Morristown council hears update on Green development plans, and affordable housing programs

As Morristown prepares to explore condemnation to spur development near the Green, there may be signs of movement.

The town anticipates a proposal shortly for the vacant buildings at 2-10 Washington St., across the street from the vacant storefronts and empty former Century 21 department store fronting the historic square along North Park Place.

That’s according to Mayor Tim Dougherty, speaking Tuesday at a hybrid council meeting where new affordable housing grants and loans also were discussed.

“We’re all very tired of it,” Dougherty told a resident frustrated by the downtown vacancies. The Washington Street buildings have sat empty since the law firm Schenck Price left in 2010.

All the properties are owned by David Brown, who has a contract to sell them to Accurate Builders & Developers, Dougherty said.

Accurate is the Lakewood company redeveloping the former Newark Bears stadium into a giant apartment/retail complex.

Brown has declined to discuss the contract and Accurate has not responded to Morristown Green’s inquiries.

The mayor said the pandemic has not helped matters. “I was told Century 21 had a 65-year lease before COVID hit,” he said. The retail chain declared bankruptcy in 2020 and the Morristown store closed that December.

That same month, the town planning board declared the Washington Street buildings a “condemnation area in need of redevelopment” — a warning shot across Brown’s bow.

Now, at the direction of the mayor and council, the board is poised this week to authorize a similar condemnation study for Brown’s holdings on North Park Place.

“If it stays stalled, the town has the tools through condemnation, to then go out and seek a developer and to get that filled and developed,” Dougherty said.

Though he doubts the former Century 21 site will see another big-box store, “I’m optimistic that something great is going to go there on that whole block,” the mayor said.

ROOF REPAIRS, RENT RELIEF

The council also heard a presentation by CGP&H, Morristown’s affordable housing consultants, about a pair of programs stemming from the town’s 2019 settlement with the Fair Share Housing Center.

One program may disburse $650,000 from its affordable housing trust fund for forgivable loans for improvements to homes and apartments occupied by low- and moderate-income residents.

A maximum of $24,000 per property is available, on a first come, first served basis, to enable these properties to satisfy health and safety codes. This might mean new roofs or windows, or repairs to electrical systems and foundations. Owners who hold onto their properties for a decade won’t have to repay the loans, according to CGP&H.

The other program has earmarked $60,000 from the trust to fund a month’s rent relief for qualified renters in deed-restricted affordable units.

CGP&H representatives said the town will share information on how to apply for these funds soon. Council members acknowledged feeling perplexed by the details, which they only received a few days ago in a pair of policy manuals.

Yet they unanimously passed resolutions to adopt the manuals, as required by the Fair Share settlement.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

The council also unanimously approved a resolution endorsing the budget of the Morristown Partnership–even though Council President Sandi Mayer admitted the council knew little about the spending plan because the nonprofit had submitted few details.

The Partnership oversees the downtown Special Improvement District, collecting fees from businesses for streetscape beautification, and for promotions including the fall and Christmas festivals on the Green and the annual farmers market.

Council members went ahead with their vote after assurances from town Clerk Margot Kaye and town Attorney David Minchello that they will get a second crack at the Partnership budget next month.

Mayer also asked residents to wear orange on June 2 for National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Orange is what hunters wear for protection from other hunters; friends of Hadiya Pendleton adopted the color after the teen was shot dead a decade ago on a Chicago playground, a week after marching in President Obama’s second inaugural parade.

Dougherty gave a proclamation to local members of Moms Demand Action, who staged a Morristown rally this month for common-sense national gun laws.

Residents Miranda Braemer and Sarah Anderson lobbied for a town program to encourage youths to paint murals around town–as the two of them did a few summers ago in town hall for the Shade Tree Commission.

The mayor, meanwhile, urged residents to vote here for a town flag. The project is the brainchild of Morristown High School student Max Bellamente. A committee has pared public submissions to three designs.

The town also needs lifeguards; the summer jobs pay up to $17 an hour, the mayor said.

Dougherty fondly remembered Don Kissil, who died this month at age 89. Kissil was secretary of the Southeast Morris County Municipal Utility Authority, and a former town official who was “instrumental in helping me understand how zoning works,” Dougherty said.

For years, Kissil loved to tool around Morristown in his convertible, wearing a propeller-head beanie. But he had a serious side, too.

The son of Russian immigrants, Kissil choked up at a 2017 council meeting while relating how classmates taunted a tearful 9-year-old boy about how then-President Trump was going to deport the boy’s father, an undocumented laborer.

“I eat in an awful lot of restaurants in Morristown. And almost every restaurant that I eat in is either served by or owned by immigrants,” Kissil said. “This is not just a diverse community. This is people we meet every day.”