Politics & Government

Developer Agrees to Hold Appeal, Continue New Application

The Westwood Zoning Board is hearing plans for new strip malls at the defunct Chevy dealer on Kinderkamack Road.

A developer planning to build a pair of strip malls at the site of the former Chevrolet dealership on Kinderkamack Road in Westwood has agreed to hold off a pending lawsuit against the borough.

The Westwood Zoning Board denied a plan from the same developer, Kmack North Associates, for 39 Kinderkamack Road in May, citing concern over a requested variance for "general retail use" at the site. The developer then filed an appeal and a second application for the same site.

David Rutherford, the board's attorney, said at a previous meeting that he believed the board did not have jurisdiction to hear the second application while the first was still pending in court.

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David Lafferty, the developer's attorney, said Monday that they would remand the appeal back to the board, which would allow them to continue with the second application.

"By doing it this way, the matter would not be in Hackensack," Lafferty said. "The board could determine the future of the property."

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Rutherford agreed that remanding the appeal would resolve the jurisdiction problem.

If the board does approve the second application, Lafferty said they would not bother appealing the first denial. However, if the board denies the second application, they potentially face two appeals for the same site.

Lafferty previously said the new application replaces the general use request with several specific use variances.

An application for a similar project at 40 Kinderkamack Road has not yet been heard by the board. Lafferty said it had also been revised to include requests for specific variances.

The applicant's planner is scheduled to testify about the plan at the board's November 5 meeting.

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