Swartswood
Swartswood, NJ · Municipal
wrnjradio.com
The Bergen Record
Developer proposes 91-unit Paterson complex amid crowding complaints
PATERSON — A developer wants to build 91 apartments on four properties on North Seventh Street, which, if completed, would be one of the largest housing projects in the 1st Ward in more than a decade. The area where Bent Avenue Real Estate Holdings wants to construct the apartments is zoned for single-family homes and apartment buildings with four units. The developer would need Paterson Zoning Board of Adjustment approval because its plans would surpass the neighborhood’s density regulations. At present, four buildings each containing four apartments stand on the site. They would be demolished under Bent Avenue’s application and replaced by a four-story building containing seven studio apartments, 43 one-bedroom units, 34 two-bedroom units and seven three-bedroom apartments. Story continues below photo gallery. A project of that size requires 158 parking spaces, but the plans provide for 148, the city’s zoning board agenda said. Councilman Michael Jackson, who represents the 1st Ward, said he doesn’t see how the proposal would benefit city residents. “All of this overbuilding is a disservice to Paterson,” Jackson said, adding that the rents being charged for new apartments in the city exceed what residents can afford to pay. Mayor Andre Sayegh’s economic development director,