By Allison Perrine
HIGHLANDS – There are 120 parcels in the Central Business District (CBD) that qualify as areas in need of redevelopment, a study concludes. And residents are trying to figure out what that means for their properties.
During a town hall-style meeting with at least 20 attendees, residents asked questions and aired their concerns to the borough planner and council members about designating 120 properties in the CBD as areas in need of redevelopment under a noncondemnation plan, meaning that there would be no eminent domain. It would directly impact the eastern section of Highlands, mostly Bay Avenue, where there are plenty of businesses and residential homes.
A few issues were stressed: there will be no eminent domain and the borough wants to work with the property owners; residents can “opt out” of redeveloping their land; there is no set plan for the redevelopment; Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) may be offered to incentivize development; and there will be many more public meetings to come, Mayor Carolyn Broullon said.
“We specifically did this as a noncondemnation area so we could work with the property owners in order to make Bay Avenue shine,” said Broullon. “There’s no bait, there’s no switch – at least not from this council.
“We just want to make our ‘Main Street’ the best ‘Main Street’ in New Jersey. That’s the plan.”
The redevelopment study was prepared by Hoboken-based Phillips Preiss Grygiel Leheny Highes LLC and released July 8. In it, professionals studied 155 individual lots and found 120 of them met the criteria for an area in need of redevelopment. According to borough planner Paul Grygiel, that criteria is outlined by the state and includes surveys of land uses and property conditions; occupancy and ownership status within the area and nearby areas; review of municipal tax maps and tax records; review of zoning, health, property maintenance and related violations; the borough’s master plan; and more.
“There’s a desire by the municipality to go beyond its standard land use procedures… to be more proactive and having more of a control over the process,” said Grygiel.
The borough’s land use board is expected to make a recommendation about the designation to the council at its Sept. 2 meeting. Then, the council will meet Sept. 15 and decide whether or not it wants to take the board’s recommendation. If it does, the visioning process will begin from there.
And that could mean revisiting some of the prohibited uses in town established decades ago.
“It’s not just how tall is the building going to be; it’s other things such as allowing uses that we no longer find to be undesirable. A lot of these laws were made in the ’60s and ’70s,” said Broullon, when pool halls, arcades and tattoo shops were deemed prohibited uses in Highlands.
Councilwoman Linda Mazzola suggested that the borough focus on bringing service-related businesses to Highlands rather than retail shops, implying that the industry is dying and that many shop online.
“I certainly would hate for an idea and a project like this to move forward and then we have developers and business owners and builders… who have invested many years and a lot of money into this town, and we have empty storefronts,” said Mazzola. “That’s something that’s real. The death of retail is real. So I think that we would have to focus on – and just my opinion – our services.”
Resident Charles Larue, owner of Char-Ron Contracting, said he was in favor of the redevelopment plan for many reasons – one being that there are various vacant properties in town which could bring new businesses to Highlands.
“As a developer, personally, I am going to hold land. I’m not going to purchase and then build and then sell. I want long-term tenants,” said Larue. “I want bowling alleys, movie theaters – all these different things that you guys said, I want those.”
Similarly, resident and developer John Caruso, who owns properties on Bay Avenue, highlighted that bringing more businesses to town could help lower taxes for residents. He encouraged those who live in the impacted areas but are skeptical to keep an open mind.
“Without the forward thinking, we’re just going to stand in the same place where we’ve been for the last how many years,” Caruso said.
“You have to make it desirable for people to say ‘Hey, I want to come in,’ ” he said. “I don’t want to push people out of Highlands; I want people to stay here in Highlands and I want more people to come to Highlands. I want to make Highlands the best damn town in New Jersey. I’ve had that vision since 2006 but now only do I have a board in front of me that’s willing to take those steps.”
Others were more skeptical. Resident Denise Whalen said she was concerned about flooding and any potential loopholes that could be in the noncondemnation plan.
“I understand the noncondemnation plan and how everybody’s protected in that. But reading up on the law, it states that if there are properties that will not be sold in the redevelopment zone, the municipality has the option of then going for a condemnation plan. That seems like a work-around to assure everybody it’s noncondemnation,” said Whalen.
Grygiel assured her that there are no plans to take anyone’s properties and that if the borough did decide it wanted to switch to a condemnation plan, it would have to conduct another study and go through the process all over again. Council members also repeated that they have no desire to opt for a condemnation plan.
Some also shared concerns that future council members not currently on the dais could come into power later and decide to change the plan from noncondemnation to condemnation, meaning that there could be eminent domain. All council members assured that’s not in their plans at all, but Councilman Donald Melnyk stressed the importance of paying attention to local elections going forward.
“Vote for those people who represent your views, whether it’s me or a successor council,” said Melnyk. “That’s why it’s important to know your candidates.”
The article originally appeared in the August 26 – September 1, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
