Flood Effects Are Concern With Patterson Street Apartment Plan

A plan for a new 57-unit apartment building on Patterson Street in Hillsdale would require 1,040 truckloads of fill to raise the portion of the site where the building and parking lot would sit.

Richard Eichenlaub, an engineer for the project, testified during a Hillsdale Planning Board meeting Wednesday that retaining walls would be built as part of the plan, ranging from 2 or 3 feet in height at the front end of the property and rising to 8.5 feet at the rear. They would need 18,977 cubic yards of dirt — 16,581 of which would be imported — to fill the area, he said.

Delivering all the fill would take about two weeks, he said. One resident pointed out that a truck would have to arrive every "five minutes" in order to deliver all the loads in two weeks.

Within that raised area, an underground water retention system capable of holding water from a 25-year storm would be installed, according to Eichenlaub. Even during a 100-year storm, runoff would be reduced by 20 percent compared to the existing conditions at the site, he said.

The raised land and retention system will "make sure we're not impacted by flood waters," Eichenlaub said.

Board member Michael Giancarlo said he was concerned about the effect the project could have on flooding in Hillsdale and Westwood.

"I'm worried about when this area is inundated with water," Giancarlo said.

The Pascack Brook, which flooded multiple times in 2011, runs past the rear of the Patterson Street site proposed for the new apartment building. About two-thirds of the site are unusable because they are wetlands and floodplain, Eichenlaub said.

During Hurricane Irene, flood waters on the site reached only to about the edge of where they plan to develop, according to Eichenlaub.

Board engineer Chris Statile said that the fill and retaining wall could displace water during a flood from a 200- or 300-year storm, but noted that the plan does meet requirements from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"We are not coming to tell you that we are improving flooding in Hillsdale," Ira Weiner, the applicant's attorney, said. "What we're telling you is: we're not making it any worse."

Residents who live near the site questioned the total height of the project. According to Eichenlaub, the top of the 30-foot building would sit about 38 feet above the lowest point on the site.

"It's an absolute nightmare," Manson Place resident Marisa Cefali said.

The Board is expected to continue hearing the application at their June 25 meeting.

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