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Concerns were raised, however, by area residents who said the developer wasn't asked to contribute to intersection improvements, a common requirement.
It matters in this case, Al Gonzalez of Irving Street said, because the 59-unit project would be on a patch of long-unused property at a five-point intersection of Fort Lee Road that connects the spot with the George Washington Bridge.
A local street, Hoeffley's Lane, runs parallel to a Route 46 exit on the north side of Fort Lee Road and has an elementary school down the block. There are no traffic signals there.
The state Department of Transportation and the county Planning Board would have to sign off before the complex could use the highway access ramp south of Fort Lee Road as routes in and out of the property.
Nine years ago, opposition to “Fort Lee Green” forced another builder to abandon a 9-story proposal, according to Oratam Terrace resident Jeff McCartney.
The building was planned as office/residence combinations, with professionals living where they worked.
It also required several variances.
The new proposal by Border Development LLC is for two stories of parking and four stories of apartments. Because Fort Lee rezoned the parcel and designated it a “redevelopment area,” it doesn’t require variances.
Gonzalez noted that the developer’s attorney is former Leonia Mayor Paul Kaufman, known to be an ally of Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, also a real estate lawyer.
Yet, he said: “As I see it, this plan is a hell of a lot better than the proposal nine years ago.”
The property was once in Leonia, but the town ceded it to Fort Lee because there was a tavern on the site.
Leonia is the only municipality in Bergen County that doesn't have a bar.
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