In a stunning turn of events that shows a definite chasm within the ranks of the elected officials in the township, the Guttenberg Township Council voted to stop any plans of a proposed 11-story, 72-unit senior citizen complex.
In voting 5-1 with one abstention against a proposed $9 million plan that had already been approved by the Planning/Zoning Board and was supported by Mayor Robert Sabello, the council temporarily squelched any hopes of the existing plan coming to fruition.
The proposed development, orchestrated by the Alpert Group of Fort Lee, called for the new affordable housing facility to be built on the site of the old Sokol Hall catering facility on 70th Street.
The Alpert Group, in a partnership with Guttenberg Affordable Housing Urban Renewal Associates, purchased Sokol Hall and the adjacent two-family house last year, proposing its plan to build the facility on the site.
However, the plan was tossed back and fourth through the Planning Board, first getting voted down last year, then later receiving approval from the board earlier this year.
It appeared as if the plan was heading toward reality before the council stepped forward this week and voted the plan down. Sabello was the only elected official to vote in favor of the plan. Councilman Edward Huebsch abstained from voting.
Just last week, Sabello was confident that the plan would be approved.
“I can’t foresee anything that will stop this project from moving forward,” Sabello said.
However, that wasn’t the case Monday, when the council voted the plan down.
Did politics have anything to do with the decision to vote it down? Councilman David Delle Donna, who is rumored to be currently forming a ticket to run for mayor later this year, doesn’t think so.
“I have no rift with Mayor Sabello,” Delle Donna said. “I just didn’t think the project fit the neighborhood. As far as I’m concerned, it had nothing to do with politics. I voted for what was best for the community. I don’t know how others feel, but I can only tell you from my perspective that it is not.”
However, there are others that do not agree, like local attorney Ramon de la Cruz, who has formed an organization called Guttenberg on the Hudson Civic Association. As president of the organization formed last year and featuring 30 members, de la Cruz feels that people can sense the political rift between Sabello and his council.
“The Planning Board was adamantly behind the project and the mayor was behind it, so it makes sense to wonder why the council voted against it,” de la Cruz said. “It certainly appears to be a political thing. It definitely smelled of a tug of war. The split is so obvious. The voting definitely had political overtones.”
Added de la Cruz, “There was a lot of wheeling and dealing going on, out from the public’s eye. That’s why everyone was so sure it was going to go through. We had to make sure that it was done the right way and not forced down our throats.”
But in the end, the prevailing opinion of the residents won out, people like local activist Mario Falato, who was constantly at work, distributing fliers, making sure that the local residents were aware of what was going on. “I’m not a politician, but I can tell you that a lot of people were not for it, at that scale,” said Falato, who had threatened to file a lawsuit blocking the project, citing that some Planning Board members were not sworn in properly at the time of the second vote. “Sometimes, you have to step forward and say, ‘Enough is enough.’ Sure, as our population gets older, there’s a greater need for senior housing, but not at the expense of taxpayers.” Falato was asked if politics were involved in the vote.
“I certainly think it had a part in it,” Falato said. “I think the project had to be reviewed and it had to be brought to the attention of the residents. Am I the cause of that? I wouldn’t say that. But they all had to listen to our arguments about the size and the location. We seemed to awake the residents about this project.”
Neither Sabello nor developer Joseph Alpert returned phone calls at press time.
Guttenberg councilman Javier Inclan believes that the best thing happened for the township.
“I think the elected officials, as residents first, had concerns,” Inclan said. “Taking politics totally out of it. We all had big concerns about the size and the location of the project. The mayor may have backed it, but we couldn’t support an 11-story monstrosity in the middle of the block. It had to be voted down. We want to have something that will have the most minimal effect on the neighborhood.”
Inclan does not believe it is a dead issue.
“There could be senior housing at that spot and it could happen with that developer,” Inclan said. “I just don’t know if the developer [Alpert] will want to do it, because he told us that no way, no how could he scale down the project. We would be willing to listen if another developer came forward.”
Delle Donna said that he has already spoken with two possible developers who would consider a smaller scaled project at the site. The township also does not want to lose the $400,000 in county funds allocated strictly for affordable senior housing.
“I didn’t want to go into that meeting [Monday] blindly, not having anything to back up what I’m saying,” Delle Donna said. “I’ve spoken with developers that are interested in something that has perhaps four or five stories and 42 units, something that would fit the neighborhood better. We can work something with the same proposed rent [$440], the same rules [age 62, with financial guidelines]. It’s something we’re definitely looking into. But the community was definitely against it and that was one of the biggest factors.”
But not politics?
“I think the council had to make the decision it did,” de la Cruz said. “With the election approaching, it would have been political suicide to turn it down and say that they were not for affordable senior housing. I think the feeling is that they can find something else that will accommodate everyone. The Planning Board was not listening or paying attention to what the residents had to say, so someone had to do something. It was the right decision.”