Last week, Teaneck Voices published an article posing the question:

TEANECK STOP & SHOP TO BE DEMOLISHED? (See article)

The article provoked town officials to respond, labelling the term “demolished” as “alarmist" and “taken out of context”.

Here is a transcript filed in court of Town Planner Richard Preiss speaking to the Planning Board on March 25th and stating the consequences of recommending that the area be designated as an AINR or Area in Need of Redevelopment (emphasis added):

“And we found that through, kind of, faulty design, the particular layout of the -- of the supermarket, which is set forth in the report and which I described at the previous hearing, and also the -- the way in which the building was designed and operates, as well as the fact that it's not a very energy-efficient building, there's several conditions which need to be corrected, and only through, essentially, demolition and rebuilding could those be corrected, it's not something that can be just repaired so that the building could not be -- no longer obsolescent, so that report, essentially, sets those conditions..." 

And yet, Deputy Mayor Schwartz has stated (publicly, but apparently not as part of the official public record):

So, if Stop & Shop indeed has all these choices, including to “keep as is” why is it suing the Council to rescind its AINR designation? And why did the Planning Board and the Council make that designation in the first place?

That designation was made based on one of the Local Housing and Redevelopment Laws’ criteria for blight. The Town Planner actually quoted the definition of Criterion d at the Planning Board meeting so all would know why Stop & Shop could be declared an AINR:

"Areas with buildings or improvement which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement of design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolescent layout or any combination of these or other factors are detrimental to the safety, health, morals and welfare of the community." (emphasis added)

Deputy Mayor Schwartz emphasized that Council’s Resolution specifies that its AINR designation is a “non-condemnation” AINR. This term “non-condemnation” when applied to a redevelopment area, simply means that the government cannot exercise Eminent Domain and seize the property from its owner. It has no bearing on whether a building on that property, like Stop & Shop’s supermarket, may be demolished.

The requirement that an AINR designation specify whether it is for “condemnation”, or “non-condemnation” redevelopment was signed into law in 2013 by then Governor Christie as A-3615. That Act is not a strong protection for property owners against Eminent Domain because it also allows the governing body to reconsider:

So, at this point it is unclear why Deputy Mayor Schwartz is emphasizing that this is a “non-condemnation” redevelopment area.

It is clear that

The same “supermarket expert” who investigated Stop & Shop for the Council and Planning Board and found it blighted, is said to be a principal in the redevelopment company. Has this Conflict-of-Interest cited in Stop & Shop’s Complaint been addressed?

Are the litigants moving to settle their dispute before the case is heard in Court next March?

Teaneck Voices recognizes that Settlement negotiations need to take place in privacy. But we do believe that the lack of full public disclosure and discussion of the American Legion Drive area prior to its designation as an AINR is precisely what has led the Township into court again.

A Council majority like ours in Teaneck, that is elected by 17% of the diverse Teaneck Electorate, ought to be especially solicitous of public input. They should prudently seek out a variety of opinions before making decisions, rather than proceed as if they have a popular mandate.

Instead, this Council majority has increasingly limited and dampened public participation:

Teaneck Voices has pointed out that actions like these are a recipe for Government by Litigation. (See article in November 14, 2021 issue entitled Government by Litigation.)

And, in fact, the Town Attorney has bluntly stated that if residents do not like what Council decides, they should sue the Township in Superior Court.

Three times this past year, frustrated residents did just that. And they won their cases.

Now a fourth case has been decided against the Township. And this one speaks to the core issue of transparency in government. It was brought by a resident of Teaneck. Hillary Goldberg v. The Township Teaneck is a case about the Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

The Open Public Records Act (OPRA) gives citizens the right to access and examine government records and transactions. This Act is particularly important when a government prefers to act behind closed doors and uses its powers to limit public participation and input.

An important component of the ACT is referred to as “fee shifting”. As Retiring State Senator Loretta Weinberg has written:

Under OPRA, Ms. Goldberg, Owner and Editor-in-Chief of the respected newsletter Teaneck Tomorrow requested some official emails sent by Manager Dean Kazinci. Her request was denied. (The case is written up by Ms. Goldberg in the December 7th issue of Teaneck Tomorrow.)

