Meeting: Thursday March 5, 2020 @ 7pm Wandell School
Note: This meeting is only open to Saddle River residents
The residents of Saddle River who are reeling after the news of the Affordable Housing plan for their town are fighting back.
Urgent Meeting!
Concerned Saddle River Property owners:
Friends and Neighbors:
Please come to Wandell School (Multipurpose Room) this Thursday evening, March 5th, at 7pm for a meeting of Saddle River residents in order to discuss the ongoing affordable housing issue. This is strictly a meeting of residents; it is NOT a Borough or Council meeting.
As many of you know, our town entered into a settlement agreement on February 2, 2020 with the Fair Share Housing Center and Saddle River Investors, LLC, the Intervenor. Due to the confidential nature of the settlement negotiations, our residents only learned of the settlement after it was too late and we did not have an opportunity to object or input on its terms. Since the settlement, there have been two meetings for the benefit of our residents, a Special Council Meeting and an Affordable Housing Presentation at Borough Hall which explained the affordable housing process and the details of the settlement agreement. If you attended either of the two meetings, you know that many of your friends and neighbors, as well as our friends in neighboring towns, were very upset about some of the terms of the settlement agreement.
At this point, we have two options. We can do nothing and commiserate about what we don’t like about the settlement, and simply be spectators as the plan is implemented, and as its terms are thrust upon our town with devastating repercussions. Our other option is to come together as friends and neighbors for the benefit of the town that we love, and object to what we didn’t previously have an opportunity to object to. It’s very clear that the hundreds of residents that attended the two borough meetings would like to come together and have a voice in what happens in our town. Many of you have already expressed a willingness to contribute your time and money towards this effort to secure a better outcome for Saddle River and the time to take action is now. Time is of the essence!
THE PLAN
We intend to hire attorney Alexander Carver immediately. Judge Carver is a retired Superior Court Judge who specializes in many areas including zoning and Mount Laurel land use. We have interviewed several attorneys and are thrilled that Judge Carver and his team are willing to represent us. Please see his complete bio here:
https://harwoodlloyd.com/attorneys/alexander‐h‐carver‐iii/
We will meet this Thursday at Wandell School at 7pm. Judge Carver will attend the meeting and he will discuss possible legal options that are available to us. He will also be available for Questions and Answers.
If you like what you hear, please join our effort to improve the outcome for our town. We will need you to contribute funds, which will be used solely to cover the expenses of this effort. We anticipate significant legal and other professional fees and will ask you to contribute as much as possible, in increments of $1,000.
Please bring a check.
The residents of Saddle River are law abiding, honorable and good people who have every intention of meeting our obligations under the Fair Housing Act of 1985 and maintaining compliance under the Mount Laurel doctrine. We believe we can do this in a way that is consistent with Saddle River’s Master Plan and in a way that will have the least impact on our environment, schools, roads, property taxes, and home values. These things matter, and if we can preserve them and meet our obligations at the same time, Saddle River will remain the same beautiful and desirable place to live that it is today.
Please join us this Thursday at Wandell School at 7pm.
If you are not able to attend this meeting but are interested in supporting this effort, please send an email to srnjresident@gmail.com
