PUBLISHED BY TEANECK VOICES
Managing Editor, Bernard Rous
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Contents
Teaneck Stop & Shop to be Demolished?
PSE&G Easement and Teaneck Parks
Notable Women of Teaneck
The Greens of Teaneck
- The Hackensack Greenway
- The Route 4 Greenbelt
Unanswered Questions
Announcements
- Tree Lighting
- Teaneck Toy Drive
- Math Adventures and Word Play
Upcoming Town Meetings
Events at the Library
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TEANECK STOP & SHOP TO BE DEMOLISHED?
Council and Planning Board Embroiled in yet another Lawsuit
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Most residents of Teaneck do not know that the Planning Board and Council have taken steps to force Stop & Shop to close its doors in Teaneck. Some thought the supermarket wanted to leave. This is not the case.
The Council and Planning Board have declared Stop&Shop and the surrounding properties an Area in Need of Redevelopment. Their redevelopment plan calls for the demolition of the Supermarket.
Stop & Shop is suing Teaneck, its Council, and its Planning Board.
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Timeline
September 2020
Council authorizes an investigation of properties along American Legion Drive.
March 2021
Planning Board holds public hearing on draft report of the Preliminary Investigation. The report concludes with a recommendation that Teaneck Council designate the properties as An Area in Need of Redevelopment (AINR) based largely on a “Store Analysis” of Stop & Shop finding Stop & Shop’s building was outdated and dilapidated.
Mr. Volosin, who authored the “Store Analysis” is the CEO of Supermarket Consulting Group, LLC, and is also the Executive VP of Crossroads Company, the proposed redeveloper.
The Planning Board votes to recommend to Council that it designate the properties as an Area in Need of Redevelopment.
April 2021
Council adopts Resolution No. 87-2021 declaring the area in question to be a non-condemnation Area in Need of Redevelopment.
May 2021
Stop & Shop files its Complaint against the Council and Planning Board of Teaneck, claiming that the Council’s resolutions were “improper, unlawful, arbitrary, capricious null and void and of no force and effect”.
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What is an Area in Need of Redevelopment {NJSA 40A:12A-5}?
The structures in an Area in Need of Redevelopment (AINR) have deteriorated beyond the ability to rehabilitate them by renovation or restoration. That is why an Area in Need of Redevelopment is referred to as a “blighted” area, where the generality of buildings is substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated, or obsolescent, or possess any of such characteristics, or are so lacking in light, air, or space, as to be conducive to unwholesome living or working conditions, and detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community.
Teaneck Voices has investigated and found that the words “Stop & Shop” were never used when the Council made its AINR determination. Apparently not everyone even realized that the vote was for demolition of Stop & Shop. Watch the following video, especially from 3:20 on:
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Stop & Shop’s Complaint
The Complaint has four Counts in it. Below are some key points from the 28-page Complaint which can be read in full here.
COUNT ONE
The Redevelopment Area Does Not Meet the Criteria for Designation Pursuant to the LRHL (NJ State’s Local Redevelopment and Housing Law)
Stop & Shop alleges
- Preliminary Investigation failed to adequately analyze whether the Proposed Redevelopment Area met the statutory criteria for an AINR and therefore the Township Council should not have cited the Teaneck store as meeting the blight criterion which talks about “dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community.”
- No proof was offered as to how Stop & Shop’s allegedly “atypical” layout is detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community, as required, and that neither the Planning Board nor the Township Council made any such findings.
COUNT TWO
The Planning Board’s Recommendation, and Township Council Resolution No. 87-2021, Were Arbitrary, Capricious, and Unreasonable and Must Be Rescinded
Stop & Shop points out
- The purported goals of the proposed new development, namely, to facilitate construction of a parking structure and residential development, could be achieved with a simple rezoning of the municipal parking lot along American Legion Drive. There was absolutely no need to declare all those properties as an Area in Need of Redevelopment.
- The Preliminary Investigation relied substantially on the Store Analysis authored by the proposed redeveloper Volosin, and calls it “flawed, incomplete, inaccurate” and that both contain “critical errors and omissions.”
