State Threatens $25K Daily Fines For Washington Twp. Property Owner

A Washington Township property owner could face fines of $25,000 per day if he doesn't submit an application to the Department of Environmental Protection or undo work which officials said violated state law.

The DEP sent a second Notice of Violation August 21 regarding 660 Pascack Road and several neighboring lots, a site proposed to be used for a new CVS. The properties are owned through a LLC by James Kourgelis, who recently suggested that the town buy the land from him to build a park.

According to the original notice sent by the DEP last spring, the removal of vegetation, placement of fill and construction of a retaining wall all violated the state's Flood Hazard Area Control Act because the stream running behind the property is a Category One waterway. The law requires a 300-foot buffer around "C1" waterways.

Kourgelis, who testified about the property's history at the last Washington Township Zoning Board meeting, said he had done the work on the property to appease neighbors and local officials. 

Though Kourgelis has not yet filed an application, his attorney has been in contact with the DEP Division of Land Use, according to DEP rep Bob Considine.

Kourgelis could not immediately be reached for comment.

In the latest Notice of Violation, DEP officials wrote they were preparing an Administrative Order and Notice of Civil Administrative Penalty Assessment. The AONOCAPA can be a long legal process, which the DEP usually avoids by working with a violator, but it is sometimes necessary in order to bring a site back into compliance with the law, according to Considine.