Ms. Goldberg sued the Township for wrongfully denying this OPRA request. The Honorable Bonnie Mizdol, not only denied the defendants’ claim that the OPRA request was a “fishing trip,” and found for the Plaintiff, but her ruling included the following:

Coverage of attorneys’ fees in this case under the OPRA law is just and fair.

But who is paying for our Township’s current trend to govern by litigation? We, the taxpayers, are paying into a rather sizable and growing pot of litigation fees for both our Township Attorney and for any legal fees awarded by the Court to attorneys representing Teaneck residents.

Ask Teaneck dynamo and volunteer extraordinaire, LaVerne Lightburn what makes her most proud. She doesn’t need a minute to think. Immediately, she will tell you about her thrilling experience as a Girl Scout Troop Leader mentoring young women, and the special joy of guiding three young ladies, Amoria Burks, Brianna Carthins, and Ilana Lightburn of Troop 95762, to becoming Girl Scout Gold Award recipients.

Honored by the Teaneck Town Council and State Senator Loretta Weinberg, the girls created projects that combined organizational, leadership and networking skills with over 100 hours of community service. Amoria’s project helped students “Accessing Higher Education”; Ilana created a “Teen Closet for Homeless Girls” housed at the Center for Safety and Hope; and Brianna addressed obesity by educating the community on “How to Eat Healthier on a Budget.”

To learn about LaVerne’s community experiences, is to want to award her a Gold Award for the young lives she has changed and the service she has provided to all of us here in Teaneck.

A native New Yorker, LaVerne moved to Teaneck after graduating from Fashion Industry High School, one of the City’s admission-by-test special high schools. Having many relatives who already lived here, she easily became an active member of the community.

The oldest of four children, LaVerne grew up in a tight-knit middle-class family. Her father was Belizean boxing Legend and New Jersey Hall of Famer Ludwig Lightburn. Lightweight Champion Lightburn used his skill and success as a boxer to mentor young boys not only in boxing but also in manhood – using their strength and character to contribute to family and society. In 2012, Mr. Lightburn was recognized with The Queen's Honor, a Member of the Order of the British Empire award (MBE) for his contribution to sports and to the Belizean community.

LaVerne’s mother Loretta was a research biologist at Hunter College. Both parents stressed the importance of family, education, leadership, generosity, compassion, dedication, and independence.

At an early age LaVerne wanted to help and teach people, so she joined the Future Teachers of America and volunteered to teach dance at her neighborhood youth center. While at Buffalo State College she recognized her passion for working in the public sector and majored in Business & Consumer Studies with a concentration in Public Policy. She became a civil rights activist, working to register African Americans to vote.

LaVerne began her career as a Computer Analyst for IBM. One of her early community activities was to share her computer skills with her community by volunteering to teach it to the children in an after school program at Youth Organizations USA (YOUSA) in Englewood, NJ.

Although community activism was part of LaVerne’s life from an early age, it was when she became a parent and foster parent that her tremendous energy burst into an ongoing commitment to children and their schools. As she tells it, it began with two events: She successfully organized and rallied the community against a plan to put a Motor Vehicle office across from Bryant kindergarten school, and she founded the Thomas Jefferson (TJ) Middle School’s school store.

That store is the perfect example of the creativity and energy LaVerne brings to her projects. Asked to somehow distribute school supplies from a storage closet, in short order LaVerne re-imagined it, turning it into a boutique shop for pencils, pads, gifts, and other items 6th through 8th graders might enjoy. She planned to simply set it up and get it going – but ultimately she ran the TJ School Store for 18 years!

And there was no stopping her! In 2010, LaVerne initiated a UNICEF Haiti Relief fundraiser which raised over $13,500 for the children of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. She also volunteered to chair numerous events. She began an Annual 5th & 6th grade African American Live Museum, created a Who Am I game to encourage students to broaden their knowledge about famous African Americans and Latinx, became the PTO president of a school, and later Co-President of the PTO Council. As Co-President, LaVerne worked on the HIB committee to enlighten parents and students about the new Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying laws. She was key in the Operation Write, Rally, and Ride committee which went to Trenton to rally against bringing in a $15 million Garden State Virtual Charter School which could have negatively impacted the taxpayers and school district.

