Thursday, November 15, 2012
Proposed left hand turn lanes on River Road and Main Street will widen roads, necessitating the removal of long standing Sycamore trees
Tuesday night's meeting of the Zoning Board brought the return of Hekemian's expert Michael Dipple, an engineer and principal of L2A Land Design in Englewood, who testified to changes rendered to the design of the site plan for the United Water property. The changes come as a result of comments and reviews brought forth by the applicant's team, as well as those recommendations from the borough's engineer, Margita Batistic of Boswell Engineering. The proposed development of the United Water property by the S. Hekemian Group includes a 70,500 sq.ft. supermarket, 4300 sq.ft. bank, and a 221 unit multi-family housing complex that includes a four-story 428-spaced parking garage. The major revision to the original plan is the addition of two …
Friday, August 24, 2012
Board Attorney informs SOD that the Zoning Board's protocol and by-laws prohibit recalling an applicant's expert witness.
Miriam Pickett, Executive Director of SOD (Stop Over Development) made a request to the Zoning Board of Adjustment that the architect of the proposed development of the United Water property by Hekemian be recalled to answer additional questions and provide clarification. Pickett said that she was making the request on behalf of a member of SOD who is an architect who would like to professionally question Christian Lessard of Lessard Architectural Group, the developer's architect. Pickett explained to the board that at the time of Lessard's testimony in February, SOD had not yet been formed. Now that they have organized and have had time to process the size and the scope of the proposed development, they have specific questions regarding …
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New Milford Borough Hall
930 River Rd, New Milford, NJ
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Saturday, August 4, 2012
SOD examines Hekemian engineer on noise pollution and flooding; Oradell and Bergenfield residents turn out in support.
Michael Dipple, Hekemian's engineering expert and principal of L2A Land Design in Englewood, returned to answer questions that centered on noise pollution and flooding posed by members of New Milford SOD (Stop Over Development) and residents of Bergenfield and Oradell. SOD Environmental Chair, John Rutledge, questioned Dipple about the level of noise that the construction site will generate over the course of the approximately two years the project will take to complete. Specifically, Rutledge wanted to know what the effect of the noise would be on the high school students who will be seated only 80 feet away from the residential portion of the development. Dipple said that although the sequence of construction has not been planned as of…
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New Milford Borough Hall
930 River Rd, New Milford, NJ
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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Hekemian's expert engineer stressed that the proposed development must comply with flood hazard area protections established by the DEP, but left residents asking, "What does that mean?"
Monday's special meeting of the zoning board of adjustment was devoted solely to the continuation of the controversial United Water property development hearing. Michael Dipple, Hekemian's expert engineer, was back at the podium fielding questions from frustrated residents and supporters from the neighboring towns of Oradell and Bergenfield. Central among the concerns of the crowd was the issue of flooding. Angered by his reliance on DEP flood maps that date to 1980, members of New Milford's grassroots group SOD (Stop Over Development), not only questioned his position on the validity of the 1980 map as a tool for determining flooding, but again questioned his position on the flooding of that property. Throughout the months of testimony…
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Bergenfield speaks out to negative impact of United Water Property Development
With carefully formulated questions in hand, Bergenfield resident Betty Verdejo, came before the Zoning Board Tuesday to support New Milford residents opposed to the proposed development of the United Water property. Verdejo, whose son lives on Columbia Street in New Milford, questioned the developer's expert in appraisals and land valuations, Mark Sussman, on several points regarding his inspections of comparable properties. The project's proposed developer is New Milford Redevelopment Associates, whose president is Peter Hekemian of the S. Hekemian Group. When asked who made the decisions on what properties to use as comparables, Sussman replied that he made the decision. When questioned by Verdejo about the other commercial …
Sunday, May 27, 2012
The Week in Review, a weekly roundup of local news stories on New Milford Patch
A special meeting of the zoning board gave residents the opportunity to question the testimony of the developer's expert, Dr. David Kinsey, regarding the affordable housing component of the proposed development of the United Water property that he says falls under "inherently beneficial use." Residents got the chance to question the developer's engineering expert, Michael Dipple, regarding the impact that the impervious surface area of the proposed development would have on flooding. David E. Owens Middle School social studies teacher, Peter Galasso, challenged his class to design and develop a plan for how they would utilize the 13 vacant acres based on the articles that they have been following in Patch--from the filing of the site plans…
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Retention and detention systems, elevations, and the impact of impervious surface area on flooding with the proposed development of the United Water property.
In addition to questioning the developer's expert on affordable housing, Thursday's special meeting of the zoning board also gave residents the opportunity to question the developer's engineering expert, Michael Dipple. Dipple, an engineer and principal of L2A Land Design in Englewood, had previously testified about the water detention and infiltration systems that will be installed as part of the proposed development of the United Water property. On the forefront of the mind of every resident in attendance was the impact that the impervious surface area of the proposed development would have on flooding. The plans call for a 70,500 sq. ft. supermarket, a 4300 sq. ft. bank, 221 residential townhouse units, a parking lot and a four-story …
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New Milford Borough Hall
930 River Rd, New Milford, NJ
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Monday, May 21, 2012
Ashley's attorney asks zoning board to strike entire testimony of affordable housing expert; SOD comes armed with questions.
Thursday's special meeting of the zoning board gave residents the opportunity to question the testimony of the developer's expert, Dr. David Kinsey, on the testimony he provided regarding the affordable housing component of the proposed development of the United Water property. The hearing on the proposed development began on February 14 with the public unveiling of the plans that include a 70,500 sq. ft. supermarket, a 4300 sq. ft. bank with two drive-thru lanes and a four-story 221 unit multi-family housing complex that will include an affordable housing component, a 428-space multi-level parking garage and a pool. The February 14 hearing opened with Antimo "Andy" DelVecchio, the attorney representing Hekemian's developmental arm in the …
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New Milford Borough Hall
930 River Rd, New Milford, NJ
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Hearing picks up with public questioning of expert's testimony on flooding and drainage systems included in site plan to alleviate flooding.
Tuesday night's meeting of the Zoning Board will allow the public to ask questions of New Milford Redevelopment Associates' expert Michael Dipple, an engineer and principal of L2A Land Design in Englewood, who spent much of his four hours of testimony at the April 19 meeting alleviating concerns regarding flooding. New Milford Redevelopment Associates (NMRA), a company headed by Peter Hekemian, V.P. of Development for the S. Hekemian Group, is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval for the 13-acre United Water property. The application includes: Despite the hours of testimony thus far, the crux of NMRA's argument is cited in their letter dated Jan. 3, 2012 that accompanied the filing of the site plans with the the borough's …
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New Milford Borough Hall
930 River Rd, New Milford, NJ
/articles/united-water-property-hearing-continues-tonight-sod-makes-first-appearance
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miriam pickett
11:37 am on Sunday, November 18, 2012
Of course I knew he was talking about the diameter of the trees. The day after his testimony I went to measure the diameters of the existing trees along with two members of SOD. The town ordinance states that hertiage trees are trees that are 36" in diameter. Using a mathematical formula to do the calculations necessary, we were surprised to see that even the widest didn't quite measure up. … more ›