Montclair Township Council, during an executive session, voted to appoint two new members to the Montclair Planning Board.
Geoffrey Borshof and Thamar Campbell join the board, replacing Anthony Ianuale and Carmel Loughman. The Montclair Planning Board consists of nine members and two alternate members. The council appointed Borshof and Campbell, per the resolution, as Class IV members. Jacob Nieman was reappointed as an alternate.
The office of the township clerk filed the resolution this week. The executive session vote took place at the Feb. 13 council meeting where four council members were in attendance: Mayor Sean Spiller, Councilor at Large Roger Terry, Third Ward Councilor Lori Price Abrams and Councilor at Large Robert Russo.
Borshof is founder and partner at Mosaic Strategies Group, design and tech agency. Campbell is the director of digital product management for Macys.
The board’s responsibilities include reviewing development applications for site plans and subdivisions. The board also makes recommendations to the council on zoning ordinances involving land use and on redevelopment plans.
Ianuale and Loughman had served since 2016. Borshof and Campbell received four votes according to the resolution. In a message to Montclair Local, Councilor Russo said “no individual names were mentioned or voted on.” Russo went on to say he supported the reappointment of Ianuale and Loughman and objected to the new appointments.
During their long service on the board, Ianuale and Loughman sat through and weighed in on two different development plans for Lackawanna Plaza.
In September 2023, the Montclair Planning Board voted to recommend to the council that the Lackawanna Plaza Redevelopment Plan was inconsistent with Montclair’s Master Plan.
The council, in a 4-2-1 vote, voted to approve Lackawanna Plaza in October 2023. Two groups have filed lawsuits challenging the plan. One Greenwood LLC filed a suit naming Montclair Planning Board as a defendant, along with the Township of Montclair and BDP Holdings.
I still remember Mr Ianuale’s insight to call out the Midtown Parking Deck’s ADA access non-compliance. Which was ignored. Which cost taxpayers a half million in pocket change. Ms Loughman was no slouch. She was always prepared and willing to spend whatever amount of her time to try and get it right. I didn’t agree, sometimes vehemently with them on numerous issues, but all of what they did was in service to us.