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Setbacks for West Milford development proposal
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Bergen Record

UPDATE

WHAT'S NEW: A major development proposal that has haunted West Milford officials for decades now faces new hurdles after a recent court decision severed it from a five-year-old approval.

In that decision, the township won a critical court victory in its battle against the 288-unit housing proposal known as Eagle Ridge off Cahill Cross Road.

The Aug. 25 decision by state Superior Court Judge Thomas J. LaConte essentially makes the owner of the 70-acre tract start from scratch in requesting a site plan approval from the local planning board. LaConte found that Boulder Pond LLC could not have an extension on a subdivision approval granted in 2003.

There is a two-year limit on final site plan approvals; Boulder Pond, which had not started construction in 2005, applied for an extension. But the case had been put aside until now while other issues, namely about the water supply in the area, were heard in a state appeals court.

"This is another significant land-use hurdle the owners would have to overcome to build the project," said township attorney Fred Semrau.

Maria Winter, one of the owners of the land, declined to comment on the judge's decision.

BACKGROUND: Eagle Ridge, which has had several prospective developers including K. Hovnanian, has been on the drawing board for more than 25 years. The township has been in litigation over various aspects of the project since 1988.

The largest issue has been whether there is enough water in the rocky aquifer - the underground water-bearing rock formation - for the project. Neighboring residents fought hard against the proposal and, with water experts hired by local officials, convinced the state that further water testing was needed.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Without the final site plan for the project, the builder must again seek approval from the Planning Board. But possibly more important, Boulder Pond lost any protection it had from local zoning changes and ordinances that may be put in place.

The Township Council can decide to change the zoning so the number of housing units that could be built on the heavily sloped land may be substantially less.

Boulder Pond also will have to adhere to the local well-testing ordinance put in place in 2007 that would require the developer to test area residential wells. If LaConte had granted the extension, Boulder Pond would have been exempt from that ordinance.

WHAT'S NEXT? Boulder Pond would have to meet a host of state and local requirements if construction is to begin.

Probably the biggest obstacle would be getting around the 2004 Highlands Act, which prohibits heavy development projects in the entire township because the community is in a key water-generating preservation area. An extension of the right to build in the Highlands area expired last summer.

The owner also must prove to the state through testing that there is enough water to supply the development without depleting existing residential wells in the area.

- Barbara Williams