PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council is scheduled to vote during its next general meeting on Tuesday, November 10, over a possible settlement with RD Realty, the contract purchaser of 26 acres of land known as the ‘Waterview’ tract, along Waterview Boulevard and Route 46.
In 2013, the Council voted 3-2 against creating an Overlay Zone which would have permitted a Whole Foods and another Big Box store, plus a townhouse complex on the rear of the property.
After two years of lawsuits, denied applications with the Morris County Open Space Committee, and tense negotiations, the Council is now being asked to approve a new concept plan which would permit 152,510 square feet of retail space along with 723 parking spaces. In return for permitting the shopping center, which includes a 48,000 square foot Whole Foods Market, RD would agree to sell the rear 10.63 acre buffer to the Township for approximately $3.5 million. Funds for the purchase would be made available from Parsippany’s own Open Space Trust Fund.
Township Attorney John Inglesino, an expert with a long history in land use and redevelopment issues, successfully defended Parsippany after RD sued the Council in 2013. RD claimed that the Council had acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it voted down the original Overlay Zone. Inglesino argued that the Council was never under any obligation to ever create the overlay zone. The court agreed and stated that RD could have applied to the Zoning Board of Adjustment to request a variance.
RD has since filed an application with the Board of Adjustment to build 120 affordable housing units on the property. That application is scheduled to heard on Wednesday, December 2 at Parsippany Municipal Building, 1001 Parsippany Boulevard.
