During the Monday, August 14, Township Council meeting, an ordinance was tabled to approve an application for a long-term tax exemption - also known as a payment in lieu of taxes, or a PILOT - and authorize the execution of a financial agreement with Brightview Livingston Urban Renewal for a planned 150-unit senior living facility.
The property, 321 South Livingston Avenue, is the current home of the West Essex YMCA, which will soon move to a new location across the street.
In April of 2022, the Council directed the Planning Board to conduct an investigation of the property, which is listed as block 3100, lot 56 in the township tax maps. Beacon Planning and Consulting Services then conducted a study and determined that the site should be designated as a non-condemnation area in need of redevelopment. The Planning Board voted to accept that recommendation and referred it to the Council in June of2022.
The Council subsequently designated the property as an area in need of redevelopment without the power of eminent domain, and later authorized the execution of a funding agreement between the township and Brightview Senior Living Development.
Brightview proposes to construct a four-story senior living facility on the property, with approximately 150 units within 170,000 gross square feet.
Under the agreement, Brightview would pay an annual service charge that will increase over time, as well as be required to pay any excess of the allowable net profit. The longterm tax exemption will expire 90 days after the allowable net profits are exceeded, but could last as long as 35 years. Once the tax exemption expires, the building will be assessed and conventionally taxed.
Council member Rosy Bagolie said that she was not comfortable offering a 35-year PILOTwithout some of the funds generated benefitting the school district, as the property would if it were conventionally taxed. Bagolie also expressed concerns about the skate park – currently located on town property between Town Hall and the YMCA – being sold as part of the deal.
Township manager Barry Lewis said that an assisted living home was not the most economically viable proposal for the area, but it was the most desirable for the town and nearby residents, as it provides a minimal traffic impact and no children will be added to the school district as a result of it.
Lewis also said that Brightview agreed to pay for a new skate park to be built elsewhere in town, and that the town had several potential areas in mind for the new location, based on the footprint of the existing park. However, the committee in charge of the skate park has expressed interest in a potential new park being larger, including a full skate bowl and other features, and Brightview had only made a commitment based on the existing park.
As a result of these concerns, Bagolie made a motion to table the ordinance until more information was gathered.
Council member Shawn Klein said that he supported tabling the ordinance until a condition was added to the sale agreement that states that Brightview cannot destroy the existing skate park until a new one is constructed.
Council member Ed Meinhardt noted that there were deadlines to be mindful of in regard to when the YMCA wants to begin constructing its new building across the street, and that it would need money from the sale of its old building to do so. He was concerned that YMCA’s leadership would look to build outside of town if the process took too long, which he does not want to see happen.
Lewis said that if the vote happened at the next meeting, the YMCA would be fine meeting its deadlines, but added that it “can’t wait forever.”
The Council unanimously voted to table the ordinance until the September 7 meeting.
