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Dear Residents,
Thank you attending last night’s Mayor and Council Special Meeting, and more importantly, for standing united with Mayor Mario Kranjac, Councilmen William Woo and Ramon Ferro, who along with you have consistently stood strong against building residential high-density units at 800 Sylvan Avenue. The number of attendees coupled with your voice of objection spoke volumes, and we asked that WE diligently remain ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS STRONG!
Here’s recap of what happened:
RESIDENTS DEMANDED FULL DISCLOSURE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND ITS IMPACT TO OUR TOWN AND TAX PAYERS PRIOR TO VOTING BY THE GOVERNING BODY.
Special Meeting (Executive Closed Session) was called by the Democrat Council Majority.
Deborah Tsabari, Ed Aversa, Gloria Oh and Jimmy Song
Purpose of meeting to discuss Pending Litigation matters:
COAH/Affordable Housing-In Re Borough of Englewood Cliffs
800 Sylvan Avenue LLC v. Borough of Englewood Cliffs
Forty-five (45) minutes prior to the 6:30 PM scheduled Special Meeting, Mayor and Councilmembers received an email with attached information from the Borough Clerk, Ms. Lisette Duffy, to be discussed at the Special Meeting.
Governing Body, attorneys and professionals went into the Executive Closed Session for approximately two and a half hours (2 ½).
Governing Body reconvened from the Executive Closed Session around 9:08 PM.
According to New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act, Mayor Kranjac stated that unfortunately matters discussed in the Executive Closed Session cannot be disclosed to the public, and must be kept confidential.
THE BOTTOM LINE: NO NEW RESOLUTION was introduced from the Executive Closed Session, therefore NO VOTING took place.
Moving forward, we ask that you continue to APPLY PRESSURE and to stand ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS STRONG against High-Density Housing. Please attend future Mayor and Council meetings, support Mayor Kranjac, Councilmen Woo and Ferro, and elect to Council, Mark Park and Tim Koutroubas, who will work hard for you to RESTORE PUBLIC TRUST, INTEGRITY AND TRANSPARENCY in local government affairs.
Once the settlement agreement is finished and the courts sign off . The township is in for a legal action against theme if they do not follow through . NJ courts are backing all these settlement agreements . No matter where the land , can be environmentally critical land with wet lands and multiple threatened and endangered Species, can be townships already built out, no restrictions , . It does not matter how high the development will drive your taxes and need for new schools, how it impacts your traffic congestion , even if it causes additional flooding the DEP has little control once these court ordered settlement agreements are ordered., the courts have rights to circumvent most environmental restrictions . Water and waste water sometimes will hold them up for a while for not having enough capacity . I’m not against fair housing but letting market force developers, judges , courts, determine locations without consideration of limiting Unintended Consequences that can sink a township financially, environmentally , and from quality of life issues is type of extreme taking and a sin against the people and the commons .
Against High-Density Housing in Englewood Cliffs.
Against High-Density Housing in Englewood Cliffs.
Kranjac and his team are idiots. They have mismanaged this whole process where now the town is potentially on the hook for more affordable housing vs what would have been needed in an early settlement. What counts is not what u believe in but what u are legally obligated to do by law. Going to court was the worst decision for this town. Jeez I hope I dont get a bill for 2500 for saying the truth. Or is that only for 18 year olds.
Mark Park, do you think the Democrats have mismanaged the process with regards to transparency? It appeared to the residents (or that’s the way it was advertised) like they were striking secret deals. They should have been upfront and transparent, that settlement was the best thing to do, and not going to court?
Regardless of what happened so far. It is what it is now, and we are dealing with the present. What is the best way forward, to minimize the impact of high-density housing to the town? Some towns in NJ have been able to quietly perform their legal obligations with regards to affordable housing by building senior housing facilities. Is that still an option for Englewood Cliffs? What other options? What can residents do to help?
Strange to read about the 2-1/2 hr wait for meeting to start. That is exactly what happened when I attended
Town hall meeting last year regarding
High density housing