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Boro’s efforts to acquire land lauded by public
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - June 17, 2008)
On June 16, the Mayor and Council of Woodcliff Lake held a public hearing concerning the possible acquisition of the Hathaway estate, a plot of land located at 75 Werimus Road, adjacent to the Old Mill recreational complex. Also up for possible acquisition is a smaller piece of land located adjacent to the Hathaway property, at 63 Werimus Road, currently owned by Noam Freedman. If acquired, the land would be developed for “passive and active use” by the borough’s Park and Recreation Department.
The borough is currently in the process of applying for an Open Space Fund grant in the amount of $1.4 million to cover a portion of the cost of the Hathaway property and a $500,000 grant to go towards the purchase of the Freedman property. The Hathaway property, which is approximately 3.9 acres, was valued at $1.8 million in a recent appraisal conducted by the borough. According to Borough Administrator Ed Sandve, the Freedman property has not yet been formally appraised, but if the borough is able to secure the Hathaway property, the Freedman property would be “the sole missing link,” since the rest of the surrounding property would be owned by the borough.
If the grants are secured and the borough is able to successfully negotiate with the property owners, the borough council would later determine how to cover the remaining cost of the two properties. Sandve suggested that the borough would seek out additional grant funds, investigate whether Green Acres funding that the borough was awarded in the past is still available, or possibly just issue bonds and finance the acquisition over time.
One requirement of the application process is for the borough to hold a public hearing to gauge public opinion of the prospective acquisition. Numerous members of the public offered their support of the proposed acquisition of the property, mainly because, they said, the borough’s sports organizations have struggled with inadequate facilities for many years. Paul Piantino, representing the baseball association said, “I frankly think the mayor and council and the standing committee on park and rec. should be commended for their interest in this initiative… There is a lack of available land in Woodcliff Lake. If this opportunity is not pursued, there may not be opportunities of this ilk down the road.”
Piantino went on to comment that the state of affairs for recreation facilities in the town is pretty dismal. “If you are a school aged child in Woodcliff Lake and you want to play basketball, outside of going to the parking lot behind the middle school, there is no place for you to do that.” Furthermore, “if you want to play football in Woodcliff Lake, you have to go to the Montvale Department of Athletics and sign up because there is no football program in Woodcliff Lake and even if there was, there’s no football field to play on.”
In a phone interview, Sandve said that in preliminary studies conducted by the borough, it was determined that the Hathaway property could be developed as “four buildable lots… Four single family homes would be the maximum use.”
Not everybody at the meeting was thrilled at the prospect of the town attempting to acquire the properties. Noam Freedman, owner of the smaller property at 63 Werimus Road expressed his concern over the issue, stating that he and his wife were not informed of the borough’s interest in acquiring their property until last Wednesday, and the news could easily undermine their efforts to sell the house. “We put the house on the market. We deliberately undervalued the house in favor of a quick sale. We are under contract, and we’re due to close in two weeks,” said Freedman. “If my buyer hears that you [the borough] are planning on taking our property one way or the other… I think this may lead me to lose my buyer.”
Freedman added that “it would have been nice” if somebody at the borough had told him or his wife during the four years they have owned the house that the borough had shown interest in acquiring the property while it was still under the ownership of previous residents. “We wouldn’t have spent a quarter of a million dollars saving the property that you plan on knocking down if it becomes recreation space.”
Freedman was urged by Borough Attorney Mark Madaio to contact him after the meeting to go over his options regarding the property. “Regrettably, you are asking a lot of questions that we really can’t answer at this point,” said Madaio.
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com
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