- That both the Planning Board and the Council “failed to discuss and weigh adequately the reasons for recommending that the Proposed Redevelopment Area is or should be declared” an AINR.
COUNT THREE
Designation of the Redevelopment Area Is Invalid Due To Conflict Of Interest
Stop & Shop states
- It has information suggesting that the proposed redeveloper is Crossroads Companies of Mahwah. They state that Mr. Volosin, who is the supermarket consultant who prepared the “Store Analysis” as part of the Preliminary Investigation finding blight and recommending Council designate an Area in Need of Redevelopment, is also the Executive Vice President of Retail Development for Crossroads, the proposed redeveloper!
- That Mr. Volosin neglected to mention this fact, although an extensive review of his qualifications was given.
- That “this arrangement goes well beyond an appearance of impropriety, rising to the level of an actual and material conflict of interest, because the author of the Store Analysis, which was the basis for the conclusions of the Preliminary Investigation, which in turn was the basis for the Planning Board’s recommendation and the Township Council’s determination, is a senior executive employed by Crossroads — which is both the proposed redeveloper and an affiliate of the owner of two of the five privately-owned lots within the Proposed Redevelopment Area — and would benefit financially from a Store Analysis which supported a conclusion that the redevelopment criteria were met.”
COUNT FOUR
Designation of the Redevelopment Area Is Invalid Due to Procedural Deficiencies
Stop & Shop states
- A list of procedures that are required by law to declare an Area in Need of Redevelopment with which both the Teaneck Council and the Planning Board failed to comply.
- That these failures violated the Open Public Meetings Act, the Municipal Land Use Law, the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, and the requirements for adequate public hearings.
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As stated earlier, Stop & Shop's full Complaint may be found here and makes clear and compelling reading, despite its legal framework. |
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Teaneck Voices’ previous investigations
Teaneck Voices has previously published articles about how development in Teaneck is now occurring through the unprecedented use of blight designation procedures, and how failure to govern with public input is leading to litigation. Teaneck Voices has pointed out how designating an Area in Need of Rehabilitation may carry higher risks of corrupt dealing.
Some excerpts from previous issues of Teaneck Voices:
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What is an Area in Need of Redevelopment {NJSA 40A:12A-5}? As you might expect, the structures in an Area in Need of Redevelopment (AINR) have deteriorated beyond the ability to rehabilitate them by renovation or restoration. That is why an Area in Need of Redevelopment is referred to as a “blighted” area.
- What are The Criteria for Blight?
a. Most of the buildings in the area are unsafe in one way or another.
b. Abandoned buildings or their becoming untenantable.
c. Land that is owned by the government or redevelopment agency or has been vacant for ten years and is not likely to be developed by private capital.
d. Areas with buildings that are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community.
e. A lack of proper utilization of the area resulting in stagnation, where the land could potentially contribute to and serve the public health, safety and welfare.
f. Areas, larger than five acres, where buildings have been destroyed beyond repair by natural disasters or fire, so that the assessed value of the area has materially depreciated.
g. An area designated by the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority as an Enterprise Zone under the "New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Act," {See: C.52:27H-60}
h. Consistent with “smart growth planning principles” (usually considered only in conjunction with another criterion as support for denser, urban style redevelopment.).
- What are the Risks of Redevelopment Designations?
- The power to authorize and implement changes in town shifts to a significant degree from the Planning Board to the Council and requires less public input.
- The redevelopment project does not need to conform to the Master Plan or the existing zoning regulations for the designated AINR and so can open the way to substantial changes in the character of a town with much less public input and consensus.
- Most importantly, the solicitation and bidding process on redevelopment projects are not subject to NJ State Public Contracts Law which require solicitations to be public; and the bidding process to be open to all; and the that the contract be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. This Public Contracts Law was put in place to avoid corruption and favoritism and pay-to-play deals. In its absence, particularly with potentially high-stakes redevelopment projects in an AINR, the risks of corruption increase.
