Billionaire NFL Owner Wants To Build Nearly 500 Homes on an Untouched Mountaintop—but Some Say It's Not Safe
A decades-long battle over a development on an untouched New Jersey mountaintop, with sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline, has bubbled to life again, with furious locals saying it's simply not safe and it is being pushed through under the guise of providing affordable housing.
Plans to turn a 120-acre wooded area in West Orange into a 496-unit residential development have been given the green light. Around 100 of the units will be designated as affordable housing. The current median list price in the neighborhood is $599,725, according to Realtor.com® data.
The project is spearheaded by Garden Homes, a real estate company run by billionaire property developer and Vikings chairman and co-owner Zygmunt (Zygi) Wilf and his family. Garden Homes owns a portion of the land on the Watchung Mountains, which has views of New York City.
The expansive proposal includes a large apartment complex and extras such as a pool and a clubhouse. Around 30 acres of property, which is also owned by Wilf and his family, will be cleared for the development.
However, local opposition groups say the proposal is dangerous and is being snuck throughunder the pretense of affordable housing—a hot-button issue in New Jersey.
The development is the result of an April 2020 settlement to ensure the township of West Orange fulfills its affordable housing obligations.
Local municipalities are entering their fourth round of obligations under the '70s-era Mount Laurel Doctrine, which requires them to provide a reasonable share of affordable housing. The West Orange Town Council recently voted to approve its own affordable housing obligation of adding or rehabbing 1,000 units between 2025 and 2035.
The pressure on local municipalities to make suitable arrangements to get the job done is considerable—if they don't, developers can turn to legal tools, like builder's remedy, which could ultimately allow them to bypass local zoning ordinances. This can be done on the grounds that the municipality is not making its best effort to meet its obligations.
Joe Krakoviak, president of the West Orange Township Council, tells Realtor.com that affordable housing rules could lead municipalities to support developments they would otherwise oppose, given they effectively represent the lesser of two evils.
'It's a situation where the law is very coercive from a municipality's point of view,' he says. 'Municipalities' hands are very much tied because they have little, if any, influence over how many units of affordable housing to approve, and also because they can't utilize many local zoning ordinances that the rest of the township, and developers, are required to comply with.'
Krakoviak adds that he holds considerable reservations about Wilf's development and its potential impact on the surrounding community.
'I have a tremendous amount of concern about the environmental ramifications of this proposal, as well as the appropriateness of placing lower-income residents in the proposal so far away from all of the things they need to reach, especially if they do not have access to public transportation or regular transportation,' he says.
The development would sit significantly far away from the local public bus, as well as other necessary amenities, like a gas station or a shopping center.
'It's hilly terrain to navigate, both coming and going, and it's one road in and one road out. The fact that this is at the top of the mountain means the drainage is going in every direction. … It's very complex,' Krakoviak says.
There have been numerous attempts in the past to develop the mountaintop, with plans to install housing on the site being mooted periodically since at least the 1990s. A previous proposal, which included 136 units, was denied in 2006 over concerns around the environmental impact and safety.
Local grass-roots organizations, such as Our Green West Orange and We Care NJ, have been at the forefront in opposing the latest development.
Similar to Krakoviak, their reservations include concerns over flooding and debris in the event of storms, and a lack of facilities. Some opponents view the affordable housing component as little more than a ploy to finally making Wilf's development a reality.
The developers 'thought we'd be afraid of being accused of NIMBYism,' Rachel Klein, a local resident associated with WeCare NJ, tells Realtor.com.
'We said no: If it was unsafe for 136 homes that would have been worth $1 million at the time, why is suddenly throwing poor people into it making it safe? That makes no sense to us.'
Klein, who has lived next to the mountain since 2016, says the issue lies with the site itself—not the wider need for affordable housing.
'We could go into a long, deep dive on why this is an inappropriate place for fair share housing. The need is there, for sure, and the town is working on it. But the problem is West Orange is already exceedingly overdeveloped,' she says.
'Nothing's ever been built on this land. It's in the furtherest part of town, miles away from schools and public transport.
'There is a need for affordable housing, but this is just not the appropriate place for it.'
Affordable housing advocates have been measured, with some pointing to the proposed 100 units earmarked for lower-income earners as important in West Orange fulfilling its obligations.
Garden Homes declined to comment when approached by Realtor.com.
The development is currently before the West Orange Planning Board.
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