Montclair council approves massive Lackawanna Plaza redevelopment plan

MONTCLAIR — A plan to revamp the deteriorated shopping center at Lackawanna Plaza with a massive redevelopment of public squares, apartment buildings, stores, offices, and a long-desired supermarket received a greenlight Tuesday.

Council members voted, 4-2, to accept the plan, which now enshrines the building heights and general layout of the coming redevelopment, but hardly means the township’s work is done. Councilors William Hurlock and David Cummings voted against the plan, while Bob Russo abstained.

Before voting, Deputy Mayor William Hurlock asked Township Attorney Paul Burr if the council was empowered to disregard the opinion of the planning board, which had recently advised councilors the project was inconsistent with the township's master plan and did not recommend its passage.

Burr said councilors were free to vote regardless of the board's memo.

The developer, David Placek of BDP Holdings, will now begin work on a site plan, to be submitted for review by the Planning Board, and include specific design features for the buildings, according to Township Planner Janice Talley. Up until now, the plan has remained a visionary document, with buildings outlined in giant white blocks and layouts for the public plazas and walkways subject to change within the parameters of what was approved by the council.

Several residents who spoke out in favor of the plan Tuesday night held professionally printed signs stating “Vote yes on Lackawanna,” which were left stacked on a table in the back of council chambers before the meeting. Placek said he printed the signs at the request of residents who had reached out to him personally.

Public support embraced a number of the development's purported benefits, such as bolstering the township's affordable housing stock and the promise of a new supermarket, which served as the project's impetus and over time, its rationale.

In 2015, news broke that the plaza’s last remaining destination business − a Pathmark grocery store − was to shutter later that year. Residents from the area, and all the way down Montclair’s south end, said the loss of the supermarket would create a food desert, writing off the nearby Whole Foods as too pricey and lacking many basic goods.

Evan Wallace who described himself as “born and bred” in the 4th Ward called for action on the Lackawanna plan to fill the void left by the Pathmark’s closure eight years ago.

Since the supermarket shuttered, he said his parents travel to East Orange to shop for food.

“We’re not a Whole Foods family, we can’t afford King’s,” Wallace said, referring to another upmarket grocer on Valley Road.

Conversely, if high-ticket retail is an issue, Kate and Matthew Albright felt the plan would only worsen Montclair's alleged gentrification.

“It’s becoming a town only for the wealthy,” Kate said.

Montclair Planning Board: Lackawanna redevelopment not consistent with master plan

Amazon Fresh possibly in talks for lease

As Councilor David Cummings lambasted the township for what he claimed had been a rushed process lacking sufficient analysis, he announced Amazon Fresh is under consideration to replace the long-gone Pathmark. But panned the purported candidate as too costly for the community and inadequate in its offerings.

Cummings' claim, as well as his remark that "everyone on the dais knows what the grocer is," elicited gasps from the crowd in Town Hall after years of failed deals with other supermarket chains, many of which were kept shrouded in mystery by the prior developer and council members.

Hurlock rebutted Cummings’ claim the council was aware of any such discussions, saying his colleague’s comment was the first time he was hearing there was a potential deal with the tech giant.

During an interview the following day, Cummings clarified that Placek never explicitly told the council if a lease was in the works, but that indications of Amazon's involvement were included in a raft of documents provided to the Township's finance committee. Anyone reviewing the paperwork closely could have reached the same conclusion, he said.

"My issue is, if you feel comfortable with everything, why does it have to be silent?" Cummings asked. "If you feel this grocery store is so good and it fits the community, why would there be an issue with publicly disclosing it?"

Separately, Councilor Robin Schlager said Cummings told her Amazon was vying for the Lackawanna lease six days ago. She had previously requested details about the supermarket component while serving on the Planning Board, but was advised by Placek's attorney that the developer was subject to a non-disclosure agreement and could not reveal any businesses he'd been courting, Schlager said.

Placek declined to say whether or not he was in talks with a specific chain. And a spokesperson for Amazon stated the company had no details to share about its supermarket locations "at this time."

Lackawanna history

Despite public unease with yet another push for suburban renewal that could threaten to shift Montclair's quaint-yet-urbane ambience further toward the latter, the council’s move Tuesday night marks a potential epilogue to efforts that have spanned two developers, two administrations and nearly a decade of debate.

The mall ― built among remnants of the historic Erie-Lackawanna train terminal ― had been designated “in need of redevelopment” since 1980, according to a prior ordinance approved by the council. But concern over the state of the once popular hub has grown over time, as retailers closed shop, leaving the complex eerily vacant.

A study to save the plaza was completed in October 2014 and the township Planning Board began to discuss the project in earnest when the Pathmark's closure shifted the effort from favored to fundamental.

After six years, the project faltered as numerous revisions did little to quell public backlash and Brian Stolar, the project’s developer at the time, eventually sold the property to BDP, as previously reported by The Record/NorthJersey.com.

Details of the plan

If Stolar’s aspirations for 154 new apartments and 111,726 square feet of retail space proved too rich for some residents, then the Placek's ambitions have hardly met detractors in the middle. Placek's plan was reduced from 375 to 300 apartments over the summer.

Heights of the development’s five buildings range from 5-6 stories and are permitted to reach maximums of anywhere from 60 to 85 feet above street level, depending on which side of the site one is located, according to the township's plan.

However, local zoning laws cap heights on the Lackawanna property at 67 feet, according to Talley.

The development is subject to the township’s requirement that at least 20% of the project’s 300 residences be priced to meet state and local affordable housing standards. Though the buildings’ short-term rental units, which will not be subject to affordable regulations, can be counted toward the 20% requirement, according to the approved plan.

Until the site plan is submitted, there is no way to tell how much of the affordable housing requirement will be mitigated by short-term rentals, which are expected to bolster the township’s coffers by way of a hotel occupancy tax. But the plan currently allows for transient units to number up to 10% of the site’s market rate apartments.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Montclair council approves Lackawanna Plaza redevelopment plan