Master Plan for the Borough of Montvale, Bergen County, NJ
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Master Plan for the Borough of Montvale, Bergen County, NJ Prepared for the Montvale Planning Board by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. Planning & Real Estate Consultants Adopted April 1, 2008 MASTER PLAN FOR THE BOROUGH OF MONTVALE BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY Prepared for The Montvale Planning Board Prepared by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. Planning and Real Estate Consultants 434 Sixth Avenue New York, New York 10011 125 Half Mile Road—Suite 200 Red Bank, New Jersey 07701 Adopted April 1, 2008 Table of Contents Page CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Introduction 1 B. Purpose 1 C. Brief History of Montvale 1 1. Early History 1 2. Incorporation (1894 to 1950) 3 3. 1950 to the Present 4 D. Scope of Master Plan 4 E. Context for Preparation of Master Plan 5 1. Development in Corporate Office Sector 5 2. Downtown Renaissance 6 3. Diversification of Housing Stock 6 4. Acquisition and Improvement of Public Parks and Open Space 6 5. New Community Facilities 7 CHAPTER 2. COMMUNITY RESIDENT AND BUSINESS SURVEYS 8 A. Introduction 8 B. Community Resident Survey 8 1. Purpose and Scope of Survey 8 2. Survey Results 10 C. Community Business Survey 30 1. Purpose and Scope of Survey 30 2. Results of the Survey 31 3. Analysis of the Survey Results 42 CHAPTER 3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 44 CHAPTER 4. LAND USE 47 A. Introduction 47 B. Existing Uses 47 1. Residential 47 2. Non-Residential 52 C. Existing Zoning 56 1. Residential 58 D. Consistency of Existing Uses With Current Zoning 61 E. Montvale’s Land Use Plan 62 F. Consistency With the Bergen County Master Plan and the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan 66 CHAPTER 5. CIRCULATION ELEMENT 72 A. Introduction 72 B. Vehicular Circulation 72 C. Public Transit 75 D. Pedestrian Walkways and Bikeways 78 Table of Contents Page CHAPTER 6. UTILITY SERVICE ELEMENT 79 A. Water Supply 79 B. Sanitary Sewer 80 C. Storm Drainage 80 D. Electricity and Natural Gas 82 E. Telephone 82 F. Cable TV and Internet Access 82 CHAPTER 7. COMMUNITY FACILITIES PLAN 83 A. Schools 83 1. Introduction 83 2. Overview of Board of Education Facilities 83 3. Current and Projected Enrollment 84 4. Future Capital Needs 86 5. Shared Recreation and Community Facilities 88 6. School Transportation/Walking Issues 88 7. Pascack Hills High School 89 B. Police 89 C. Fire 90 D. First Aid Squad/Emergency 94 E. Library 95 F. Department of Public Works 96 G. Other Community Facilities 96 1. Montvale Borough Hall 96 H. Senior Services 98 CHAPTER 8. CONSERVATION, RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE 99 A. Natural Conditions in the Borough of Montvale 99 1. Geology, Soils and Drainage 99 2. Topography 102 3. Wetlands and Floodplains 104 B. Borough Recreation and Open Space 107 C. Borough Recreational Needs 111 CHAPTER 9. ECONOMIC PLAN 115 A. Office and Research Campuses 115 1. Introduction 115 2. Office Campus Development in Montvale 115 B. The Borough’s Retail Areas 120 1. Kinderkamack Road Corridor 120 2. Study Sub-Areas and Issues 121 3. Chestnut Ridge Road 123 CHAPTER 10. HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN ELEMENT 124 A. Introduction 124 B. Goals and Objectives of Historic Preservation in Montvale 124 C. Historic Preservation Commission 125 Table of Contents Page D. Implementation: Certificates of Appropriateness and Preventive Maintenance 127 1. Certificates of Appropriateness 127 2. Preventive Maintenance 127 E. Historic Landmark Designation 127 1. Eckerson House 127 2. Nicholas Holdrum-Van Houten House 130 3. Eckerson-Lawrence-Taylor Homestead 131 4. J.J. Blauvelt (Octagon) House 131 5. St. Paul’s Episcopal (Old Stone) Church) 132 6. Andrew M. Hopper Homestead 133 7. J. Duryea House 134 8. The Clymbers 134 9. Serrell’s Mushroom Caves 135 F. Sites Deemed Worthy of Designation as Historic Landmarks 136 1. William C. Hering House 136 2. Forshee-Van Orden House 139 3. Wortendyke-Eckerson House 139 4. First Methodist-Episcopal Church of Mont Vale 140 5. Blelock House 140 6. Sears Modern Home No. 124 141 7. Montvale School No. 2 142 CHAPTER 11. RECYCLING 144 CHAPTER 12. RECOMMENDATIONS 145 A. General Recommendations 145 B. Specific Parcels and Properties 154 C. Zoning Recommendations 156 List of Maps Map Page 1 Regional Location 2 2 Existing Land Uses 48 3 Current Zoning Map 57 4 Montvale’s Land Use Plan 63 5 Roadway Classifications 73 6 Transit and Service Routes 76 7 Waterways 81 8 Schools, Board of Education and Community Facilities 91 9 Soil Series 100 10 Soil Types 101 11 Topography 103 12 Wetlands 105 13 Floodplain 106 14 Open Space and Recreation Plan 110 15 Designated Historic Landmarks 129 16 Sites Deemed Worthy of Historic