BY KAREN SUDOL - The Record
DEMAREST — The Borough Council has approved an amended plan to build a 12-unit condominium-style building on town-owned property to meet affordable housing requirements.
The unanimous vote earlier this week means the plan goes to the state Council on Affordable Housing for review and certification.
The initial project called for construction of an eight-unit building on Hardenburgh Avenue and development of a four-unit group home in town. But the changes eliminate the group facility and add four more rental units to the condominium-style building.
The group home option was dropped because the borough had trouble finding a location where a building could be renovated and completed by a 2012 deadline, borough officials said.
“Going this route has the least amount of impact on the community and gives us the ability to meet our requirements,” Mayor James Carroll said at the meeting. “The land is there. Where we would have found land for a group home, I don’t know.”
The 12 affordable housing units, some of which will be designated for seniors, must be built and occupied by 2018. The structure will have one, two and three-bedroom units with parking.
The borough will partner with the Housing Authority of Bergen County, which is expected to construct and manage the units.
The project costs will be offset by collected developer’s fees — of which $402,000 has been raised so far. Grants are also being sought.
Only one resident, Raymond Cywinski, posed questions about the plan, including whether the building would have a commercial component. The mayor replied that it would be all housing.
Without the approval, the borough could have been subject to builder’s remedy lawsuits, Councilman Thomas Connolly has said.
Earlier this month, the Planning Board approved the amended plan.
E-mail: sudol@northjersey.com
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