Developer unfazed by rejection
BARBARA WILLIAMS
RINGWOOD - Although borough officials have publicly voiced their opposition to a proposed assisted-living center, the developer said he is not giving up his plan and will continue seeking a use variance for the housing complex.
Ronald A. Pagano of Glen Rock said this week that he still thinks the 204-unit center is a good project for the Highlands community, and is hoping borough officials will come around to his way of thinking.
"I know the town has had some bad experiences with sewage-treatment plants, so they don't want any more brought into town, but I really think this project is a good thing for the seniors in the area," Pagano said. "I have a $1 million state-of-the-art treatment system that I would put in, and it would work wonderfully on that site."
Acceptance of the sewage treatment system is key in allowing the Skyline Drive project to move forward. The state Department of Environmental Protection informed Pagano in June that the project must be redesigned or the borough's wastewater management plan must be changed for the project to gain approval.
The Borough Council's public reaction to the project, demonstrated in a resolution passed last week, was a unanimous decision not to amend the local wastewater plan. That leaves virtually no way for the complex to treat the projected 28,000 gallons per day of sewage.
Regulations for the site, as set forth in the management plan, now allow up to 2,000 gallons a day.
If plans for the project were altered, and the number of units reduced, Pagano said he still would need the wastewater plan amended. But the 15.8-acre tract next to the Fieldstone Shopping Center is in an environmentally sensitive area, close to the Wanaque Reservoir, so officials said they are standing by the decision not to change the plan.
Pagano said he does not understand the council's reaction and will continue to try to get a use variance for the commercial zone. He said his experts will speak at the next Board of Adjustment meeting, set for Jan. 27, on the geology of the area and the effect the project would have on traffic.
"This is so much better than another type of project - like retail stores - that would bring in a lot more traffic," Pagano said. "I don't understand what the council wants, unless they don't want anything - just woods.
"But that's not going to help their tax revenues," he said. "This is a $20 million project that will bring in tax revenues of $500,000."
Councilman Scott Heck referred to an existing plant that needed to be taken over by the borough when the costs became too prohibitive for the homeowners hooked up to it, and said the council did not want history to repeat itself.
"We don't want another sewage treatment plant in this town - we own one, that's enough," Heck said after the resolution was passed. "I just don't see an assisted-living center coming."
Pagano said that in addition to continuing the use variance process, he is trying to set up a meeting in January at the local library for seniors to give their opinions on the project.
"I think the seniors in the area want this," Pagano said. "I want to give them a chance to be heard."
Barbara Williams' e-mail address is williamsb@northjersey.com
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