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NorthJersey.com, NJ
Dec 3 2011
Neighbors vow lawsuit if Emerson OKs project
Friday, December 2, 2011
BY CHRIS HARRIS, STAFF WRITER, The Record
Hundreds of residents from the neighborhood surrounding the Armenian
Home for the Aged have signed a petition urging the Land Use Board to
reject a proposed $15 million reconstruction project for the facility.
The 400-signature petition was presented Thursday as the board
continued to hear testimony on the Armenian Home's application to raze
its facility and construct a 2 1/2-story building on the Clinton
Street side of the property.
Resident Theresa Cannata, who presented the petition, said approval of
the project would ensure that "disaster will be this board's legacy."
The residents also threatened to sue if the application is approved.
The home sits on Main Street, toward where the property abuts Glenwood
Avenue. The proposed reconstruction would increase the number of beds
at the home from 86 to 120.
Allen Bell, an attorney representing the home, said several revisions
had been made to the proposal since it was last on the agenda two
months ago.
These modifications, Bell said, were a direct response to fears raised
by residents and board members during previous meetings.
An unruly crowd turned out for Thursday's meeting to oppose the
project. Residents claim the site proposed for the new facility is a
swampland, and that the new building would worsen flooding.
Residents also claim the plans, if approved, would increase traffic to
the neighborhood, compromise drinking water in the area, and diminish
their overall quality of life.
The newest revision of the plans eliminates a previously proposed
service driveway on Clinton Street, and reverse previous plans to use
that same street for truck traffic.
A loading dock on the northeastern side of the proposed building would
be accessible from the parking lot, Bell said. Meanwhile, the new
plans call for a 10-foot wall, to shield trucks making deliveries to
the home from public view.
One resident from the audience compared the newly introduced wall to
"the one Reagan tore down."
The new plans also relocate a Dumpster and generator to the eastern
side of the property. The generator will require hourlong test runs
once a month and be fueled by a 600-gallon underground tank. Both the
Dumpster and generator would be buffered by plantings and masonry
walls, Bell said.
The new plans also include a small driveway on the western portion of
the building as well as a garage, to be used only by hearses "when
needed," Bell said.
The latest plans also increase the size of an existing easement pipe
from 15 inches to 36 inches, which Bell said will improve existing
drainage problems in the area.
Cannata said "the water [will have] nowhere to go but our basements."
Cannata presented photographic evidence of recent ground testing done
at the new home's proposed site, which she said shows the ground is
saturated.
"The residents who will be affected by this injustice will be filing a
class-action lawsuit if this development is approved," Cannata warned,
who also criticized the home's management for a recent article written
for its internal newsletter, comparing those opposed to the new home
to the Ottoman Empire.
Richard Massiello, a 50-year resident of Clinton Street, said the
proposed site has "a high water table," and called the plans
"ridiculous."
Referencing the 10-foot wall added to the plans, Massiello said "it's
going to look like Fort Apache. Or Osama bin Laden's compound."
Ken Hoffman, a former borough councilman and former environmental
commission member, said the project "has way too many unknowns to
receive a confident stamp of approval from the board," and urged the
board "to say `No' to this application now."
Emerson Board of Education President John DiNiro spoke during
Thursday's meeting, and said the district had retained an engineer to
study the home's plans.
DiNiro said the school board is concerned "about water coming onto our
property at the high school," and asked the Land Use Board to delay
its vote until their engineer's report was complete.
The Land Use Board did not vote on the application Thursday night.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/134953628_Neighbors_vow_lawsuit_if_Emerson_OKs_pro ject.html?page=all
From: Baghdasarian
Dec 3 2011
Neighbors vow lawsuit if Emerson OKs project
Friday, December 2, 2011
BY CHRIS HARRIS, STAFF WRITER, The Record
Hundreds of residents from the neighborhood surrounding the Armenian
Home for the Aged have signed a petition urging the Land Use Board to
reject a proposed $15 million reconstruction project for the facility.
The 400-signature petition was presented Thursday as the board
continued to hear testimony on the Armenian Home's application to raze
its facility and construct a 2 1/2-story building on the Clinton
Street side of the property.
Resident Theresa Cannata, who presented the petition, said approval of
the project would ensure that "disaster will be this board's legacy."
The residents also threatened to sue if the application is approved.
The home sits on Main Street, toward where the property abuts Glenwood
Avenue. The proposed reconstruction would increase the number of beds
at the home from 86 to 120.
Allen Bell, an attorney representing the home, said several revisions
had been made to the proposal since it was last on the agenda two
months ago.
These modifications, Bell said, were a direct response to fears raised
by residents and board members during previous meetings.
An unruly crowd turned out for Thursday's meeting to oppose the
project. Residents claim the site proposed for the new facility is a
swampland, and that the new building would worsen flooding.
Residents also claim the plans, if approved, would increase traffic to
the neighborhood, compromise drinking water in the area, and diminish
their overall quality of life.
The newest revision of the plans eliminates a previously proposed
service driveway on Clinton Street, and reverse previous plans to use
that same street for truck traffic.
A loading dock on the northeastern side of the proposed building would
be accessible from the parking lot, Bell said. Meanwhile, the new
plans call for a 10-foot wall, to shield trucks making deliveries to
the home from public view.
One resident from the audience compared the newly introduced wall to
"the one Reagan tore down."
The new plans also relocate a Dumpster and generator to the eastern
side of the property. The generator will require hourlong test runs
once a month and be fueled by a 600-gallon underground tank. Both the
Dumpster and generator would be buffered by plantings and masonry
walls, Bell said.
The new plans also include a small driveway on the western portion of
the building as well as a garage, to be used only by hearses "when
needed," Bell said.
The latest plans also increase the size of an existing easement pipe
from 15 inches to 36 inches, which Bell said will improve existing
drainage problems in the area.
Cannata said "the water [will have] nowhere to go but our basements."
Cannata presented photographic evidence of recent ground testing done
at the new home's proposed site, which she said shows the ground is
saturated.
"The residents who will be affected by this injustice will be filing a
class-action lawsuit if this development is approved," Cannata warned,
who also criticized the home's management for a recent article written
for its internal newsletter, comparing those opposed to the new home
to the Ottoman Empire.
Richard Massiello, a 50-year resident of Clinton Street, said the
proposed site has "a high water table," and called the plans
"ridiculous."
Referencing the 10-foot wall added to the plans, Massiello said "it's
going to look like Fort Apache. Or Osama bin Laden's compound."
Ken Hoffman, a former borough councilman and former environmental
commission member, said the project "has way too many unknowns to
receive a confident stamp of approval from the board," and urged the
board "to say `No' to this application now."
Emerson Board of Education President John DiNiro spoke during
Thursday's meeting, and said the district had retained an engineer to
study the home's plans.
DiNiro said the school board is concerned "about water coming onto our
property at the high school," and asked the Land Use Board to delay
its vote until their engineer's report was complete.
The Land Use Board did not vote on the application Thursday night.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/134953628_Neighbors_vow_lawsuit_if_Emerson_OKs_pro ject.html?page=all
From: Baghdasarian