Residents Slam Waterview Proposal at Council Meeting

Development foes made their views heard, but did not appear in numbers enough to shut meeting down.

The sight of police cars outside of Town Hall as people gathered for Tuesday's Parsippany Township Council agenda meeting gave many cause for concern. A host of members of Citizens for Health, Safety and Welfare (formerly Don't Rezone Waterview) filed into the municipal building with the expectation that the controversial proposal regarding putting a mixed-use retail and residential complex on 26.6 currently undeveloped acres of Waterview Plaza might be discussed.  And some hoped, as had happened during a January Planning Board hearing on the matter, that enough people opposed to the project might attend that the building's fire capacity limit—188 people—might be surpassed, forcing a shutdown of the meeting. That did not happen. Only about…

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Letters to the Editor

Impeach the Planning Board, Says Waterview Development Opponent

Patch wants to know what you think.

At Monday's Planning Board meeting, the board was supposed to cross-examine the developers' plan through his representative. None of that happened. In fact, the model of the proposed development was not there as it had been at the previous meeting. Wanting to challenge and demonstrate the ambiguities that existed in the developers' EcoScience report regarding their claims about Waterview's wetlands and wetlands transition zones was impossible. The developer swears by this "science report" and apparently the Planning Board has swallowed the bait. Last night we discovered that because the property has not been developed some injustice is being done. On these grounds they opted  to support the developer over the community. Asking the people …

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Waterview Development Foes Gear Up for Fight

Grassroots residents group wins nonprofit status, gets serious in its battle to prevent Whole Foods Market project from proceeding.

If some business and government officials think they will enjoy an easy time in efforts to construct a retail and residential development including Whole Foods Market on Parsippany's Waterview Plaza, they had better think again. Citizens from the township and neighboring Mountain Lakes have united under the seven-year-old banner of Don't Rezone Waterview to stop the project from going forward. And now armed with a new federally approved nonprofit status, the group has the ability to raise funds to finance a battle to protect a way of life. Right now, the matter is in front of the Parsippany Planning Board, which will hold what may be the final night of deliberations Feb. 11. The board is deciding whether to recommend that the Township …

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Poll: Should Parsippany Care What Mt. Lakes Thinks About Waterview Plan?

Patch wants to know your opinion.

The proposal before the Parsippany Planning Board to change the zoning of 26.6 acres of Waterview Plaza to allow a mixed-use development including retailers (among them Whole Foods Market) and a townhouse community has elicited strong reactions from the township.  Some residents are all for the plan, citing the need for a natural foods grocer and for any food retailer at all in northwest Parsippany. And many oppose the plan, citing environmental, traffic and quality of life issues. We'll survey our readers on that question on another day. What interests us today is how Parsippany feels about other municipalities getting involved in the matter. On Monday, the Mountain Lakes Borough Council heard a report from its Environmental Commission …

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Metem Expansion Expected to Create Parsippany Jobs

Aerospace and turbine manufacturing firm plans to grow this summer, increasing number of workers it employs.

Metem Corporation, an aerospace firm, is moving forward with plans to expand—which the company says will bring new jobs to Parsisppany. Located on Parsippany Road, the company said it expects to break ground in summer 2013 and boost its workforce. Presently, 170 workers are employed there to build parts used in gas turbines and the aerospace industry. The expansion, approved by the township Planning Board in late 2011, will add 20,000 square feet to its main facility on Parsippany Road, according to NJBiz.com.  CEO Steven Goldthwaite said the exact number of new jobs to come is not known at this time. Metem has plants in Pennsylvania and Hungary, but considers Parsippany its home. The firm has operated in New Jersey since its founding in …

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Whole Foods Plan Bad for Environment, Group Says

Residents of Parsippany and nearby towns voice concerns to Mountain Lakes officials.

The debate surrounding the Parsippany Planning Board's consideration of a plan to turn the Route 46 Waterview Plaza—now zoned for office space—into a mixed-use overlay zone took a road trip Monday evening to Mountain Lakes Borough Hall.  Members of Don't Rezone Waterview come from Parsippany, Mountain Lakes and other nearby towns that vehemently oppose a proposal by RD Realty to put a Whole Foods Market on 26 undeveloped acres at Waterview, along with another big retailer and a 72-unit townhouse community. A group of township residents, including Parsippany Councilman Paul Carifi Jr. and Parsippany Area Chamber of Commerce President Robert J. Peluso, attended a meeting of the Mountain Lakes Borough Council, where the Mountain Lakes …

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Peggy Fitzpatrick

5:37 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

As for me, I also shop at Whole Foods but do NOT want this zoning change to be granted. I would rather continue going to Madison, West Orange or Morristown (soon to have a new Whole Foods in the old A&P grocery store building- imagine that... a town using empty space in a responsible way). Perhaps you would not endorse this zoning change if it was to be imposed on your backyard or neighborhood. I…   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Waterview Development Bad for Parsippany and Mt. Lakes, Says Grassroots Group

Have a grievance to share? A happy opinion to tell? Shoot Patch a Letter to the Editor.

I represent Don't Rezone Waterview, a Parsippany grassroots organization that includes residents of Mountain Lakes. We, along with residents from Rainbow Lakes and other neighboring towns, are banding together in opposition to the proposed rezoning of the Waterview corporate park. The group is comprised mostly of Parsippany residents, led by people who live along Forest Drive whose properties back up against the proposed development.  The first meeting was held at the Parsippany Library earlier this month.  We have been consolidating mailing lists; speaking with lawyers, experts, government officials; developing social media (currently on Yahoogroups), working on public relations and networking with environmental organizations.  In …

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Whole Foods Plan Revision Still Raises Concerns

Large, skeptical crowd—most in opposition—came to Parsippany High to address economic development plan that would bring Whole Foods Market to Parsippany.

A revised Waterview Plaza development plan was presented before a loudly skeptical audience at Monday night's Parsippany Planning Board meeting. About 200 residents turned out for the gathering, which was held at Parsippany High School. On Dec. 17, the last time the board attempted to continue hearings on the proposal at Town Hall, a fire official shut down the meeting because the crowd the discussion attracted exceeded fire standards. The hearing was rescheduled and relocated.  The large numbers attest to strong public reaction against a plan to put a new Whole Foods Market, another unnamed retailer and a 72-unit upscale townhouse community on 26 now-undeveloped acres of Waterview Plaza zoned for office space. That was in evidence Monday …

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Revised Whole Foods Plan to be Presented Monday

Attorneys for Waterview Plaza's developer give Patch advance look at changes.

When the township Planning Board gathers at Parsippany High School Monday night to resume hearing testimony on the proposed Waterview Plaza development project—which would include a new Whole Foods Market—it will see a revised plan that may ease the minds of worried potential neighbors. Attorney Joseph O'Neill of the firm Garofalo & O'Neill, which is representing developer RD Realty, exclusively presented news of the changes to Patch.  RD Realty wants to turn the now-undeveloped land, which presently is zoned only for office space, into an overlay zone, which would allow mixed business and residential use. The developer's plan is to build a Whole Foods Market on the site, along with additional commercial space for retailers and a 72-unit …

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Natalie Davis

5:17 am on Thursday, January 10, 2013

Harland, you had said the article claimed something. No, the article reported someone else claiming something. This is journalism; the article can claim nothing.   more ›