Residents meet on CHCC plan to build 258 apartments in Sicomac area
More than 90 residents from Wyckoff and Hawthorne met in August to hear presentations on the coming CHCC development proposal from the Save the Woods organization (www.savethewoods.org). In addition to more traffic in the area, residents are concerned about increased run-off from the site, now undeveloped. Run-off is expected to flow into the stream going through Deep Voll Ravine and from there into Goffle Brook. For a newspaper account of the meeting, see:
http://savethewoods.org/news_clips/HawthornePress-8-16-07.html
The CHCC in Wyckoff is thought to be revising plans to be
submitted to the towns of Wyckoff and Hawthorne for a major complex of
258 apartments 
to
be built on 19 acres of forest stretching between Wyckoff and Hawthorne.
The planned structures will rise four stories high and cover an area equal
to 14 football fields. To accommodate the large increase in traffic caused
by the project, parts of Sicomac Avenue will be expanded to four lanes.
In particular, residents do not want a repeat of the flooding problems
generated from the almost-complete Lafayette Hills complex on Lafayette
Avenue Extension just over the Wyckoff border in Hawthorne.
The land is currently zoned for single-family homes with minimum lots
of 25,000 square feet (Wyckoff) and 18,750 square feet (Hawthorne) so
variances will be required for both change of use and steep slopes. Other
variances, including for height, may also be required.
More than 70 residents attended a Hawthorne town council meeting on June
6 to express their concern with the CHCC plans.
The tract is 19 pristine acres of upland forest which is an important
watershed and is home to deer, fox, woodland turtles, and thousands of
mature trees and woodland plants.
For more information and to sign up for email updates, visit www.SaveTheWoods.org.