Montclair Township Council Hears From COVID Task Force’s Co-Chairs, Begins a Extends Moratorium on Rent Control – TAPinto.net

MONTCLAIR, NJ = The Montclair Township Council had a lot on its agenda at its March 16 meeting, receiving a presentation from the co-chairs of the town’s COVID-19 Recovery Task Force and dealing with the fallout from the unsuccessful effort to avoid the choice of either a referendum or a repeal of the township’s still-unenacted rent-control ordinance.  Various resolutions, despite being passed unanimously, raised questions from some of the councilors.

During the meeting, R-21-046 was passed, which extends the rent increase moratorium through June 30. This prevents any increase in the amount paid in rent or any additional charges by residential tenants in all residential rental units in the Township.

The meeting began with Shante Palmer and David Pascrell briefing Mayor Sean Spiller and the councilors on their task force’s efforts to help the local economy and residents recover from the COVID-19 pandemic that, in Montclair, has already led to some permanent business closures, isolated residents, and forced the council to meet partially, then completely, remotely since March 2020.  Palmer and Pascrell explained that the purpose of their group is to provide resources for the community and receive feedback for its needs while identifying areas on which to focus more sharply.   The three committees of the task force – the residents and community committee, the small-business committee and the nonprofit committee – have been closely engaged with their respective constituencies.

The residents and community efforts have been focused on getting as many Montclair residents vaccinated against COVID as possible by targeting residents with limited Internet access and reaching out to them through the Postal Service.  As many as 728 residents, most of which are in the Fourth Ward, have been contacted through postal mail about vaccinations, with efforts so far resulting in a vaccination rate of 5 percent of postal-mail recipients and 10 percent with appointments.  The task force has been working with groups such as Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place and the health committee of the local NAACP chapter.

In regard to local businesses, Palmer and Pascrell highlighted efforts to learn what their needs are and find ways to ease access to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds for small businesses, particularly restaurants. As many as 179 surveys from the task force have been given to small businesses and returned, allowing the small-business committee to help them through the pandemic and assist them with opportunities for grants and financial relief.  The task force is instigating a new Shop Eat Repeat campaign to encourage Montclair residents to frequent local retailers and eateries with promotions and information for consumers about local businesses.  The goal, Palmer and Pascrell said, is to ease the transition into the post-COVID economy when the pandemic ends.   Web seminars are planned for this spring for businesses to learn about PPP forgiveness and state grant programs. 

Palmer and Pascrell also explained the efforts of the task force’s nonprofit committee to help nonprofits do the best possible job in providing services.  The task force found that several nonprofits would like to emphasize key issues, with racial justice being at the top of list, followed by affordable housing, mental-health programs, and low-income children’s education.  Despite the drastic budget cuts that nonprofit groups had to endure in 2020, Palmer and Pascrell found these groups to be highly resilient, with most of them surviving and continuing to serve people in need and also showing interest in working directly with the township.  Mayor Spiller praised the task force’s co-chairs for their diligent collection of data and their ability to maximize resources, calling their job “no easy task.”    

A more difficult task for the council has been establishing rent control, with the April 2020 ordinance in its eleventh month in limbo.  Township Clerk Angelese Bermudez Nieves, per a court order from Judge Jeffrey Beacham, had to certify the petition from the Montclair Property Owners Association (MPOA) demanding that the township repeal the ordinance within twenty days unless the MPOA withdraws the petition – not likely to happen – or allow a referendum no less than forty days and no more than sixty days from the last day the MPOA has to withdraw the petition. 

Township Attorney Ira Karasick said he would file an appeal by the end of the week, and he said he should know in six to eight weeks whether a referendum is inevitable.

The council passed an ordinance amending zoning rules for the township in keeping with the master plan, though Fourth Ward Councilor David Cummings had a question about setback rules.   He was concerned about unintended consequences involving single and multi-family dwellings and subdivisions.  He essentially wanted to know if there was a possibility of new lots being created from open space on larger lots that would affect setbacks.  Township Manager Tim Stafford said that each zone includes an explanation for how the front setback is measured, and Councilor-at-Large Peter Yacobellis added that the new language guiding setback measurements does not in fact allow for new lots.  He heard this directly from Planning Director Janice Talley, who was originally supposed to brief the council at this meeting on affordable housing but was apparently unable to. 

Among the resolutions considered was a resolution authorizing a shared-services agreement in which Montclair would share its deputy court administrator with Livingston.  Councilor-at Large Robert Russo asked if this meant that Montclair would be able to hire a substitute judge, prosecutor or defender in the event of conflicts of interest.  Manager Stafford explained that Livingston was “in significant need” for administrative services, and that this would have little impact on the Montclair municipal court without the need to hire additional personnel.  The council passed the resolution unanimously.  Noting a payment to attorney Jason Santarcangelo, who represents Montclair in handling abandoned properties, Second Ward Councilor Robin Schlager asked if Santarcangelo could provide an updated report on the number of such properties, and Manager Stafford said he could arrange for that.  

Among the comments from the public, members of the group Montclair Beyond Policing reiterated its call for more money to be diverted from the police to community groups in handling issues like mental-health incidents, which they said would be more cost-effective and reduce the number of police interactions with mental-health patients, many of whom are black and inevitably face dangerous situations at the hand of law enforcement.  Resident Gail Abramowitz asked if it was possible to get COVID vaccines for seniors from Hackensack University Medical Center / Mountainside given the difficulty in getting vaccines form Essex County.  Mayor Spiller said the township has been receiving vaccines and has a plan to get them to seniors in high-density areas in town.

Mayor Spiller closed the meeting with the hope that Montclair could continue to work its way out of the pandemic, thanking residents for helping each other out.