ARMENIAN HOME FOR THE AGED IN EMERSON PRESENTS REVISED APPLICATION
BY KIMBERLY REDMOND
NorthJersey.com
Dec 2 2011
NJ
If the Emerson Municipal Land Use Board grants approval to a project
proposed by the Armenian Home for the Aged, one that seeks to construct
a new facility and then knock down the existing one, neighboring
residents have promised to pursue legal action against the borough.
Testimony on the application resumed on Thursday, Dec. 1 before a
large crowd of residents who live in the neighborhood surrounding the
Main Street nursing home. Thursday’s meeting marked the applicant’s
first appearance in two months before the board, since, according
to the applicant’s attorney Allen Bell, the time was used to modify
existing plans “based upon concerns” voiced by residents in September.
Some of those concerns included increased truck traffic, additional
flooding issues and diminished quality of life.
According to the plans filed, the new building, a 2.5 story, 120-bed
health care facility, would be constructed on the west side of the lot
on 70 Main St. The existing 86-bed home, located on the eastern part
of the property bordering Glenwood Avenue, would be demolished upon
construction of the new facility and the patients would be transferred.
The first revision calls for the elimination of a service driveway
on Clinton Street and a proposed loading dock on the northeastern
portion of the building that will be accessed through the parking
lot. The loading dock area will have a 10-foot wall extension to
shield the view of trucks from Broad Street, Bell said. The attorney
noted that all deliveries will take place through that loading dock
and there will be no truck traffic on Clinton Street.
The next change regards relocation of a trash receptacle and generator
to the eastern side of the lot, away from nearby residences. Also,
a small driveway on the western portion of the building will now be
used solely for hearses.
The last revision increases the size of an existing easement pipe
from 15 inches to 36 inches, an improvement that Bell said will
“greatly enhance” drainage at the “problematic intersection” of
Broad and Samuel streets. The attorney said that between a proposed
underground retention system and the larger easement pipe, water
runoff from the building and the street will be handled adequately.
According to Bell, the applicant is not seeking any waivers since
the proposal conforms to all regulations of zoning ordinances and
all requirements of subdivision and site plan review ordinances.
When neighborhood residents first learned of the plan last summer, they
began attending meetings of various borough bodies, including the mayor
and council, land use board and environmental commission, to ensure
that officials are well aware of their concerns. Thursday’s meeting
was no exception, with residents out in full force to reiterate their
concerns. Though the board has not yet completed hearing testimony,
it opted to allow members of the public to speak following nearly
an hour and a half presentation of the applicant’s revisions to
the application.
Theresa Cannata had in hand a petition with over 400 signatures of
residents who she said were opposed to the proposed project and told
the board, “Disaster will be this board’s legacy – because once it
is built, you cannot go back. Emerson will no longer be considered
‘The Family Town’. It will be known as ‘The Town that Constantly
Floods’ and no one will want to buy a home. …Before you vote, put
yourself in our shoes and remember this – the residents who will be
affected by this injustice will be filing a class action lawsuit if
this development is approved.”
Richard Massiello, who said he’s resided on Clinton Street for nearly
50 years, pointed out that the area already has “a high water table”
and believes that if the applicant “plans on building in that field,
[then] their architect is a jackass.”
Massiello, who called the plan “ridiculous,” told the board approving
it would be “overbuilding in a residential neighborhood.”
“It’s going to look like Fort Apache. Or Osama Bin Laden’s compound,”
he said, drawing applause from the public.
Ken Hoffman, a former borough councilman and former environmental
commission member, said he believes “the project that the Armenian Home
has proposed in no way complements the quiet residential neighborhood
surrounding it.”
“In fact – it potentially does the opposite. It will impact the
neighborhood not only with quality of life issues, but with serious
and real threats of flooding, erosion, sedimentation, etc.,” he
continued. “…if this application is approved, I have no doubt
that the neighbors and the Borough of Emerson will suffer serious
consequences down the road, both figuratively and literally.
…Remember, once a project is built you can never un-do it. Do the
right thing for the neighborhood and the town.”
Board of Education President John DiNiro attended Thursday’s meeting
to request the land use board hold off on voting. According to DiNiro,
the board has “concerns about water coming onto our property at the
high school” and recently retained an engineer to study the area. The
board president requested that the board of education have some time
to review the results and coordinate with the borough engineer.
Board Chairman Mark Orecchio said residents will have a further
opportunity to comment on the application prior to the board’s
final vote.
The final word on the project does not technically lie with the
land use board. According to Board Attorney Christopher Martin,
the board can OK the project, however, it would be contingent upon
state approval.
Given that the nursing home falls within the 300-foot buffer of a
Category 1 (C1) waterway on the Emerson Jr./Sr. High School property,
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approval is required
for the project.
According to the DEP, these types of waterways are designated by the
state for a variety of reasons, including recreational or ecological
significance. The body on the high school property, a manmade ditch,
flows into the Oradell Reservoir and is therefore considered to be
apart of the Hackensack River watershed region. The DEP says that
all bodies within that particular watershed are considered to have
“exceptional water supply significance” because they are waterways
that drain to a source of drinking water supply.
Bell said the applicant will go to the DEP after the land use board
wraps up its proceedings and “will comply with whatever necessary
DEP permits are needed.”
Also, he said, since the project is a nursing home, it must receive
approval from the New Jersey Department of Health.
“There’s a fairly extensive review process that this home has to
go through, separate and apart from the DEP. This [land use board
application] is just the first step in the process. It’s the first
step, but it’s a necessary step,” said Bell. About five years ago,
the land use board approved a previous plan, one designed to expand and
modernize the facility, however, when the applicant went to the state,
it was rejected because it called for some of the home’s residents
to stay at the facility during the construction period. After that,
the applicant headed back to the drawing board to draft up the new
plan currently before the land use board.