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PSE&G AND TEANECK PARKLAND |
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On Tuesday, November 23, Teaneck’s Council granted PSE&G an easement – and PSE&G paid the town $1.8M for it.
How does that work?
PSE&G needed to string new wiring across our Windsor and Votee Parks. Because this diverts 3.6 acres of our parkland to another purpose, the utility has to provide the Township compensation for it.
But Teaneck cannot simply collect and spend the $1.8M that the State says PSE&G owes us. NJ State's Green Acres Program requires that Teaneck demonstrate it has replaced the “lost” 3.6 acres of parkland with new municipal property and designated it as protected parkland in perpetuity
In the video which follows, Town Manager Dean Kazinci gives an excellent explanation of the steps Teaneck must now take in order to spend the money PSE&G owes the town:
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Drive over the Triborough Bridge on your way to Queens, and on your right, you see the legendary, sand-colored institution that is Creedmoor State Hospital. To some it is a fearsome sight. To Marie Warnke, born in Brooklyn and raised in Merrick, Long Island, it was where her dad worked in the electronics shop. More importantly, it is where she initially became interested in working with people with special needs. For Marie, the not-yet-named idea of “take your daughters to work day” brought a lifetime of service and devotion, not only to those with special needs, but to children, community, and public education.
Marie Warnke is a warm, friendly woman with a spine of steel and a dynamic energy that few can match! An extraordinary leader in the Teaneck Community, she took a few minutes to talk about her life.
What was your life like growing up?
I was the middle child with two older brothers and two younger sisters in an Irish-Catholic family. My dad, a WWII vet, was an avid do-it-yourself guy. He built our house on land purchased from the GI bill. He taught me carpentry, appliance repair, car mechanics. My brothers and I had paper routes and a lawn mowing business and I earned money in high school babysitting. For years, Sunday dinners were back to Flatbush with my grandparents. Vacations were camping trips and days at Jones Beach or Steeplechase in Coney Island.
I attended Catholic parochial schools in elementary and high school and earned my Elementary Ed degree from Fordham University School of Education and my Special Ed degree from Bank Street College. My first teaching job was as a certified "institutional teacher" in the Creedmoor children's unit.
In 1975 when public schools were required to educate all children I worked as an early childhood teacher at BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) in Westchester to help member districts deal with the new mandate. My first experience in NJ Public schools was as early childhood special ed teacher for 5 years in Edgewater and 25 years in Franklin Lakes. During that time, I became active in NJEA in both districts and served as President in Edgewater and Secretary, negotiator, and grievance chair in Franklin Lakes.
How did you and Jim meet?
Jim and I met in the Bronx where we were students at Fordham. After we graduated, Jim and I decided to become supervisors of a new girls group home in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx. One of my tasks was to get 12 girls, many from orphanages or abusive homes, enrolled in NYC public school. The girls were of mixed race and ethnicity which added to the challenge. I was able to get many of them into specialty schools like Art & Design, secretarial and pre-nursing programs.
When did you move to Teaneck? We moved to Teaneck in 1974 subletting an apartment on Teaneck Road, thinking it would be a temporary stay. Both Jim and I fell in love with the town and decided to stay.
How did you become involved in community activities?
As soon as my two kids entered the Teaneck Public Schools, I volunteered in their classrooms and with the PTA's. I joined the Open Classroom Association and soon became President. I eventually became president of PTO Council and was asked to run for the BOE. I joined the BOE in 1988 and was Board President under Superintendent Hal Morris. In 2000, I ran successfully for the Town Council to be part of the selection of a new township manager. Helene Fall was voted in as our first women administrator.
I left the Council in 2004 after losing my bid for reelection, but I remained active in some of the roles I took on as a Council member. I stayed with and continue to this day on the Advisory Board to THS FORUM, the Hackensack River Greenway Advisory Board, and the Teaneck Greenbelt Committee. I became president of Friends of the Hackensack River Greenway and continue today as the Secretary. I joined the Board of the Community Scholarship Fund of Teaneck and in 2004 became the Treasurer continuing in this position to current day.
