Hawthorne attorney flags Pan Chemical and Hawthorne Chevy sites in affordable‑housing plan

Borough Attorney Michael Pasqua told the Hawthorne council on May 7 that the planning board will consider closing out a redevelopment study for the Pan Chemical site and will review a housing element and fair‑share plan that the borough hopes to endorse.

Pasqua said the Pan Chemical site (one Washington) is contaminated and vacant but is likely to be counted as developable within a 10‑year planning horizon because cleanup is underway and a developer has expressed interest. He warned that if the borough excludes such sites from the housing calculation, developers could pursue builder’s‑remedy lawsuits that would cede density decisions to courts rather than local officials.

The Hawthorne Chevy site, Pasqua said, sits in a downtown NP district and, if redeveloped, is likely to be mixed‑use rather than strictly residential. The attorney and planning staff intend to provide the council with the housing element and fair‑share plan and supporting realistic development potential analysis; the documents were to be delivered to council by May 23 and the planning board’s closeout was being considered on June 3.

Pasqua urged the council to adopt zoning and plans that articulate the borough's preferred densities and forms so the municipality can defend its choices in court. He said prior developer proposals had been over‑dense and that the borough is seeking balanced redevelopment that accounts for infrastructure and school capacity.

Council members pressed staff on who determines whether a contaminated site is “clean enough” for residential use; the attorney and other staff said that cleanup and site suitability are overseen by a licensed site remediation professional (LSRP) with DEP oversight. Officials noted uncertainty in RDP (realistic development potential) estimates and warned that state and court processes will ultimately shape the borough’s obligations.