14 Years Later, Hopatcong Man Gets His Wish

Dave Berchak can finally relax.

It only took 14 years.

Berchak bought land near his home more than a decade ago. And after watching it go into foreclosure, get purchased and end up back on the market, it became his at Tuesday's planning board meeting at borough hall.

"I've been a very patient man," he said.

Berchak partnered with Brad Stehel and one of Stehel's friends to buy the land on Harriet Street, a paper road near Hodes Road and Kynor Avenue—almost on the Hopatcong-Stanhope boarder—a few years back.

Berchak and Co. wanted the land to ensure nobody built behind their homes. He said "it's a quality of life" acquisition.

Legal wrangling ensued. But on Tuesday, the men were allowed to make proper plot-line adjustments that divided the property to specifications upon which they and the town agreed.

Planning board Chairman Robert Daddis said he wanted to resolve the issue, which lingered from last year and resumed at a planning board work session meeting in June.

"We've been dragging this crew back and forth over a yaer, going in and out, in and out," Daddis said. "It would be nice to be able to put the thing to bed and say, if you want to do something…this is what you're going to have to do."

Stehel said he wanted to keep the land untouched.

"It was for resale purpose, originally," he said. "If we ever wanted to do something with the property, it's just already done. Or I could sell it to somebody. Or I could hold onto it. It's just a vacant deeded property than having something attached to your existing lot.

"Nobody was going to live behind us, and we wanted to ensure that. And that's why we wanted three separate lots. Just in the future, if we're still here or if we're not here, we have other options available."

"What's in back of us stays natural now," Berchak added.

Berchak interrupted the planning board meeting to explain his case to the planning board. His venting caused several laughs.

"It's the only reason I've pursued this piece of property," he said before even being sworn in. "And it's gone on for 14 years. All I ever wanted was the 50-foot strip at the bottom [of the property, which extends behind his house]. I don't care who owns the rest."

Berchak said the property cost $26,000 when he first learned it was available, but the price has since almost tripled.