Garwood Won't Fight Westfield Townhome Development

Garwood will not try to thwart the construction of a 16-unit townhome development planned for the Westfield side of Myrtle Avenue, though several residents on the border are concerned about the project's impact on drainage and flooding in the area.

At Tuesday's meeting, after a 30-minute executive session, Borough Attorney Joseph Renaud announced that the council, on his advisement, will bow out from the fight.

"I’ve reviewed the resolution, ordinances and zoning map," reported Renaud after the executive session. "Based upon my review my recommendation to council is that if we were to pursue this, I'm not sure what we would want to achieve on behalf of residents is achievable and the cost of litigation is considerable. Based on my recommendation, council is not going to pursue litigation." 

Previously, borough officials had reviewed the development and the council had attempted to sit down with developers to see what compromises could be made. They also sent a letter expressing to developers the borough's concerns. However, the project is fully compliant with all residential standards, leaving Garwood little room for arguing against it. Developers also rejected attempts to set up a meeting with borough officials.

Renaud went on to say he was reluctant to indicate all the reasoning as to why the fight might not be worth it because he doesn't want to prejudice any resident's ability to fight the development privately. He advised that if any resident is going to pursue challenging it, they have to do so within 45 days of May 23, when the notice of approval was published. 

At council's last meeting, Councilman Bill Nierstedt expressed similar feelings. 

"The Westfield ordinance that created the [townhouse] zone in Westfield was adopted in 1998," said Nierstedt. "It's difficult to really fight against an ordinance that was created 15 years ago."

Residents, including the former mayor Dennis McCarthy, have been vocal about their concerns at several council meetings.

"The first time the brook overflows after this project goes through, I guess we’re going to be looking down the end of the street," said McCarthy at council's last meeting. "It was able to hold everything up to that point and now something's changed. We’re going to look at that change as the culprit."