Cedar Grove rejects Hovnanian Hilltop development
- EsseXploreR
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- NJE
14 years 1 week ago #1
by EsseXploreR
"It's better to regret something you did, then something you didn't do"
abandonednjurbex.blogspot.com/
Cedar Grove rejects Hovnanian Hilltop development was created by EsseXploreR
CEDAR GROVE — Cedar Grove’s township council unanimously voted to reject a proposal by a developer to build more than 400 townhouses at the site of the former Essex County Hospital Center, a deal that would’ve ended a lawsuit the builder filed against the county.
Council members shot down the plan because the Red Bank-based developer K. Hovnanian wanted the township to take over its state-mandated obligation to build one affordable housing unit for every five new units. In return, the builder offered $4 million, but Mayor Bob O’Toole said that wouldn’t be enough money.
“It wouldn’t cover it, and also we don’t want to be responsible,” O’Toole said. “Where are we going to find the land to build these affordable housing units? We don’t have any empty land in Cedar Grove.”
The land in question at Hilltop is tied up in litigation. Essex County was going to sell the tract to the developer but then decided it would be better to turn it into a 90-acre park. K. Hovnanian, alleging breach of contract, is now suing the county. In the meantime, the decrepit hospital buildings, which were closed three years ago, have attracted vandals and ghost-hunters.
Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo had asked the Cedar Grove council to agree to the development to end the lawsuit. If the council had approved the zoning change to allow the townhouses, it would have gotten a park, albeit a smaller one. K. Hovnanian would have gotten the rest of the land to develop marketable homes, and the county was to receive $11.5 million for the land sale.
The developer also offered Cedar Grove $1.8 million for ballfields and $500,000 in lieu of donating a firehouse.
At a public workshop meeting Monday, the council shot down the deal after K. Hovnanian canceled for the second time a discussion on the affordable housing obligation.
“I can’t sit there as a council member and vote on something that could potentially put the town in harm’s way financially in the future,” Chiusolo said.
Asked to comment, Andre Miesnieks, vice president of legal and land acquisition at K. Hovnanian, would only say, “We’re re-evaluating the situation.”
Council members shot down the plan because the Red Bank-based developer K. Hovnanian wanted the township to take over its state-mandated obligation to build one affordable housing unit for every five new units. In return, the builder offered $4 million, but Mayor Bob O’Toole said that wouldn’t be enough money.
“It wouldn’t cover it, and also we don’t want to be responsible,” O’Toole said. “Where are we going to find the land to build these affordable housing units? We don’t have any empty land in Cedar Grove.”
The land in question at Hilltop is tied up in litigation. Essex County was going to sell the tract to the developer but then decided it would be better to turn it into a 90-acre park. K. Hovnanian, alleging breach of contract, is now suing the county. In the meantime, the decrepit hospital buildings, which were closed three years ago, have attracted vandals and ghost-hunters.
Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo had asked the Cedar Grove council to agree to the development to end the lawsuit. If the council had approved the zoning change to allow the townhouses, it would have gotten a park, albeit a smaller one. K. Hovnanian would have gotten the rest of the land to develop marketable homes, and the county was to receive $11.5 million for the land sale.
The developer also offered Cedar Grove $1.8 million for ballfields and $500,000 in lieu of donating a firehouse.
At a public workshop meeting Monday, the council shot down the deal after K. Hovnanian canceled for the second time a discussion on the affordable housing obligation.
“I can’t sit there as a council member and vote on something that could potentially put the town in harm’s way financially in the future,” Chiusolo said.
Asked to comment, Andre Miesnieks, vice president of legal and land acquisition at K. Hovnanian, would only say, “We’re re-evaluating the situation.”
"It's better to regret something you did, then something you didn't do"
abandonednjurbex.blogspot.com/
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