Winter 2004 Edition     

Promoting Redevelopment   By Chris Neidenberg In an effort it is eyeing as a means of improving Fair Lawn's tax base, the Borough Council plans soon on supporting a formal, borough-wide redevelopment initiative. Mayor David L. Ganz said the council was expected to endorse some kind of a program, soon. One potential option could see the council use a state law encouraging redevelopment of properties identified as being in need, through offering builders certain financial incentives. If this is done, the action will have followed about three months of some discussion. During a recent work session, it heard a presentation from a Morris County-based consultant versed in redevelopment law. At a special meeting in the Fall, it convened a public hearing in the Fair Lawn Senior Citizens Center to gauge community sentiment on possible long-range undertakings. Any initiative - borough-wide in scope - could possibly include keying in on examining ways for improving the Broadway corridor - long a target of criticism. If that happens, the all-Democratic council most assuredly will try avoiding a repeat of the disastrous fallout stemming from an earlier initiative, pushed in 1999, that saw a prior party majority propose undertaking radically new real estate developments all along Broadway. This would have been done under a plan promoted by an Englewood-based group, Treeco Development Corporation. Once this plan became known, massive opposition from the area coalesced and killed the idea, and critics accused the then-Democratic council majority of secretly trying to push through a multi-million dollar program that would have primarily benefited major Bergen County Democratic activists and campaign contributors. Ganz adamantly insisted that his party majority's intentions were above board, though then-Republican Councilmen Ed Trawinski and Joe Tedeschi alleged they were largely kept in the dark on the proposal. A bi-partisan Broadway Advisory Committee subsequently formed. It issued a report in 2001 that the elected council, up until this time, has not seriously considered implementing.. Ganz noted in a recent interview that no new concepts, specifically addressing Broadway's needs, resulted from the recent discussions. But the council looks as though it will help get the ball rolling in that direction.. Concerning current areas, only the River Road corridor has benefited from a coordinated program addressing redevelopment. Additionally, efforts undertaken there have tried luring new businesses and improving the overall atmosphere. This has been facilitated through the efforts of the River Road Improvement Corporation. About 10 years ago, the council designated the corporation as the manager of a Special Improvement District (SID) - established using a different New Jersey statute. Making the Broadway region a SID using this law is a separate but potential redevelopment option, available for this specific region.. Recently, the council heard a presentation from Robert Goldsmith of Whippany. He is a noted expert on the process allowing municipalities to establish redevelopment programs, using the state statute allowing governing bodies to make recommendations to the Planning Board.. He pointed out that an approved redevelopment plan using this law will allow the municipality to acquire vacant, dilapidated properties, or properties destroyed via a man-made or natural disaster, and offer potential builders tax incentives encouraging them to step forward - when they might otherwise not do so. "The process is relatively straightforward," advised Goldsmith, who has worked in a wide range of Garden State communities, including Westfield, Long Branch, Newark and Morristown. "It requires municipalities to look at particular areas. The process is undertaken by the Planning Board (which investigates after acting on a resolution from the elected governing body). The Planning Board determines if there are particular areas in need of redevelopment." In addressing areas, Goldsmith said the borough can recommend the most practical uses for a given piece of property. "It needn't be the highest and best use," he pointed out. "Because that is a discretionary judgment for the governing body.  Once you've concluded a needs analysis and development plan, you've established a need." Using a "ballpark figure," Goldsmith estimated that it would cost Fair Lawn roughly $35,000 to $50,000 to employ an attorney and professional planner in setting up the program. He further explained that once a formal program is set up, the municipality can eye acquiring areas it deems are in need of redevelopment and can invoke the power of eminent domain to forcibly acquire properties through court action. Yet using eminent domain can also anger people in a given area, since a municipality could conceivably try relocating people in the existing properties it wants to acquire. Those protesting the Treeco proposal voiced this specific concern. Once properties are acquired using the redevelopment law, the planner explained, the council can then take advantage of incentives, such as tax incentives, in trying to to lure builders to an area, Goldsmith said state law allows the council to accept "payments in lieu of property taxes" for dormant properties. Offering a hypothetical example and using available formulas allowed under the law, he added that it can decide how much of the payment should be set aside for redevelopment purposes, the percentage it will allocate into the municipal budget, as well as toward school board and county taxes. Goldsmith stressed that his role is solely advisory in helping the municipality comply with the redevelopment law. All final decisions, related to recommending what properties should be studied, remain in the council's hands. "I can walk you through the steps and lead you through the process (to comply with the law)," he pointed out. "But it (selecting potential sites) is the governing body's decision " Speaking at the recent Council meeting, Ganz seemed to embrace using Goldsmith's services. "You were invited here because we feel there are areas of town that might benefit from your expertise said Ganz, who mentioned no specific regions..