Spring Street Neighborhood
If you look at a satellite photo of our town you are immediately struck by what sets Leonia apart from ALL of its immediate neighbors and most communities in Bergen County–beautiful tree lined streets surrounding single family homes with a green canopy that comes from careful zoning and adherence to a sensible Master Plan supported by strong zoning laws.
I recall years ago as a young man asking former Mayor John Stencken what was the most important thing which set Leonia apart from every other surrounding town. He looked at me and said there were three things that set Leonia apart, and I should never forget what he was about to say. Former Mayor Stencken said “Number 1 is zoning, number two is zoning and number three is zoning”. I have never forgotten. He and other Mayors like Dudley Allen and Tom Ford thought protecting residential zoning was essential to Leonia’s continuing residential character and uniqueness. I completely agree.
When zoning standards relax (or as is the case in Palisades Park become close to anything goes) you wind up with many fewer trees, way more multiple dwellings taking up most of the land on a property, a sad conglomeration of business and residential mixed together with no apparent boundaries– all typically resulting in more congestion/traffic and higher taxes with more students in school. The ones who truly benefit are the developers. That’s where the money is made. With surrounding communities nearly maxed out on development, we shouldn’t be surprised that Leonia is now considered a rich target of opportunity.
According to a just-released tax analysis in NJ.com, Edgewater residents had among the highest tax increases in the State last year. If you’ve visited Edgewater recently, you probably noticed all of the new multiple unit residential development. There are current proposals and agreements to build an additional 1200 ++ units in the next few years. Obviously with these tax increases, the typical Edgewater resident isn’t the one benefitting from a reduction in their costs. But, I will tell you who is smiling all the way to the bank–the developers who made those projects a reality. In addition to sizable tax increases, Edgewater residents also have to contend with substantially more traffic congestion to accommodate all the new residents from these developments. So I would argue the Edgewater taxpayer winds up paying more, gets more traffic/congestion, and an overall decrease in their quality of life. Personally, this is obviously a bad deal. I do not want this for Leonia and believe there are ways to move forward with prudent development without sacrificing our standard of living or quality of life.
Taxes in Leonia fall disproportionately today on the single-family homeowner, in fact, 93% of the tax burden falls on the homeowners. I agree we must do more to offset some of this burden to more/new commercial and retail establishments and potentially, where it makes sense in non single-family residential zones, to pursue multiple dwelling units. Fortunately, we have two outstanding opportunities to do exactly that. Both Willow Tree Road and the Fort Lee Rd corridor are rich redevelopment opportunities. Our efforts should be focused on Willow Tree Road and the Fort Lee Road corridor up to Grand Avenue.
At the time of this writing, there is an application pending before the Planning Board for a 5-story multiple dwelling unit at 131 Fort Lee Road*. Why is this significant? Because it shows what developers are thinking for our area. This is currently under consideration by our Planning Board and no decisions have yet been made. But it is important to point out that this application is being considered before a redevelopment plan for the area has been developed. That strikes me as putting the cart before the horse. Should we be considering any proposals without a plan for the entire section? It seems we are just hoping for the best and not proactively defining our needs in advance.
At the time I am writing this, there is no application pending before the Planning Board regarding the area west of Grand Avenue between Station Parkway and Maple. But, I’m not comforted by statements that suggest we are so early in the process as not to be concerned with what might happen on these properties.
Last year, and this is a matter of public record, the Mayor invited a developer into a Mayor and Council meeting to pitch a proposal for the two parcels on the west side of Grand Avenue. This developer’s proposal was to demolish the two houses, remove approximately 40 healthy trees and build a 5-story multiple dwelling unit on the property. To proceed, the developer would need the area to be rezoned from what it is currently (A-3 residential zone) to something else which could accommodate the multiple dwellings envisioned in the presentation.
I am 100% against changing an existing residential zoned parcel to any other type of zone and believe our strict adherence to strong, existing zoning laws is what continues to make Leonia a special place to live (Which also continues to shore up our overall property values). As Mayor, you have my promise, I will NEVER invite a developer into a Mayor and Council meeting where their proposal is to put something other than a residential home on an exclusively residentially zoned lot.
I want to keep all existing residentially zoned lots on Grand as residential properties and will work closely with the Planning Board to help make this a reality. As far as I’m concerned, other than the already existing apartment buildings and multiple dwelling units, Grand Avenue is and should remain a residential street.
As it relates specifically to the two properties on the west side of Grand between Station Parkway and Maple Street, I was the only member of the governing body who voted against including these parcels in the Redevelopment Area because of my fear we were potentially weakening the existing A-3 residential zone and signaling to the same developer who appeared before the M&C that we were open to a change. Unfortunately, I lost this important Council vote 5-1 despite my argument about the dangers of weakening zoning, the increase in congestion/traffic, how we were turning our backs on the painful lessons learned in Leonia and elsewhere concerning the costs of providing additional services to this many new residents.
By accepting the recommendation to designate the Grand Avenue parcel on the west side of Grand between Station Parkway and Maple as part of an Area in Need of Redevelopment, we’ve opened the door to potentially changing an A-3 residential designation. This is virtually unprecedented in Leonia's history where we’ve kept a very tight rein on changing current neighborhoods from single-family homes to potentially something else.
Developers may very well look at this as reason to proceed with more ambitious multiple-dwelling (and multiple story) buildings on other properties in the redevelopment zone–there is at least one example just down the block that could be affected.
What also bothers me is the fact that all of this has failed to adequately take into consideration, in my opinion, the existing neighborhood. Our Master Plan re-write clearly states as its #1 objective under Land Use the goal of “Maintaining existing neighborhoods.” If nothing else, the two residential properties between Meadowview Court and Spring Street have always served as a beautiful green buffer between these two distinct neighborhoods.
How would you feel if one day you had a lovely rolling lawn in your backyard and about 40 mature trees as part of the two properties in question and then you heard all that could very well change? If it changes to anything close to what was presented by the developer last year to the Mayor and Council, you’d have a tall 6-story building (4 above ground). Leonia is so small that this should concern all of us, not just those in whose backyard it happens to be taking place. But still, think about how you’d feel if it were actually in your backyard. One day two houses… the next day (well I will let you fill in the blanks for yourself). Think about the family adjacent to this parcel that probably won’t be able to get any more sun in their backyard or through their windows because of a multi storied 100+ unit new building dwarfing their multigenerational home. Or think about the homeowners on the southern portion of Spring Street who worry about also being in the shade from this type of new building.
I believe Spring Street is an important and historic Leonia neighborhood that should be better protected. The 2020 Master Plan Reexamination Report recommended that the area of Spring Street between Station Parkway and Grand Avenue be recognized as having a character and history which is significant to Leonia and to African American history as that street was home to many generations of African American families including a Tuskegee Airman during WWII. For those who haven’t had the opportunity to walk this neighborhood which is a stone’s throw from Overpeck Park South, please take the time to do so. Spring Street’s neighborhood is certainly worth protecting and we should do this by taking to heart what some great past Mayors have said is essential to protecting Leonia… zoning, zoning and zoning.
Author’s Note: The Planning Board has since the time of this writing approved the application at 131 Fort Lee Rd for a new multiple dwelling unit with one less floor than proposed. Approval was granted for a four floor 14 unit building. Provisions in the newly approved application require the developer to have the outward appearance of the building be consistent with to be determined redevelopment plan recommendations for external appearance. Numerous variances were granted as part of the process including for building height.