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Residents fight Board of Ed. land swap
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - July 01, 2008)
A grass-roots preservation committee has undertaken a letter-writing campaign to oppose the proposed land swap between the River Vale Board of Education and a developer, Pascack Hills Properties. The group, which calls itself the Woodside Woods Preservation Committee, is made up of local residents, primarily those who live on or around Winding Way and Colonial Road, to the rear of Woodside Elementary School.
The group objects to the Board of Education swapping land with a private developer, who plans to build two houses on the approximately 1.2 acre piece of property, which is currently a wooded area and a beloved refuge to local residents. Paul Tollin, one of the committee’s members, stated, “The Board of Education should be in the business of education, not land-swapping.”
The Board of Education, however, stands by its decision to enter into the land-swap. For one thing, the board asserts, Pascack Hills Properties will build houses, regardless of the location, so the board cannot be accused of encouraging development. Furthermore, according to the board, if the developer retains the piece of property it is planning to swap with the board, an approximately 1.7 acre plot located adjacent to the school and fronting Rivervale Road, the result would not only be more houses built (three as opposed to two), but in addition, the district may lose the opportunity to possibly expand the school in the future.
On Tuesday, June 24, the committee and various other members of the community attended a meeting of the Board of Education, demanding attention to their cause, and eliciting a civil, but steadfast response from the Board president, Lorraine Waldes. “This has nothing to do with real estate,” said Waldes. “This has to do with education. It has to do with how we can obtain the best education, the best educational facilities that will benefit the greater good of the community and the student body in River Vale.”
But Tollin believes the school board, and by extension the township as a whole, will see more harm than good come of the agreement. According to him, while the board will see a net increase in its property size, the real winner in the swap is the developer. Tollin said that even though the developer will only be able to build two houses on the Winding Way plot (as opposed to three on the land it currently owns), the houses will be more valuable since they will not be located on a main road. “Where he [the developer] bought property faces Rivervale Road,” said Tollin. “I have to really believe that he knew what he was doing when he bought this property. I’m sure that he knew that he was going to make a deal.”
But Waldes explained that the piece of land the Board would receive in the swap, while perhaps not as highly desirable for private development as the piece the board is giving up, is of greater utility, and therefore value, to the school district. “We are looking forward to the fact that in 10 years we may have to expand Woodside,” she said to Tollin. “The best thing for the school district is to have contiguous land. That was the only way that we could expand, without putting a free standing school back where you are [Winding Way]. That would have much more of an impact on your environment than two homes would.”
She later added that if the board were to retain the piece of land on Winding Way, the property could likely be converted to a school parking lot in the future, so that the existing parking lot space could be used to expand the school. This option, she said, addressing the residents present at the meeting, “I think would be even less attractive to you guys.”
While the board tried to defuse the residents’ discomfort with the land-swap, which nears finalization, it is unlikely that the members of the committee will give up the fight. Amy Feldman, another Colonial Road resident, said, “For us it’s just our neighborhood that’s beautiful and it’s about to be destroyed, but for a lot of other people, they are starting to understand that their parking is going to be gone.”
She referred to how parents drop off and pick up their kids on Winding Way at the entrance of the path that leads to the school, which as part of the land swap agreement would be remain in the possession of the district. She noted that the path “is no longer going to be a path through the woods, it’s going to be a path between two homes.”
But the environmental implications of development trouble the residents more than the possible parking-related complications. Feldman said, “For those of us that live on the other side of the school, the wood’s are an oasis for us… We don’t want to see new homes going up… We want things to stay the same.”
Waldes empathized with the group’s feelings about private development. “I have a very strong sense of what you are feeling,” she said. “[But] we have to be a little honest here with ourselves, part of this is a concern for open spaces, and part of this – and I don’t mean this as a criticism – is the ‘not in my backyard’ mentality.”
Waldes reiterated, “We made a decision that we are all comfortable with… We made the best decision for the River Vale School Community.”
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com.
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