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Housing project gains preliminary approval
(by Megan Burrow - January 02, 2008)
Golden Orchards, the Ell Woods senior housing project, is inching its way closer to becoming a reality.
Caliber Builders, a developer based out of
New City, N.Y. , has secured preliminary approval from the Hillsdale Planning Board for the project. The company must now apply for several permits and meet over 20 conditions before it can move forward and gain final approval from the borough. It has yet to gain approval from
Township of
Washington , where seven of the 38 single-family homes in development would be built.
The project will be completed in two phases, the first phase of construction will be in Hillsdale, and will consist of 31 units, plus a road which would be built off of Ell Road and then run parallel to it going west. An additional seven units located over the border in
Washington
Township will be constructed next. The development will be built in Ell Woods, bordered by
Washington
Township to the south, Musquapsink Brook to the west, Ell Road to the north, and Pascack Roadto the East.
The houses will be sold to people age 55 and over. Younger people will be allowed to live in the homes only if they are an occupant’s spouse, an adult child, or are responsible for the occupant’s physical care. Because any children living in the development must be 18 years of age or older, Hillsdale is hoping the project will provide welcome tax relief for the town’s residents – the homes will bring revenue into the town without burdening the school system.
Jason DeGise, the Hillsdale Planning Board Chairman, stated the developers must meet all the conditions and gain final approval within three years. “It’s a good project that meets an important need for the borough,” DeGise said.
The detached single-family units will each be between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet, with the primary living space and master bedroom located on the first floor. Residents will have an option to have a guest bedroom on the second floor. The houses will be built in an Early Colonial or Georgian style and painted with earth-tone colors. DeGise said the complex will feature about six to eight different designs buyers can choose from, “so the houses don’t all look alike.”
Over 30 percent of the development will be used as open space, the floor area ratio (FAR) will be 21.8 percent, the building coverage 15.26 percent, and the impervious coverage 27.4 percent. The buildings will be set back a minimum of 25 feet from all of the exterior property lines and a planted landscape buffer will extend from the exterior property lines a minimum depth of 20 feet. The maximum building height will be 30 feet, with a minimum side to side building separation of 30 feet and a minimum back to back building separation of 50 feet. There will be 162 parking spaces available to residents. Phase two of the project in
Washington
Township will consist of 45.17 percent open space with a FAR of 12.5 percent, building coverage of 8.38 percent, and 10.52 percent impervious coverage. The project did not require any variances.
The original plan, submitted back in 2001, called for 40 age-restricted housing units to be built in the R-2 Zone. When that plan was denied the project was changed to a development of 17 large single-family non-age-restricted homes, which gained final approval from the planning board in 2005. Caliber Builders then once again approached the town about the possibility of building age-restricted housing in that zone. In February, the Hillsdale Council passed an ordinance approving the new zoning which allows age-restricted housing in that area as conditional use.
Not everyone is in favor of the project. The Northgate Condominium Association filed a lawsuit Dec. 14 against Caliber Builders to try and enforce the settlement agreement the two groups entered into previously.
In a phone interview John Lamb, the attorney representing Northgate, said the previous settlement agreement had applied to the former plan of 17 homes and called for them to be set back 50 feet from the joint property line and left an existing tree buffer in between the two developments. Lamb stated Caliber Builders ignored their settlement agreement when they decided to increase the development from 17 to 37 homes.
“I don’t think it will be built as it is currently approved,” Lamb said. “Northgate has a right to enforce the settlement agreement. The developers will have to address stormwater and drainage issues that could have an adverse affect on Northgate.” Northgate’s environmental engineer is currently reviewing these issues. Lamb estimated the lawsuit could take as long as two years to be resolved.
Megan Burrow's e-mail address is burrow@northjersey.com
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