Thursday, July 19, 2012
CVS may be able to get a permit from the DEP to allow them to build a new store on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue despite a required buffer area around a nearby stream.
The Washington Township Zoning Board resumed hearing testimony about the application for a proposed CVS on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue during their meeting Tuesday. The fate of the project may still be determined by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP decided in April that the stream behind the site is a Category One waterway, which means all major developments — those on an acre or more of land — require a 300-foot buffer from the stream. Tendai Richards, an attorney objecting to the plan on behalf of the Northgate Condominium Association, said the board should not continue hearing the project as long as the DEP has not given its approval. "As things stand today, nothing can be done on this …
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The Washington Township Zoning Board approved a plan to upgrade 5 Star Gas with more pumps and a convenience store against the direction of the Master Plan.
Washington Township Planning Board Chairman Gus Calamari said he wished members of the township's zoning board had followed the lead of its chairman in voting against a variance for Sky Trading's plan to add a convenience store to 5 Star Gas. The zoning board granted variances to Sky Trading at their last meeting that will allow the gas station to add an additional two-pump gas island and a canopy to the exisiting gas station use and to add the new use of the convenience store, despite the protests of residents who criticized the plan. While voting on each variance, Zoning Board Chairman William Johnson voted against the convenience store use, citing the township's Master Plan. The site, at the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue…
Monday, May 14, 2012
Sky Trading plans to replace Washington Township's 5 Star Gas with a new gas station and convenience store.
The Washington Township Zoning Board is scheduled to vote on an application to replace 5 Star Gas with a new 1,206-square-foot convenience store and four-island gas station during their meeting Tuesday night. Attorney Bruce Whitaker, who represents Sky Trading, made his final statements about the application at the board's April meeting. Whitaker said the new gas station would look better than the current one and improve drainage, traffic flow, parking and landscaping at the site. "Overall, this becomes a better site than what is there now," Whitaker said at the hearing. If the application is approved, the owner has also agreed to give a portion of land at the existing site to the county for a future improvement to the Pascack Road and …
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Here's a look at the past week in Westwood and Washington Township.
A new decision from the Department of Environmental Protection may cause trouble for plans to build a CVS on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue. In a letter to Washington Township Zoning Board engineer Christopher Statile, DEP engineer Dennis Contois wrote there will need to be a buffer zone between a stream at the rear of the property and any new buildings put on the site. Members of the Washington Township recreation board recommended Monday that the council approve a plan to renovate Memorial Field with artificial turf, new lights and additonal parking. Recreation Director Judy Monocky said the board had decided to support a plan which would replace the sod currently at the site with artificial turf while removing one of …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
No construction is allowed for "major developments" within 300 feet of protected water.
A new decision from the Department of Environmental Protection may cause trouble for plans to build a CVS on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue. In a letter to Washington Township Zoning Board engineer Christopher Statile, DEP engineer Dennis Contois wrote there will need to be a buffer zone between a stream at the rear of the property and any new buildings put on the site because the stream has a drainage area greater than 50 acres. At the previous zoning board meeting, CVS engineer David Caruso said he expected the required buffer to be no more than 25 feet, but the stream would need a 300-foot buffer if it is a Category One waterway. Attorney Tendai Richards, who is objecting to the application on behalf of the Northgate …
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Here's a look at the past week in Westwood in Washington Township
The Bergen County K-9 Unit was called in to search Westwood Jr./Sr. High School Tuesday after a message claiming there was a bomb in the school was found in a boys bathroom. For most of the 13 years that Steven Leyva has run Sugarflake Bakery in Westwood, he's featured four or five seasonal paintings each year on the shop's front windows. But Leyva stopped his most recent work -- featuring a pile of strawberries and baked goods -- before color was added, when a warrant was issued for his arrest over a dispute with the borough about the paintings. HUMC at Pascack Valley began its renovations Wednesday with a ceremonial wall-breaking in the hospital's west wing. A convenience store and canopy covering gas pumps will help modernize 5 Star Gas…
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The application for a CVS on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue continued this week.
The team behind a proposed CVS in Washington Township has reduced the number of trees they want to remove from the site from 85 to 62. David Caruso, the engineer for the proposed CVS on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue, testified about modified landscaping plans during a meeting of the Washington Township Zoning Board this week. According to Caruso, there are currently 143 trees on the residential properties where First Hartford Realty has planned to put the 14,769-square-foot pharmacy. Of the trees proposed for removal, 11 are already dead or dying and another four will only have to be removed if a county plan to widen the road is carried out, Caruso said. Residents have criticized the plan for removing too many trees from…
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Here's a look at what happened in Westwood and Washington Township this week.
Washington Township police, fire fighters and EMTs told the mayor and council Monday that entering an emergency dispatching shared service agreement with Bergen County will increase response time, potentially endangering the safety of township residents. The township is currently exploring several possibilities for shared services, including joining the county's dispatch service or creating a new entity which will handle dispatching for Westwood, River Vale, Old Tappan and Washington Township. Members of the Washington Township Recreation Board said Memorial Field could be upgraded with artificial turf at an average cost of $18.30 per year to each homeowner. Township residents Scott Spezial and Eamonn Twomey presented their case on behalf …
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Further hearings may be delayed by scheduling problems for the next two months.
Engineer David Caruso testified about lighting and landscaping planned for a proposed CVS and an attorney hired by the Northgate Condominium Association began to cross-examine him during a special meeting of the Washington Township Zoning Board Wednesday. The plan calls for a 14,769-square-foot pharmacy with a drive-through to be built on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue. The site is in a residential zone and there are currently three houses on the property. According to Caruso, the plan includes 13 pole-mounted lights, seven bollard lights and two wall-mounted lights around the site. Signs on the site would also have internal illumination, but none of the light should reach beyond the center of Pascack Road, Caruso said. …
Monday, March 26, 2012
Residents have hired an attorney to object to the plan.
The Washington Township Zoning Board is scheduled to continue hearing testimony about plans for a proposed CVS during a special meeting Tuesday. The plan calls for a 14,769-square-foot pharmacy with a drive-through to be built on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue. The site is in a residential zone and there are currently three houses on the property. At the last hearing, engineer David Caruso testified about the plans for drainage at the site. According to Caruso, rain water that falls on the site would be collected through several filtration systems that would reduce the flow of water off the site during storms. Currently, 2.81 cubic feet of water per second flow from the site during a two-year storm. The proposed drainage …
Gerald T. Brown
5:49 am on Monday, July 23, 2012
Give me a break, CVS is facing a 'hardship" with their application. The only group facing hardship are the residents of this community and all the commuters who have to go through the intersection on a daily basis. There are another group that have a "hardship", CVS competitors. What about the Ride Aid in town and the Walgreens in Hillsdale. Their attroney should have his head examined. Resident… more ›