Friday, January 26, 2007

By GIOVANNA FABIANO
STAFF WRITER
NORTH JERSEY NEWS

FAIR LAWN - A proposed development that would transform a polluted chemical factory into 178 town houses moved a step closer after an ordinance was introduced to rezone the 13-acre site from industrial to multifamily residential.

The controversial plan to redevelop the defunct Clariant Corp. complex -- which churned out dyes and chemicals for nearly 50 years along the Passaic River -- has divided nearby residents and the Borough Council.

The three Democrats voted Tuesday to pass the ordinance on first reading and send it to the Planning Board for review. The Republicans voted against the measure, with Councilman Edward Trawinski accusing his colleagues of kow-towing to the developer, Glen Rock-based Shellmarc LLC.

Trawinski, a Republican, said the draft of the ordinance does not address key issues, such as a council member's request that the majority of units be set aside for age-restricted housing. As it stands, the project calls for a 48-unit gated building of senior housing for ages 55 and over and 130 two-bedroom units of traditional town houses. "I'm appalled and disappointed," Trawinski said. "This has enough loopholes in it to drive a tractor-trailer through it from one end of the New Jersey Turnpike to the other."

The ordinance also fails to require the developer to wait until remediation is complete to begin work on the site, leaving the environmental cleanup solely in the hands of the Department of Environmental Protection, Trawinski said.

But the Democrats, including Mayor Steven Weinstein, said redeveloping the site for residential use is "the right thing to do," adding that the Planning Board would address height and buffer issues and determine how far the building should be set back from the street.

"The market on age-restricted housing is not what it was a few years ago ... the market is not there," he said.

Deputy Mayor Marty Etler, also a Democrat, agreed.

"I'm voting yes to transform this site from an industrial wasteland to a beautiful town house development," Etler said.

Environmental concerns have long been raised about the site, which is among thousands identified by the state as contaminated. It remains in the midst of a lengthy cleanup.

The Clariant Corp. factory closed in 1992, but a small group of workers has supervised a cleanup of benzene and other organic chemicals from soil and groundwater since the 1980s.

The developer unveiled its concept for the town houses last year, touting the site as an ideal example of "brownfield" redevelopment, adding that the project would accelerate the cleanup and that pollution would not be a concern for residents.

About a dozen residents spoke out against the ordinance, citing environmental and traffic concerns.

Pamela Coles, who lives on George Street, said she's afraid to walk across Fair Lawn Avenue.

"I'm scared to death to send my child out for a bagel, so I can't imagine how bad it's going to be when this development goes up," she said.

Several residents, including Bob Gremillot of Bristol Place, urged the council to take a closer look at the ordinance.

"You've called this site a chemical wasteland. Well, it's a chemical wasteland today, too, and we're planning to build a town house development for families on a chemical wasteland," he said.