Wednesday, January 31, 2007

By JAIME HOVAN
STAFF WRITER
FAIR LAWN COMMUNITY NEWS

FAIR LAWN - Split down party lines the council voted at the Jan. 23 meeting in favor of the first reading of an ordinance to change the zoning of the Clariant property located on Fair Lawn Avenue and 3rd Street from and Industrial site to a plannedl residential community.

            According to Republican Councilman Ed Trawinski, who was not at the Jan 9 meeting when the ordinance was introduced, the property is not ready and the zoning changes need to be fine-tuned.

            “I don’t know why or understand the rush with this plan. It does not even deserve discussion as a public ordinance,” said Trawinski. “I do this for a living and have never seen plans move at this speed.”

            The land use attorney went on to say while working with Elmwood Park it took more than two years to change zoning plans.

            “This had enough loopholes in it to drive a tractor trailer through it from one end of the New Jersey Turnpike to the other,” said Trawinski.

            In May of 2006, Shellmarc LLC, of Glen Rock first approached the council with the idea of converting the land to the property include 130 units that will be broken into two sections with the southern most facing the road and the other in the interior of the development.

            The new development will include a three-level building at the northern end of the property with 48, two-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom units with eight units per floor. Each unit would have two parking spaces and it would be required that anyone residing with their families in that building be 19 years or older.

            Additionally, 23 to 27 of the adult housing units will be made affordable living, where certain criteria would have to be met to live there. If single, resident will not be able to make more than $41,000 annually and if married the couple can not make more than $47,657 combined. The lots will be sold for $125,000 to $150,000 and the rest of the units will be priced between $300,000 and $350,000.
           
            Some of Trawinski’s additional concerns include the quality of the land, the effect on borough schools, cost to residents and aesthetic of the buildings.

            Trawinski was supported by approximately a dozen residents with similar concerns.

            “We were promised that no buildings higher than 40 feet would be put after the completion of the community center,” said resident Arlene Rubenstein.

            The ordinance allows developers to build up to 45 feet.

            She went on to say that by allowing the new development the council would be leaving behind a legacy of a high-rise city.

            Resident Graig Miller agreed saying Fair Lawn would be turned into an urban community.

            “The borough is already tapped out,” said Pam Coles, a member of the Historical Preservation Committee. “We don’t event know how this development will impact business, traffic, police, emergency services and schools.”

            The property housed a former chemical manufacturing plant and the land became contaminated when a tank burst. The ordinance states the property has been undergoing remediation since the late 1908s and Clariant has said it will finance the continual clean up until it meets the Department of Environmental Protection’s requirements.

            Resident Susan DiGeronimo asked the council how it could allow children and babies to live on contaminated land.

            Mayor Steve Weinstein assured those in attendance that no development would take place unlit the property was properly remediated according to state regulations.

            However, the ordinance does not require the developer to wait for remediation to be complete before building can start.

            Weinstein said the planning Board will now go over the plans for the development including the height and buffer issues along with deciding whether or not building the development farther back from the street is necessary.

            “It (the ordinance) is not ready, we need to go back to the drawing board,” said Trawinski.