Dear Editor:
Malls are closing down. Retail employment has been decreasing by 1/3 in last 10 years at least. No public need for another shopping mall exits. The fear of public housing was used to make this terrible deal.
This land because of its environmental sensitivity would never have fallen to affordable housing. Appears when developers act in bad faith toward a municipality they are rewarded. RD hardship became Parsippany’s to overcome, at the expense of the immediate neighborhood. Along with the new Intervale Estates near the reservoir, the impacts with traffic alone will be change the character of Intervale forever.
The Intervale neighborhood will never be the same. $3.5 million for a buffer zone at taxpayers expense not a good outcome. This is also a misuse of the open space funds. It smells of a kickback to RD developer for all the trouble they went through. Never forget the Council voted No Rezone, and the promise was 26+ acres of open space, not the 10 acre buffer zone, that will benefit the waterview mall more than the immediate neighborhood.
The grade A unconsolidated soils the best for ground water recharge, along Troy Brook, on the site will be lost, and the original geographic Doremus Ridge line be negatively impacted and may actually collapse the injured intact sloop. Despite our Master Plan’s steep slope ordinance, and goal of keeping neighborhood character, and an aesthetically pleasing nature to communities. Planning Towards have no obligation to overcome developers hardships in zone variances; especially when corporate developers like RD show bad faith toward our community time after, time. Because of the rezone the property was actually made suitable for affordable housing, thus Fair Share Housing against Parsippany initiated another lawsuit.
We must remember during this time Parsippany was enlisted in the regional master plan conformance July 2010. The mayor took no action to have waterview landscape on a conformance consistency checklist, giving it higher scrutiny in assessments; including legal arguments. We must also remember affordable housing does not consider steep slope landscapes protected by a master plan, which Parsippany’s does. Affordable housing policies also do not consider land designated for open space acquisitions. The mayor did not as he promised put into action the open space committee, nor the environmental committee, and present the argument, as promised the night of the Council No Vote to have the landscape open space.
The land was never owned by RD but by Bell-Mead and was even at a time designed a tree farm for lower tax purposes, which would of reduced the market value, if argued correctly after the No Vote. Instead of putting together efforts to acquire the Doremus Ridge/Troy Brook landscape intact, a scheme was devised to assist the developer, rather than in support of the successful grassroots outcome; no rezone!
This Mall will follow the other malls into the economy of nowhere. Voluntary Regional Conformance would of accomplished the real open Space deal, not this. Parsippany ignores this right of participation in the Regional Plans legal protections to its citizens.
Citizens need to question what really happened. When school auditoriums filled from all of Parsippany for them to now say, most people were for it? No; our Town Attorney and Mayor were for it, not the grassroots democracy that showed itself and was treated in bad faith.
The costs to tax payers for all these worthless lawsuits in a fake show of support for the community and a ploy to help a developer, paid well for both attorneys. This costs is being hidden from us, as no information or transparency was made public of the court dates and issues involving this corruption. The upcoming Council meeting concerning this $3.5 Million payoff is a done deal and another fabrication, under the guidance of the Town Attorney. This same Attorney has warned the Council Members to be silent concerning his present dealings with Mack-Cali and other developers concerning the coming affordable housing issue pending against the town. Showing bad faith toward developers remedy lawsuits may cost the town more retribution lawsuits. This has shown to be a one-way street, as developers show Parsippany bad faith and are rewarded. In a lawyer-client relationship privacy is guaranteed; however are not the citizens of this town the clients? Clients whom pay the bills, but are only told, not consulted or given a voice, after the deal goes down. Parsippany has demonstrated no covenant of trust toward it citizens.
Acquisition of the 26 acres should not have been that difficult to accomplish with the right mindset, everything was going for that outcome to become reality. Instead we get another so called economic improvement at a terrible cost to the quality of life and environment in our already over-developed town, of empty already developed properties.
Stay-tuned more to come. Parsippany’s continued refusal to live by its master plan or improving it with conformance consistency remains not in the best interest of its people, now or the future. Although no change in the immediate neighborhood warrants such a rezone, the neighborhood will be forever changed.
RD developer will walk away and eventually use some loophole leaving Parsippany with more developed useless land perhaps suitable for more housing in the future. Although this is a rezone no higher standards will be forthcoming. The Stars in the skies of Morris will become dimmer as we continue to lose our sense of place here on this Planet.
Nick Homyak
Lake Hiawatha
