August 2, 2023

City agreed on November 22, 2022 and obtained a Court Order on January 20, 2023 to allow the over development of 4,000 apartment units without any transparency and public notice to our residents, and now, they are rushing to do so for an agreement they signed last year.

Mayor Frank Huttle III (2010-2018): What follows are Frank Huttle’s public comments given at the Englewood City Council July 11, 2023 meeting in opposition to the actions taken by the Council and Mayor to rezone the entire City enabling real estate developers to build up to 4,000 apartments and overdevelop our community in each of our four ward neighborhoods.  

Over 1,500 residents are impacted by this rezoning plan which would allow real estate developers to acquire 160 acres including our neighbors' homes and properties to build apartment buildings on local streets like Central Ave, Glenwood Parkway, Brayton Street, Lincoln Street, White Street, Hudson Avenue, Armory Street and many others. Even the Englewood Public Library is being rezoned to be an apartment building.  

Some residents are being disproportionately affected by the governing body’s action. Over 60% of the housing is located in Ward 1, 1% in Ward 2, 5% in Ward 3, and over 34% in Ward 4 where the community continues to suffer from flooding and displacement.  

A city government must not, with a stroke of a pen, gut the strategic Master Plan codified in our zoning regulations in order to permit overdevelopment within the city without proper planning, smart planning, and with full transparency to all of us--its residents.  

Other than a rezoning map of our community, no documentation, planning, or studies have been provided on the impacts of traffic, flooding, our school system, fire, police, emergency services, and infrastructure.  

I lent my voice as a resident of Englewood at the July 11th, Council meeting. While I support affordable housing, I categorically oppose the overdevelopment of 4,000 high density apartment buildings scattered throughout the city, in our neighborhoods, in all four wards and in those areas that FEMA has designated as flood zones.  

IT’S TIME TO PAUSE AND GET IT RIGHT!

Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Mayor, and City Council Meeting
Municipal Courtroom
73 South Van Brunt Street
Englewood, N.J.