Construction halted on controversial Bogota housing development

Tuesday, December 31, 2013 Last updated: Tuesday December 31, 2013, 4:42 PM

BOGOTA Construction on a controversial housing development was halted Monday, as borough officials scrambled to verify whether the developer had proper permits to begin actively building on the site.

(PHOTO COURTESY: JORGE NUNEZ

On Monday, construction crews began excavating the long-vacant lot at 297 Palisade Avenue, which has been at the center of a bitter feud between members of the Borough Council, who were split on granting a tax abatement deal to the developer.

The developer, 297 Palisades Avenue Urban Renewal LLC, began digging on a long-vacant parcel on Palisade Avenue where it plans to build a 44-unit apartment complex, with a soil removal permit from the Bergen County Soil Conservation District, Borough Administrator August Chip Greiner said.

Further activity on the site has been stopped until the developer, the borough engineer and Greiner can meet on Friday about other needed municipal permits and clearances, a process that Councilman Jorge Nunez said he and other critics of the development will watch closely.

We are getting started on the wrong foot, Nunez said in an email to The Record, citing concern that a preconstruction meeting had not taken place before the digging began. Moving forward we need to make sure that no one is cutting any corners.

On Tuesday, Greiner said the developer had the proper permit to begin digging as of Dec. 23, but that the letter from the county was on file with Harry Tuvel, the borough engineer, who had been on vacation. Receipt of the permit had not been shared with Dan Howell, the borough zoning official, who issued a stop work order until the permit letter was located.

Mr. Howell did the right thing in stopping the work until he could verify that a permit existed, Greiner said, adding that any further activity could result in fines for the developer.

In any case, Greiner added, developers are usually given time to get the proper permits before citations are issued.

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Construction halted on controversial Bogota housing development