January 5th Meeting Summary

On January 5th we had our regular meeting at 7 pm, which was preceded by a special meeting at 6 pm where we went into closed session to discuss some legal matters.

We started off the meeting with the vote on another legal settlement relating to our affordable housing plans. As was previously stated in September, Verona's affordable housing plan was challenged by an entity that wants to develop 251 1/2 Grove. Currently that site is an industrial storage facility. We agreed to a settlement to allow for the building of no more than 84 units of housing, with a 20% set aside for affordable housing. The units would all be available for purchase, including the affordable units. There would be a 30 foot setback from the houses that border of the property, and mature trees will be planted in that buffer area. The "market rate" housing will be a mixture of 2 and 3 bedroom units. No PILOT agreement was part of this settlement.

This settlement is just an outline of the development. The details of this project and the others that were approved by the Town Council will discussed in future meetings of the Town Council and Planning Board between now and March 15th. We are required by law to adopt all of the redevelopment plans, and zoning requirements, before then. After the zoning plans are developed, then the developers have to submit detailed plans, including traffic studies, to the Planning Board for approval. That process will stretch out over 2026 and beyond. If you have any questions on the process, you should email the entire Council here: https://www.veronanj.org/councilcontactform. If you live near this development or others in our affordable housing plan, I suggest you put all of the Planning Board meetings in your calendar and set reminders to check agendas so that you don't miss any meetings.

We only had one resolution of significance, which was our 2026 meeting schedule.

The last part of the meeting was to appoint volunteers to our boards and committees. I do want to thank everyone who is serving on our boards and committees and everyone who applied. We did have a lot of residents who wanted to be appointed to the Planning Board, Neighborhood Traffic and Safety Advisory Committee, and Recreation Advisory Committee. It is not easy to pick amongst so many qualified applications. If someone did not get appointed, please note that we have immediate openings on the Historic Preservation Committee and the Open Space Committee. We need volunteers help in both areas. You can apply here: https://www.veronanj.org/boardsandcommittees

One action during the appointment process, however, broke our informal norms that the Council had been operating under in recent years. The Council Majority again voted to remove an active member of the Planning Board who was up for re-appointment and wanted to be re-appointed. The first time this occurred was in July 2024 (https://www.christinemcgrathverona.com/post/july-1st-meeting-summary). This time, Council received several letters of support for this Planning Board member's reappointment, including from two members of the Planning Board, but the Council Majority voted other volunteers in and purposely removed him.

Prior to these two removals from the Planning Board, Verona Town Council members have always reappointed members that wanted to continue to serve. Councilwoman Holland and I were given no specific information on why this member was not being reappointed. Neither the Chair of the Planning Board (who is also the Deputy Mayor's wife), nor the Mayor or Deputy Mayor have had any private conversations with either of us on why they did not want to re-appoint this member. I am not aware that the member violated any policies, and his attendance at meetings was not in question.

Elected officials in other towns, especially partisan ones, play these appointment games to sweep out allies of political opponents and those that have differing opinions. I am not sure what happened here. Over time, Council actions like this may impact who applies for these positions. On the Planning Board, where Verona's Mayor has a guaranteed seat, it's my personal opinion that the Council Majority has sent a message to all volunteers on that independent governing body. If you say the wrong thing, hold a differing position, or vote a certain way on a project - maybe your re-appointment will be at risk depending on who holds the political power.  With all of the norms that are being eroded at the national level, I am deeply upset with this move.

If you have any comments for feedback for the Council, you can send it to all of us here: https://www.veronanj.org/councilcontactform.