Members and Clergy of St. Demetrios Parish at the 9/11/17 Caucus
*Photos by Carolyn Maxwell
9/11/17 Caucus & 9/13/17 Council Meeting
PERTH AMBOY – City Engineer Jeffery Rauch came forward to answer questions about the St. Demetrios Property, which is need of redevelopment. Their church hall had to be demolished because of contaminated soil underneath it.
Councilman Fernando Gonzalez said, “The community voiced their concerns to him because of the lack of understanding what is going to happen on that property. The Council also needs to know. Is there going to be a presentation or is this going to be a topic for discussion for the audience to participate in?”
Law Director Peter King said, “There will be a presentation. The resolution on the agenda is separate.”
Jeffery Rauch then began to speak, “The City and the Planning Board Engineer met to see if the property where the hall used to be met the criteria for redevelopment. The Planning Board agreed to our (City Engineer’s) findings to place the land for redevelopment and to recommend that to the Council. The land is historic and some of the contaminants are from the 1800’s. The Perth Amboy Gas Company had their building there and the property was then sold to St. Demetrios in the 1950’s. The building had to be demolished to get to the contaminants. The contaminated material had to be removed and replaced with clean fill. The site remediation is now underway. Because of the contaminated site, it does not meet the redevelopment standards by New Jersey laws. It was a brownfield site. As a remediated site, the Planning Board agreed that the property needs to be redeveloped.”
Councilman Fernando Irizarry said, “The site is in a R-60 Zone which is only for single family homes. Will the zoning have to be changed?”
Rauch replied, “The Council has to make that decision and the Redevelopment Agency. It’s after PARA makes the recommendation, if the Council decides if they want to follow through.”
Council President Bill Petrick asked, “Will they have to go through a variance?”
King replied, “Yes, because of the prior use of the land, but it will have to go through the Zoning Board.”
Petrick questioned, “Would it be best to just go through the Zoning Board instead of PARA?”
At this point, Annie Hindenlang from PARA came up to speak, “Because of preexisting conditions, it’s best that this goes through Redevelopment because the property is owned by the church which is a nonprofit.”
Robert Goldsmith, who is the attorney for St. Demetrios, came up to speak next. He told the Council, “There will be a covenant because of the remediated site. The governing body will decide what the site will be. If you go through the Zoning Board, there will be no assurance. The Community Center will be rebuilt at a significant cost to St. Demetrios with 24 Senior Housing Units. Revenue will be reentered into the City because the apartments will be market value and not tax exempt. Only the Community Center will have a tax exempt status. There is also a distinction between a commercial developer versus a church group. The church will be the developer. In an economic crisis, such as in 2008, it can change from ownership to rentals.”
Hindenlang then spoke again, “Since this is going to be a new project, the governing body (the Council) has control over us (PARA).”
Councilman Fernando Gonzalez responded to Hindenlang’s statement, “You opened up a can of worms. You have shed a light on what was previously done by PARA.”
Councilman Helmin Caba asked if St. Demetrios will sell the units as the developer.
Goldsmith replied, “Rentals will be through a third party.”
(L to R) St. Demetrios Church Attorney Robert J. Goldsmith from the law firm of Goldsmith & Greenbaum, Ken Balut, President of the Parish Council Judge Marina Corodemus
Councilman Joel Pabon said, “If the neighbors knew what was going on, it would alleviate a lot of their concerns.” He also suggested that people go visit the church which is beautiful inside. “The church stayed after Superstorm Sandy and have invested a lot to stay in the community.”
Resident Stanley Sierakowski came up to make some comments, “The church is not the developer, but they can transfer the rights to another developer. I ask the Council to table this because the area is not blighted and they could probably make more money in rentals than sales.”
A Resident from Linden Street came up to speak, “We are experiencing collateral damage. My house is shaking from all the construction that is going on. I bought my house for the view and quietness. We have a parking problem now with all the activities that go on in the park. With a senior housing unit, you have to charge them reduced rates. I don’t have a problem with the community center, but I don’t approve of the units being built.”
A Resident from High Street came up to speak, “Were notices (pertaining to this project) ever published in the papers?”
Jamie Rios from Code Enforcement stepped up to speak, “Public notices were published.”
The High Street Resident continued, “The community needs more facts. I’m here to protect the rights of the people in the neighborhood. This property was not in a blighted area.”
Lewis Street Resident Lois Lane came up to speak. She welcomed the community center, but she opposed the condos. She also mentioned that the 1683 Society believes the condos will spoil the area.
Christina Dyke who is a member of the 1683 Society came up to speak. She read a section from the State Stature for public hearings. She believes that the State Stature was not followed when it came to advertising the public hearings on this matter.
Another High Street Resident questioned, “Will there more of a police presence if the units are built? This is a historic area and what will it do to our property values?”
A Wisteria Place Resident voiced concerns because there’s too much noise and traffic now. “How long will it take to build this?”
Councilman Irizarry was surprised at the fact that the residents were not given proper notice, “The Council was told that the gas company was going to notify the neighbors of the site plan.”
Councilman Fernando Gonzalez responded to some of the residents who said that work was going on at the site very early in the morning.” He said, “I will have the Business Administrator and Code Enforcement contact the electric company to see if the work hours can be adjusted.”
Another Resident from High Street said, “We were offended that one of the most beautiful areas in the City is being called blighted.”
Resident Lisa Nanton had a question for the church’s attorney. “Can you tell me what you consider is the governing body?”
Goldsmith responded, “It’s the legislative body as adopted by the local and state government.”
Nanton replied, “Make sure that goes on the record.”
