DEP: Proposed CVS Site Owner Violated State Law

The owner of a Washington Township property being considered for use as a CVS violated New Jersey's Flood Hazard Area Control Act, according to officials from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

In a February 4 letter to 660 Pascack Realty, LLC, the owner of the properties, Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement Regional Supervisor Armand Perez wrote that the violations included the removal of vegetation, placement of fill and construction of a retaining wall.

The DEP previously found that the stream which passes behind the site is a Category One waterway, meaning that any major developments to the site require their permission.

The letter gave the property owner 15 days to submit a plan to correct the problem and 30 days to restore the property or apply for a permit.

Carmine Alampi, the attorney representing applicants First Hartford Realty and CVS in their application to the township Zoning Board, was not immediately available for comment.

The plan calls for a new 14,500-square-foot CVS with a drive-thru to be built on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue on properties currently occupied by a few houses. If the plan is approved by the Zoning Board, the applicants have agreed to donate a portion of the site to the county for a proposed intersection improvement.

Hearings for the plan have continued since the DEP found that the stream was a Category One waterway, but the plan may require state approval even if the board gives it the go-ahead.

DEP rep Bob Considine told Patch that the property owner had requested a 90-day extension to apply to their Division of Land Use Regulation.

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