Artist Rendering, Linque

By Susan C. Moeller
Senior Reporter

RUTHERFORD (July 21, 2008, 4:05 p.m.) — Housing is back on the table for the Highland Cross Redevelopment Area.

This time, Linque, the developer responsible for the parcel of land east of Route 17 in Rutherford, is asking the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission to change the area’s zoning to a mixed use designation, which would allow for a maximum of 800 residential units, along with retail shopping and a hotel.

On July 15, Mayor John Hipp informed council members that the zoning application had been filed, and he urged them to contemplate the implications for the borough.

In addition to the residential component, the Linque plan calls for retail stores and possibly a supermarket, according to Hipp.

Conceptual drawings submitted to the commission also show several parking garages.

How Linque came to be

The number of housing units has been greatly reduced since Linque’s last full-scale effort to amend its developer’s agreement. In 2006, the company failed to win support from the borough council to expand the lot and build 3,400 residential units.

In 2007, the developer broached the subject of a scaled-back, 800-unit project with then-Mayor Bernadette McPherson, who reiterated the borough’s opposition to housing on the site. Linque indicated that it would pursue a zoning change via the Meadowlands Commission.

Linque has been in the picture since the late 1990s, when the Highland Cross area was deemed in need of redevelopment and zoned for office and hotel use. But, changes in those markets have made such projects unattractive investments, leaving Linque with land, but no agreeable way to develop it.

Affordable housing

When Hipp told the council of Linque’s new effort to build on its site, he noted that the plan presented to the NJMC includes construction of affordable housing units —  Rutherford has an outstanding Council on Affordable Housing obligation. The mayor also pointed out that because the application had been filed with the Meadowlands Commission, the borough council will have no official role in determining the zoning.

Linque has been listening to the community and has tailored its application to meet Rutherford’s needs, according to a statement released by the developer. The company also asserted that its proposal would not have a negative impact on the borough’s bottom line.

A fiscal impact study submitted with the zoning change application indicates that the proposal would generate more revenue than it costs the borough or the schools. The application also promises more jobs, particularly in the service sector.

“We are confident that this plan meets all of the Borough of Rutherford’s fiscal, quality of life and COAH requirements with no financial exposure to the taxpayers whatsoever,” according to Linque’s statement. “We look forward to feedback from and dialogue with the community.”

Council weighs in

In an interview after the meeting, Council President John Genovesi said that he would study the proposal. But he offered his first blush opinion. “I’m not opposed to the commercial, but I’m not in favor of the high density housing,” he said.

Councilman Joe Sommer said that he would like more input from the public, and Hipp assured him that public hearings would be part of the Meadowlands Commission’s decision-making process.

With the ball in the NJMC’s court, spokesman Brian Aberback offered a comment affirming that Linque had filed a petition, and the commission staff was reviewing it.