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RussianBergen county news with an emphasis on aspects affecting real estate, residency and community issues.
Tenafly: Past owners of condominiums site being sued
Bergen County: home prices are stabilizing
Bergen County’s Ridgefield veto new ordinance
Bergen County not engaged in remodeling activities
Who is responsible for affordable housing?
Tenafly: Past owners of condominiums site being sued
Tenafly’s condominiums are being planned, and the State Department of Environmental Protection is charging the previous owners of the land with a case of environment endangerment. Penetone, a chemical company that used to be based in Tenafly ten years ago, is now being charged by the State DEP for damages caused by its waste.
As per reports released after the DEP inspections that took place between the years 1981 and 1997, the company discharged hazardous wastes into surface and ground water causing much harm to the wildlife besides water and air pollution. The lawsuit also brings to attention that the company has made various violations in the waste disposal methods in Tenafly and even after the long gap, needs to be brought to task.
This lawsuit is one among the eighty cases that the DEP is pursuing against polluters in the entire state. The deadline of June 30, 2007 has been fixed for taking legal action against the organizations. The site in question was sold off in 1998 and developers are now planning to construct condominiums on the area. With a groundwater treatment system in place, officials state that the land is safe now.
Bergen County: home prices are stabilizing
Bergen County and other parts of North Jersey’s home prices are now stabilizing, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors. After steep rises in the past years, statistics reveal that the median price of a single-family home in Bergen County stands at $521,000 in the first quarter of 2007. This is just a slight 2% gain from last year and a decline from the third quarter of 2006.
Prices of homes across the entire nation were seen to decline too, by approximately 1.9%. Many buyers are benefiting from this decrease and are cashing on by buying homes in the regions of Tenafly, Teaneck etc. They are also experiencing a better stand in negotiations and with prices being unstable; the ball is in their court. However some buyers are still cautious about the mixed signals that the market is sending and are wondering whether this is the right time to invest.
Experts say that the end of the year may be the probable time to make a decision as schooling begins; families need to decide where to stay. The market may also stabilize by them. Currently the graphs show ups and downs, thus while the sales of existing homes and condomiums has recorded to have gone up in Bergen County, sales in other parts of the nation have dropped. Various experts now project that the housing slump may not recover till the end of the year. With lenders tightening credit options, prices reducing and buyers being wary of the market, the direction of the market is still unclear.
Bergen County’s Ridgefield veto new ordinance
In new developments, the borough council may soon have powers to override the decisions of the zoning board. In announcements made by the mayor of Ridgefield, it was brought forth that he would veto an ordinance that would give powers to the borough council to override certain approvals that the zoning board makes.
As per this ordinance, that has been approved on Monday, May 14, 2007, the council authority can reexamine approvals and seek use variances before the board. Also interested applicants can ask the council to appeal zoning board approvals within ten days of the publication of the approval. While the ordinance won by a majority vote, and concerns only the approvals made by the board, members of the zoning board were not pleased with the rule.
Few spokespersons stated that this ordinance could cause delays in construction and may affect applicants negatively. However it would not affect the way the zoning board made their approvals. They added that the move had purely political intentions and all the council wanted to attain from the move was total control of municipal affairs. A few members added that with such an ordinance receiving approval it would probably be better to totally eliminate the Board of Adjustment from the scene.
Bergen County not engaged in remodeling activities
Bergen County and the neighborhood’s house remodeling activities have seen to experience a slowdown in the year 2007 as compared to last year, according to the National Association of home builders. Statistics show that income from remodeling rose by 8% in the year 2005 and by 6% in the year 2006. However this year the figures have gone down and revenues are expected to come up to $230 billion only which would be a one percent decrease from 2006.
Housing market experts state that the decrease may have occurred because many residents are cautious about the volatile housing market. With prices of houses going down, cutting down remodeling expenses seems to be only a safe move to stop excess expenditures. With housing rates on the decline, many fear that they may not get back the money spent on renovations once they sell the home. Many are skeptical about over investing in their homes and prefer to wait till the housing market shines again.
While the overall picture of home remodeling is glum, with all this, home renovators say that they still have roaring business, a good market and can see plenty of demand for their products. Such renovations are happening both in the affluent areas of Bergen County, where people are spending up to $50,000 and above to remodel their kitchens and in the average homes segment also, where people are spending up to $20,000.
Who is responsible for affordable housing?
Affordable housing is facing a setback as many authorities and officials deny the responsibilities attached with providing such kinds of housing. One of the names is the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. A state appellate court ruled that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition authority was not responsible for constructing affordable housing units along with its Meadowlands Xanadu project. However the decision on who would be responsible for affordable housing is still to be taken. The case however focused on the aspect that the Meadowlands commission had a greater responsibility in providing affordable housing than what the current interim rules indicate.
This issue came up after a suit was filed by the Fair Share Housing Center and the New Jersey Builders Association. As per the court records, this was the first case that had challenged the responsibility of state agencies in meeting Mount Laurel standards of housing. Also this was one of the few cases where the decision by the court left both the Fair Share Housing Center and the Meadowlands Commission declaring victory over their debate.
The officials from the sports authority stated that they were already taking up a project for social welfare and their complex would create many job opportunities. Hence they need not feel guilty or burdened with responsibilities of housing also. Spokespersons from the Builders association stated that the ruling served the purpose by giving a greater responsibility to the Meadowlands Commission, but felt that the sports authority got an easy way out from the case.
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