Hearings Continue on Hotel Proposed on Maple Street

Zoning Board of Adjustment members and concerned neighbors listened to three more hours of testimony last Thursday from Oster Apartments regarding how their proposed extended stay hotel would affect the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Public hearings regarding the proposed development date back more than a year. Plans call for a 135-unit, 6-story Marriot Residence Inn which would be constructed on a piece of property between Route 17 and Maple Street.

The proposal also includes 6 affordable housing units, down from 14 which was in the original plan, that will go towards fulfilling the borough’s COAH requirement. The plan now also includes an access road coming off Farview Avenue which developers said during a public hearing in August is designed to help alleviate area traffic, according to NorthJersey.com.

Thursday night both the developer’s engineer William Page and architect James Brigona addressed the design of the building and its proposed height as they continued testimony regarding the proposed development.

They claim the proposed height of 58 feet, and 66 at its highest point which is where the stairtower meets the roof, will not make the building the largest in the area, claiming that IKEA building across the highway was the largest.

The height of the building was challenged by members of the Zoning Board, the borough’s planner Michael D. Kauker and a handful of residents who posed the question of whether this building can be constructed with less than 6 stories.

Brigona said to do so and still have the features the developer seeks for this hotel, the development would wind up with a larger footprint, taking up more land space, which he believes would have an impact on the neighborhood.

The comparison to the IKEA building was not easily accepted by members of the audience or the borough’s planner who felt that it was not a fair comparison due to the proximity of the property and the fact that IKEA does not border a residential neighborhood.

In relation to Maple Street which the development would face, Brigona claims the height will not be an extreme difference from some of the homes on the block. He claims two of the Maple Street homes come within 10 feet of height to the building they propose.

Brigona said the ramps from the highway facing the side of the hotel building also contributed to size of the building so that most of the floors would be above the ramps eliminating the view of lights and noise.

However residents came forward with other suggestions for eliminating light from the rooms. One suggested it could be done by way of room-darkening curtains. Kauker pointed out he is aware of at least one other hotel in town which faces the highway that is only 4 stories.

Brigona also went through extensive detail on the components of the proposed building. The ground floor will be built wider than the upper floors. This is to accommodate space for additional areas such as a small dining area, meeting room, study area, luggage area, two manager offices, reception desk, a pool area among other things.

There will be about 24 units per floor from the second up to the sixth. The units will be a mix of studio apartments, and one and two bedrooms.  Each unit will have a kitchen area. Brigona said he was not aware of an exact estimate of how long the average stay would be.

Testimony on the affordable housing component which would be part of this project if the approved was provided Diane Maschal. A Zoning Board member, Maschal excused herself at the start of the meeting from the her board member duties to take on her role as liaison to the Paramus housing authority to provide testimony.

Paramus would receive a donation of land from the developer which the borough would work with Habitat for Humanity to construct 6 affordable housing units, fulfilling a small portion of the borough’s 438 unit COAH requirement.

Maschal explained the affordable housing unit component of this project has changed since the original plan. It’s been brought down from 14 units to 6 and instead of a apartment-building styled development town-house styled homes are being proposed instead.

She explained the homes would not be rentals, they would be purchased. There are no specific designs set yet but a example rendering was shown to give the board the idea of what three town house units, each with two apartments would look like. 

Public hearing will continue Oct. 18 in the caucus room with testimony expected from the developer’s operator and planner.

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