Dear Editor:
The Parsippany Town Council recently approved Resolution R2026-124 which authorizes the settlement of Parsippany’s lawsuit against Glenmont Commons Developers. Since the settlement was a product of mediation, the township had little choice but to accept the result – one that is highly unfavorable to the taxpayers. But accepting the settlement does not mean that the council cannot make amendments to the resolution that will protect Parsippany from a similar outcome in the future, and that will distribute the financial burden a little more equitably.
According to the terms of the settlement, Glenmont Commons shall pay $386,000 and Glenmont Commons Homeowners $125,000 toward the project of repairing the designated roads. Parsippany is responsible for all the work required to reconstruct these roads, as well as for providing any funding that exceeds the amount being paid by the developer and the homeowners.
The exact amount assessed to Parsippany was left unspecified in resolution R2026-124, but an estimate for the price tag of the entire project was provided at the October 22, 2024 town council meeting. At the 9-minute 20 second mark of that meeting, township attorney Michael Lavery stated that the cost to fully reconstruct the roads in question would be about $4.8 million. That leaves Parsippany taxpayers responsible for about $4.3 million of the total.
Stated another way on a percentage basis, the entity that owns the property, Glenmont Commons Developers, will only pay for 8% of the project, while the Township of Parsippany, which has 0% ownership of the property, must pay for 90% of the project. I would love to know the mediator’s rationale in coming to that decision.
As I stated earlier, Parsippany is forced to abide by the mediator’s inexplicable allocation of accountability, which has set a precedent for other developers who own roads accessible to the public and have neglected to maintain them. But Parsippany can take two actions that will reduce the township’s liability in the future.
- Enact an ordinance that prohibits future development arrangements similar to Glenmont Commons.
- Have the township attorney draft a liability reducing document that protects Parsippany from any other Glenmont Commons-like situations that may currently exist.
There is also an amendment to the resolution that the council must make to slightly reduce the financial burden that is disproportionally being placed on the taxpayers. When the road reconstruction is completed, the market value of the homes in that neighborhood will increase. The council should include a clause in the resolution that, upon completion of the project, authorizes the tax assessor to increase the tax assessments on these homes. The added assessment would then proportionally reflect the increase in market value resulting from the road improvements.
As a result of the mediator’s Glenmont decision, Parsippany taxpayers are on the hook for over $4 million in unreimbursed road repairs. The governing body must take steps to make sure that this type of outcome never happens again.
Robert Venezia