Jim and I were both Roman Catholics and for many years continued to worship at Fordham University. Jim joined the St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Teaneck and in 1996 was ordained a priest. I became active in the congregation and was a member of the Vestry for a few years, enjoying the volunteer work with the church community.
What makes you feel most proud?
I am very proud of my work with board members of the Greenway and the Scholarship Fund, two solid grassroots groups serving Teaneck. I was able to get our Greenway listed as a National Trail and have been able to develop the Mary S. Topolsky Garden and Trail as a native garden and an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant trail. We recently installed a rain barrel at the sight for the garden.
Of course, I am exceedingly proud of my children. Dave teaches art at an Oakland, California public high school which has a large immigrant student body. Amy is a costume designer and lives in Los Angeles. Now she owns her own Etsy store making and selling clothing and costumes.
But it is the people we have met through the schools, the civic groups and religious groups that have really shaped our lives individually and as a family. Growing up in a white, Irish/Italian Catholic community, Teaneck opened a new world for me for which I am very grateful.
Thank you, Marie.
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THE GREENS OF TEANECK
The Hackensack River Greenway and the Route 4 Greenbelt
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Despite what often seem like ongoing battles with our Town Council over open space – or perhaps because those battles keep us aware and appreciative of our open space – Teaneck, sitting just five miles from the Bronx and Manhattan, remains a lushly green suburb. It may not be the farmland of the early 20th century nor the land of lots of the 1940’s and 50’s, but it still stands as the promised land for so many from the five boroughs and industrial New Jersey who sought to improve the lives of their children and grandchildren.
Two of the unique “green” institutions preserved by generations of Teaneckians often do not get their due, because of confusion about which is which! They are The Hackensack River Greenway and The Route 4 Greenbelt.
The Hackensack River Greenway (the Greenway) is a 3.5-mile trail paralleling the Hackensack River, offering wildlife viewing of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish. In Teaneck, it runs from Terhune Park in the South to Clarence Brett Park in the North along the East side of the Hackensack River.
Here are two sources where you can read more about it:
NY/NJ Trails Conference story of Teaneck’s Hackensack River Greenway Click here
American Trails story of our Hackensack River Greenway Click here
The Greenway includes the tranquil Indian Pond, part of the 27-acre Andreas Park on River Road at the foot of West Englewood Avenue, with a newly restored path circling the pond. On any day, a stroll around the pond will bring sightings of white egrets, several varieties of ducks, bald eagles, plus cardinals, blue jays, bob-whites, and seagulls. Seagulls? Yes, the Hackensack River is a tidal river, so when the tide has rolled back as far as it will go – right to the southern end of Indian pond – crowds of seagulls appear as they do “down the shore!”
Little known facts:
- The restored path around the pond offers benches donated by families of residents in their honor. Notable honorees, with a bench at the northwest corner of the pond overlooking the river, are Eric and Irene Simon, honored by their children. Eric Simon, a former member of the BOE was a neuroscientist who discovered opiate receptors in the brain and coined the word “endorphin.”
- At the southern end of Indian Pond, barely visible, is a giant valve which looks like a manhole cover. This valve is said to control the flow of water through the two large culverts between the west bank of the pond and the east bank of the river. In the 1940’s and 50’s, the Township used the valve to shut off the culvert flow, allowing the water of the pond to freeze, creating a rustic natural ice rink for skating, hockey and ice dancing.
The Route 4 Greenbelt (The Greenbelt)
The Greenbelt serves as a buffer for homes along its length from the Englewood border to Teaneck’s River Road. It was established by Teaneck’s first Master Plan in 1933, designating the tree-lined open space corridor along State Route 4 as a Greenbelt to be maintained for public enjoyment and the protection of open space. The opening of the George Washington Bridge in 1931 brought floods of people into the new suburban communities, and the Greenbelt was not only a means of protecting the residents of Teaneck, it was also a statement about who this community was, and what it valued.