Landmark Designation 138 List of Tables Table Page 1 Inventory of Board of Education Facilities 85 2 Ten-Year Enrollment Profile 85 3 School Capacity and Projected 2006-2007 Enrollments 85 4 Pascack Hills High School Enrollment Profile and Projection 87 5 Inventory of Police Department Equipment 92 6 Firefighting Apparatus in Montvale 93 7 Inventory of DPW Equipment 97 8 Inventory of Existing Open Space and Recreation Facilities, Borough of Montvale, New Jersey 109 9 Inventory of Vacant Land Which is Suitable for Open Space or Recreational Facilities, Borough of Montvale, New Jersey 113 10 Designated Historic Landmarks in the Borough of Montvale 128 11 Sites Deemed Worthy of Historic Landmark Designation in the Borough of Montvale 137 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION A. Introduction The Borough of Montvale is a mature suburban community located in northern Bergen County on the New York State border (see Map 1). The Borough encompasses an area of four (4) square miles and borders Upper Saddle River to the west, Woodcliff Lake and Park Ridge to the south, River Vale to the south and east (all in Bergen County, New Jersey) and the Town of Orangetown (Village of Pearl River) and Town of Ramapo (Village of Chestnut Ridge) to the north in Rockland County, New York State. In the year 2000, the total population of Montvale was 7,034 persons, a slight increase over the 1990 population of 6,946 persons. The Borough’s population was estimated to be 7,306 in 2005. B. Purpose The purpose of the master plan is to provide the Borough of Montvale with a comprehensive guide for the future growth and development of the community. The last full revision to the Montvale Mas- ter Plan occurred in 1997; since then a Reexamination of the Master Plan occurred in 2005. Earlier Master Plans or reexaminations occurred in 1969 and in 1986. This master plan was prepared with guidance of the Montvale Planning Board by the Borough’s planning consultant, Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. (PPSA), a planning and real estate consultant. C. Brief History of Montvale Prior to setting forth the goals and objectives and recommendations for guiding growth and devel- opment for a community for the next 10 to 15 years, the realistic future horizon for a comprehensive master plan, it is useful to understand the appreciate the history of the community, notably the peo- ple, as well as the social, economic and political forces and the major developments that spurred its growth and shaped its physical form. Montvale has a long and varied history, and much of Mont- vale’s physical form is attributable to land use and development decisions made over the past cen- tury and a half. 1. Early History The Pascack Valley, of which Montvale is a part, was originally utilized as hunting and fishing grounds for a number of Native American tribes, referred to as the Lenni-Lenape, prior to the early settlement by Europeans, mostly of Dutch origin, in the early seventeenth century. The first re- corded history of the Lenni-Lenape occupying the Pascack Valley by white settlers to the area, indi- cated that communities were organized around familial associations, dependent mostly on fishing and hunting, and who coexisted peacefully with one another, as well as with the early white settlers. The earliest of such settlers in the Pascack Valley were mostly of Dutch descent. These settlers were farmers who grew crops and raised animals to support their families’ needs. Eventually many - 1 - CHESTNUT RIDGE ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY BERGEN COUNTY, NJ MONTVALE Y A W K R A UPPER P E T RIVER VALE A SADDLE T S N RIVER E D R A G PARK Approx Scale in Feet: 0 2,000 4,000 RIDGE Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. 2008 SADDLE WOODCLIFF RIVER LAKE Map 1 Regional Location Master Plan for the Borough of Montvale, Bergen County, NJ of the farmers in the area began to specialize in vegetables and apples and strawberries for sale in New York markets. From 1710 until the last quarter of the 18th century, Montvale was in the north- ern part of New Barbados Township, which encompassed a substantial portion of Bergen County from the Rockland County border in the north to Newark Bay in the south. In 1775, the northern half was broken off and became known as Harrington Township. In 1840 it was subdivided again, to be- come the Township of Washington. The Township of Washington at the time encompassed an area from Rockland County in New York State to the north, Oradell (as we know it today) to the south, and from the Hackensack River on the east to the Saddle River to the west. In 1871 the New Jersey and New York railroad extended the Pascack Valley Line to Montvale, the last station on the line in New Jersey. Up to that point in time, Montvale was predominantly an agri- cultural community.