickory Road Tract, some nine months after it was originally scheduled to be sold at auction by Borough officials.  But it looked as if a rumor might derail the sale at the last minute.

Neighborhood representative Drew Solis received a letter on Thursday, March 20th telling him that a hearing would be held on Monday, March 24th at Borough Hall for all residents of the neighborhood to discuss the future of the parcel. Letters had been sent to several residents in the neighborhood, as well as other town residents who had attended hearings last June on the matter. It became clear that the deal was in limbo based on statements made by Councilman Bill Marsala at the March 18th council meeting, expressing concern that the lower portion of the tract was to include a proposed trail head up governor's mountain. Marsala and other council members expressed concern that the small trail would bring additional traffic and a paved parking lot to the small lot at the corner of Hickory and Carletondale Roads. A rumor started to go around the neighborhood that residents could expect a parking nightmare similar to that on the top of Skyline Drive, even though the small trail would only connect with one other trail and already has parking and access at the Community Presbyterian Church. By comparison, the parking lot at the top of Skyline provides access to approximately 15 other long-distance hiking trails on both sides of Skyline Drive and a major state park. It also provides access for mountain bike riders.

CLEAN sent out an action alert to residents informing them of the impending meeting, and the danger that the deal to purchase the tract could be derailed if residents opposed the project based on the untrue rumor. Residents came out in force, spilling out into the hallway of the courtroom. As the meeting began, Councilman Marsala stated that in fairness to PRC, no paved parking lot was planned for the site, but that he still had concerns over traffic and use by outsiders if the trailhead was built. Bill O'Hearn, PRCs Land Trust Director (and former CLEAN Trustee), who was on hand for the meeting, reassured residents that PRC was willing to utilize the property as residents requested, and that if there was opposition to a trail, one would not be built.

Residents were relieved to hear this, and immediately asked the committee to seal the deal by recommending the sale to the Council on the following evening. Borough officials were not immediately forthcoming with their opinions on the sale, but Councilman Charles Larsen finally agreed that residents had won him over and that he would vote to sell. Mayor Jerry Holt responded similarly, stating that he had concerns, but that the residents wishes would be honored. Wenke Taule, who was an observer to the proceedings, has always supported the sale to Green Acres and could be counted on to vote in favor of the sale. Three of the four needed council votes were secured.

Councilman Bill Marsala, however, refused to budge. He continually stated that he didn't want to sell the property but wanted to see the property 'left as it is.' He admitted that no future council could be bound to preserve the property if the sale didn't go forward.  Residents, skeptical that inaction would mean that development could occur at some time in the future, continued to press Marsala to support the sale. The meeting adjourned with residents worried that the council would reject the sale.

The following evening at the Borough Council meeting packed with Hickory Road residents, the council unanimously supported the sale of the parcel to Passaic River Coalition on condition that no trail head be built at the base of the lot. Residents deserve a great deal of credit for continuing to push the council to sell to PRC. They can now look forward to the preservation of the site which they worked so hard to achieve. The sale should be completed in about 60 days.

Offer presented on Hickory Road Tract

The Passaic River Coalition presented an offer to Ringwood Borough regarding the Carletondale Commons tract, located at the corner of Hickory and Carletondale Roads at the end of December 2002.

The 5.7-acre parcel became a hot button issue last year when the Borough put it on a short list of tracts to be auctioned in a sale of borough-owned properties. Borough officials contended that the property would yield 5-7 building lots, would provide positive tax benefits for the Borough. But residents of the neighborhood, furious that they had not been informed of the impending sale, disagreed that the tax benefits would outweigh the burden of educating children that would come with the new homes. Neighbors worked with CLEAN staff and trustees to press Borough officials to pull the tract from the auction. After two standing room only meetings with then-Mayor Allan Van Eck, the Mayor reversed course and pulled the parcel from the auction.

Residents, who were relieved but cautious about future development plans for the tract, immediately pressed to have the property preserved as open space. Borough officials decided to form a committee to discuss the options, and offered to let Drew Solis, a resident of the neighborhood, act as a liaison between the Borough and the residents and be involved in the process. But curiously, the Borough has never contacted Mr. Solis, and Bill Marsala, the chairman of the committee determining the fate of the property, didn’t even know Mr. Solis’ name when he recently appeared at a Borough Council meeting to ask about the status of property.

According to individuals at Passaic River Coalition (PRC), appraisals of the property occurred in August and an offer was extended at the end of December. As of February 18th The PRC is still awaiting a reply from Ringwood.

email:clean@skyclean.org