In recent years, Council has sought to designate the Greenbelt as “available land” for commercial development. It hopes to bring tax “ratables” into Teaneck since more and more township land has been occupied by non-profit institutions. Holy Name Medical Center and FDU have expanded and the number of Houses of Worship has increased.
Fortunately for the residents of Teaneck, our Route 4 Greenbelt is protected by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program.
However, the Greenbelt will certainly be making news as the leadership of the Township attempts to place a 255-unit high rise building and an all-purposes cannabis facility on Alfred Avenue.
Alfred Avenue, for decades zoned as light industrial and immediately adjacent to Englewood’s Route 4 commercial development, has housed low-rise warehouses and modest factories. Residents have been screened from these facilities by the lush growth of the Greenbelt.
Will our Greenbelt be able to screen a high rise building and multiple cannabis facilities with an influx of traffic from New York buyers? This is one of the new challenges the “Greens of Teaneck” will have to face.
Meanwhile, Teaneck Voices encourages all town residents to get to know our Greens of Teaneck: The Hackensack River Greenway embracing the shores of our Hackensack River and the Route 4 Greenbelt, spreading its lushness through the center of our town.
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Why Preserve the Greenbelt?
If you have 14 minutes, you can take a video ride both east and west through Teaneck on the Greenbelt. Accompanied only by Handel, you will begin and end your ride in Hackensack and make the turn in Englewood. The contrast between our Greenbelt and the two alternatives is clear.
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Still Unanswered Questions |
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Why does the Township Council have 16 subcommittees - none of which have a quorum - about which Teaneck residents are told virtually nothing?
In how many lawsuits is the Township currently involved? How many has it settled in the past year except for the Glenpointe tax appeal? How many has it won? (We know of five recent cases the Town has lost.)
Why is Stop & Shop suing us? (See the lead article in this issue)
Did any Town official tell Englewood anything about our Alfred Avenue plans? Englewood says NO!
When will the Planning Board act on the OSRP?
What's really happening with the Holy Name issues?
When will Councilwoman Orgen make available the records from the Marijuana Subcommittee that she in August said she would readily give to Councilwoman Gervonn Rice?
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TOWNSHIP OF TEANECK TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY |
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TOWNSHIP OF TEANECK ANNUAL TOY DRIVE |
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MATH ADVENTURES AND WORD PLAY |
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UPCOMING MUNICIPAL MEETINGS |
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Cedar Lane Management Group
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 6:30pm
public access by approval of the Chair only - contact Town Clerk.
Teaneck Board of Education Regular Meeting
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 8:00pm
All meetings are scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm and will be held in-person. Regular Board meetings will be held in the Cheryl Miller-Porter student center in Teaneck High School located at 100 Elizabeth Ave., Teaneck, NJ 07666. These meeting will also be held virtually via the zoom link posted on the district website for each meeting. Public comments virtually can be made if you attend the meeting via the Zoom app and or the zoom link. Instructions on how to download the Zoom app can be found on the district website at www.teaneckschools.org.
Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 6:30pm
Open to the public and held on Thursday evenings, beginning at 6:30 PM. Due to the current State of Emergency issued by the Governor of the State of New Jersey as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Teaneck Township Council will be holding its regularly scheduled meetings virtually via Zoom. The link to participate in the Zoom meeting via computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone, meeting ID number, password, one-tap mobile numbers and dial-in telephone numbers are posted on the on the library’s website at www.teanecklibrary.org at least 48 hours in advance of all regularly scheduled meetings.
Board of Adjustment
Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Zoom Link at passcode 297783. Agenda not yet available.
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Editorial Board
Natalee Addison
Laraine Chaberski
Toniette H. Duncan
Charles W. Powers
Bernard Rous
Micki Shilan
Barbara Ley Toffler
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Supporters
Denise Belcher
Juanita Brown
Margot Embree Fisher
Gail Gordon
Guy Thomas Lauture
LaVerne Lightburn
Gloria Wilson
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Contributors
Bettina Hempel
Henry Pruitt
Howard Rose
Advisors
Theodora Smiley Lacey
Loretta Weinberg
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