Sier-Bath development on hold…for now Judge rules that zoning change was done improperly; project delayed

A state Superior Court judge has ruled that the North Bergen Planning Board acted improperly in changing a zoning ordinance that would allow a 273-unit upscale housing project to be built at the site of the old Sier-Bath gear factory.

According to the ruling handed down by State Superior Court Judge Jose L. Fuentes, the Planning Board made a costly mistake when it failed to give advanced notice to neighboring property owners that a meeting considering zoning ordinance changes was about to take place last April.

Fuentes ruled that the meeting was held improperly, without official notice to residents. Since the meeting was not valid, Fuentes ruled that all subsequent zoning changes, which were later approved by the township’s Board of Commissioners, are not valid as well.

Without the zoning change, “The Orleans,” an upscale housing development project to be built by Orleans Associates/Sackman Enterprises, cannot be built. The former ordinance calls for the area to be utilized for “conditional land use” and not multi-family dwellings, like those called for by the development.

“Any further action by the Planning Board in this context should evidence a true deliberative process,” Fuentes said in his seven-page ruling. “It should be a process where members consider the issues involved and the board makes decisions supported on evidence.”

The lawsuit was filed by neighboring resident Eugene McCrohan last August, after the Board of Commissioners voted in favor of the zoning change.

“I love the neighborhood and I love North Bergen,” McCrohan said. “If the developer wants to build (one and two-family homes) on the site, then I would have no objection to that. I just felt that the developer can’t make it a huge project.”

Local activist Rocco Arciola, who backed McCrohan in the suit, believes that the township didn’t act in good faith during the entire process.

“This ruling supports our position that we have been victimized simply for the development of this site,” Arciola said. “The plans were to bring 400 more cars into what is already a parking and traffic nightmare, causing gridlock throughout our neighborhood.”

Another neighbor, Paul Zampino, continued to plead his case to the Board of Commissioners at last Wednesday’s regularly scheduled meeting.

“We’re calling upon you, Mr. Mayor, and the honorable commissioners, to support the construction of one and two family homes as provided by the original township ordinance,” Zampino said. “It is not our desire to be involved in adversarial proceedings with our elected officials, where our tax dollars are pitted against each other.”

Mayor weighs in

Sacco is in favor of the proposed development.

“It seems to be a viable solution to what has been a troubled situation for a long time,” Sacco said. “We’re trading a bad factory for an upscale housing development. Personally, I believe it will be good for the town. They’ve come up with a legitimate plan. The developer had a meeting with the residents and I think there were three groups, the ones that didn’t want it, the ones who wanted to know more and the others who were for it. It’s going to upgrade property values.”

Sacco said that he agrees with the residents about the parking issue.

“I have concerns about the parking,” Sacco said. “The developer has been told to come back with a parking plan that we all can agree with. They’ve been told to do better, only we don’t know what better is at this point.”

Although he feels that Fuentes’ ruling is a setback, Township Administrator Joseph Auriemma believes that the project will continue as planned.

“Judge Fuentes believes that the zoning ordinance did not meet some standards, so we’re going to go back and correct what we did wrong,” Auriemma said. “The underlying problem will be corrected and it will allow the procedural task to move forward.”

Auriemma said that Fuentes’ ruling will set the process back “about two or three months,” but that the township planned to proceed with the proposed project.

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