The Oradell Planning Board concluded the controversial revision of the Borough’s Master Plan on Tuesday December 4, 2018. The Board voted 4 to 3 to approve the draft Master Plan, as amended at the meeting by Chairman Gregg Larson. The approved Master Plan eliminates the long-standing limits on the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) along Kinderkamack Road from Elizabeth Street on the south to Saw Mill Lane on the north. Board members Dan Dressel, John Plucinski, and John Lombardo proposed compromises. They would have moderated the impact of the elimination of the FAR. Board members Gregg Larson, Gregory Derian, Stephen Carnevale, Anthony Pastore, and Vincent Scalcione rejected the proposed compromises.
During public comment, a surprise arose concerning the inadvertent omission of a pre-existing historical element in the Borough’s Master Plan that had been approved by the Planning Board in 2010.
The current revisions that facilitate development in downtown are controversial. According to minutes of the Planning Board meeting on March 13, 2017, Board Member Darian consulted Burgis Associates (BA), the contracted planner, in summer of 2016. The public became aware of the extent of BA’s proposals beginning on June 10, 2017 at an informal public meeting of the Board. Since June 2017, concerned residents studied the proposals and spoke up at meetings of the Planning Board and Mayor and Council. The non-partisan community organization, Citizen Action to Preserve Oradell provides information to residents about the proposals. Residents have spoken to the Board, written to the Board, and paraded in a demonstration of community concerns.