As a Girl Scout parent in 2011 during the Obama administration, Laverne encouraged Troop 73 to get Councilwoman Lizette Parker to support their cause on combating childhood obesity by bringing Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to Teaneck.

LaVerne has received numerous organizational, community, county, and state awards, going back many years to IBM Salesperson of the Month. She has made invaluable contributions to mentoring and developing girls and young women of courage, confidence, and character. LaVerne attributes much of her drive and accomplishments to her parents and to her own mentors, her late and much-loved Aunt LaRease Limerick and her dear friend, the late Veona Thomas.

LaVerne has focused on developing girls’ passion, skills and dedication for community service projects and world issues. Her hope is for them to continue to make a positive difference as they move through life. With LaVerne Lightburn as their mentor, that hope clearly will become a reality.

Last week, Teaneck Voices distinguished between the Hackensack Greenway and the Route 4 Greenbelt. Today we define the OSRP and the ROSI and clarify how they are related.

The Green Acres Program of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection requires each municipality to adopt an Open Space & Recreation Plan (OSRP) every 10 years. The OSRP must have public input. It must incorporate a detailed inventory of existing opens spaces and recreation areas and a list of potential areas for acquisition.

It is the Planning Board that adopts the OSRP. Once the OSRP is adopted by the Planning Board, it is incorporated as a chapter of the Town’s Master Plan.

The last time Teaneck adopted its OSRP was in 2007, so we are now four years overdue.

The Green Acres OSRP Guidelines state:

When the Green Acres Program approves a Town’s OSRP, it becomes eligible for 50% funding to acquire land that was identified by the OSRP.

But only if its ROSI is OK.

The Recreation and Open Space Inventory (ROSI) is a completely separate document which lists those municipal properties which the Town has identified as being protected in perpetuity. These are properties that are to be used only for conservation or recreational purposes.

When a municipality is seeking Green Acres funding for conservation or recreational acquisition or projects, municipalities must bring their own ROSI’s into complete alignment with Green Acres records of protected properties for that town.

Along with the funding application, the municipality must submit a Declaration certifying that all its restricted properties are listed in detail in the ROSI inventory. The Declaration is then signed by the Town’s chief executive and by the PB Chair. Planning Boards are encouraged to help the municipality report a complete ROSI inventory. The best short summary by Green Acres of the State’s ROSI requirements is found at (Click Here)

Twice in the past 11 years Teaneck has submitted such signed ROSI declarations – on 1/6/2011 and again 3/17/2015 – signed by Manager Broughton and PB Chair Bodner. The two inventories submitted 4 years apart were identical and each Declaration stated that the inventory listing was a “complete and accurate listing”.

But it is noteworthy that the State's language incorporated in a municipality's ROSI Declarations include the following sentence:

From the above descriptions, you can see that the ROSI is an independent, self-contained document that exists on its own outside of the OSRP. But the protected open spaces and conservation areas listed in the ROSI must also be incorporated into the OSRP, so the OSRP is not entirely independent of the ROSI.

It is this relationship between the OSRP and the ROSI inventory of protected properties that seems to be at the heart of our Planning Board’s four-year delay in adopting the OSRP.

In a forthcoming issue, Teaneck Voices will expand on the underlying reasons for that delay; on the lack of compliance between Teaneck’s ROSI and the State’s listing of our protected properties in the Green Acres database; and on what the Planning Board’s delay is costing the Town.

When will the Planning Board act on the OSRP?

Tuesday, December 14, 2021.

Public session at 8:00 pm -

Zoom Link and passcode 833757.

The complete agenda is available at Click Here

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 7:30pm

Zoom Link and passcode 397511

agenda not yet available

Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 8:00pm

Zoom Link with passcode 497077

No agenda on the Town website

But Note: There is a publicly-announced hearing scheduled on the revised Master Plan amendment to expand the HNMC Hospital Zone. The public notice in the required media for this hearing is described at Click Here. It specifies that the December version of the Hospital District amendment would be available on the Township Website 10 days before the meeting. Click Here to see the amendment text.

Ask whether the Hospital should have reached an agreement about deed restrictions with the contiguous Good Neighbors before this amendment is considered?

Events at the Library: Click here