Judge Marina Corodemus from St. Demetrios Church said, “I have attended many meetings. We have lost three generations of people. In 1952, we acquired this property from the gas company. Each year, when we have our festival, we also open our church doors for tours. We have an aging population who attend our church and who have been asking for housing close to the church. We were here in the 1960’s when there were bad problems in the City. We are teachers, businesspeople, and taxpayers. We got a bad deal from Elizabethtown Gas. People wanted the community center and the housing. We have never turned down a request when people wanted to use the facility or even our parking lot. We’ve lost all our parking. We’ve even moved our liturgy hours to accommodate others requests. Our attorney was born and raised in Perth Amboy. Everything that was asked of us, we have provided. We are not angry at what is going on. We just pray. I offered to have this historical group (the 1683 Society) to visit us. This is not about money. We’ve modified plans as requested. Houses of worship are stable. We are asking for help to continue to stay in Perth Amboy. Don’t judge us based on bad developers. We have even have waived fees for some who have used the hall in the past.”
Bob Durso became emotional when he came up to speak, “I spend a majority of my time in Perth Amboy. This property is zoned for residential use. There are not many Senior Rentals in the City for Seniors 55+. These units will be low impact. This community welcomed me – a non-Greek into their church. We are not Kushner or other nasty developers. I want to thank St. Demetrios for welcoming my family.”
Caroline Pozycki from 1683 Society and the Citizen’s Campaign said, “We appreciate the Greek Church. I’m just confused as to why this is under redevelopment and designated as blighted. This project will have an impact on the Waterfront area.”
Dot Daniel from Chamberlain Avenue came up to speak, “I know many families from St. Demetrios, and I sat on the Planning Board for 11 years. Many people request housing. Consider all the ramifications of this project. A lot of the housing projects in Mount Laurel requested senior housing. The people who came up to speak to complain about not getting notices should complain to Elizabethtown Gas about this.”
A Resident from 166 High Street came up to speak, “I’m in favor on what the church wants to do. They will be providing extra parking.”
A Physician came up to speak and talked about his mother, “Your community is under attack. My mom insists that she have all her medical procedures done in Perth Amboy. You’ll have seniors from other towns coming to live here.”
A South River Resident came up to speak next, “I had some business in the Waterfront area and I personally saw personnel from Elizabethtown Gas delivering letters to residents in the area where the work is being done.”
Mayor Diaz came up to speak. She said: “The church followed every step necessary. A lot of developers bought blighted sites in town to turn them into ratables. The Redevelopment Agency has shared all the information with the Council. The Planning Board recommended that after the assessment from professionals that the site was okay for redevelopment. All their meetings are public. The Council requested that the Planning Board do the work (hiring the professionals) and to make recommendations.”
St. Demetrios Attorney Goldsmith made some additional comments, “There can be no transfers without the governing body’s approval. You can restrict the working hours of Elizabethtown Gas.”
Another Resident by the name of Mrs. Vega came up to speak, “As you can tell by last name, I am not Greek, but I do bring my daughter to the Greek School. At night it’s very dark. With this redevelopment project, it will add more light and make the neighborhood safer.”
At the 9/13/17 Council Meeting, St. Demetrios’ attorney said there was a mistake made on the paperwork on Ordinance R-328-9/17. “The Planning Board is doing a study (to see what is the most viable use of the land) to give to the governing body. If the Council wants to this, they can do so.”
City Attorney Peter King advised the Council that they pass the resolutions/ordinances.
Councilman Irizarry questioned municipal board appointments – specifically PARA. “Does the Mayor make appointments and the Council advises and consents?”
King answered, “PARA was established by the Council. They advise and consent to appointments. The Council appoints the Zoning Board Members.”
Resident Stanley Sierakowski came up to speak about R-328. “Do they (St. Demetrios) have to go to the Zoning Board? The property is zoned for single family housing. Spot zoning is illegal. If the resolution is voted down, the church can go to court to appeal the decision.”
Resident Alan Silber commented about R-328 also, “I don’t know about all of these boards. This seems to be a government overreach. This could have been redeveloped many times. It’s a private ownership. They own it and they want to redevelop. Why not let the people who own the property build on it? The Mayor disregards ordinances. I hope you vote for this.”
Resident and Businesswoman Sharon Hubberman came up to speak also about R-328. “If an owner cleans it up, and makes it viable for it’s use, the government shouldn’t step in. Sometimes a developer will want to sieve property for their own profit. If an owner is compliant with all the rules and regulations, they should be able to do what they want.”
When it came time to vote, Councilman Fernando Gonzalez asked that R-328 & R-329 to be pulled from the consent agenda to be voted on separately. Council President Bill Petrick suggested that R-328 be tabled. “This is so that a public meeting can be held between the parish and the neighborhood.”
Council Irizarry said, “I am not in favor of tabling this and I want it cleared up tonight.”
St. Demetrios Attorney, Goldsmith said, “There has to be a change on the wording in the amendment. The word “rehabilitation” should be replaced with the word, “redevelopment.””
Councilman Joel Pabon questioned, “This is not closing the project down?”
Councilman Gonzalez stated, “Since the decision is going to be made by the Council, I support R-328 if we accept it with the two changes (replacing the wording and hiring professionals).
Goldsmith laid out the steps, “After all the meetings between PARA and the Church are prepared and the plans presented to the Council, you (the Council) will be make the final decision as to what you want implemented. No plan is on the table, yet. You have the power to accept or reject it when they are presented. The property is not in eminent domain.”
It was decided to have more public hearings on this property. R-328 was voted on to be amended, moved by Irizarry, seconded by Caba.
The following amendments were put in place: “Redevelopment” instead of “Rehabilitation” and replacing the Planning Board with the governing body/(City Council).
During the public portion, Resident and Planning Board Member Norman Vasquez said, “We just wanted a little more transparency. We felt as we were being pushed aside. We want to be good neighbors.”
