@Mark Bonamo, we tried to persuade Mr. Pineles to put this windowless monstrosity in his backyard but he NIMBY'ed us!
@Mayor Melfi, you can count on the ProspectAvenueCoalition (
prospectavenuecoalition@yahoo.com) in conjunction with Summit and Overlook Avenues to not stop until we see an LTACH with a lovely wisteria filled park being built in Verona, New Jersey.
The Baridge House, The Camelot and The Blair House also had residents/neighbors meet with Mr. Zisa and other Council members. These meetings have been extremely well attended and are remarkably effective in rallying and informing the masses.
Hackensack Chronicle
Not in our backyard: City, residents to fight project
(by Mark J. Bonamo - June 29, 2009)
The close to 75 residents of the Whitehall high-rise building and other Prospect Avenue high-rises who met with City Attorney Joseph Zisa in the Whitehall’s basement on June 18 were looking for answers about a controversial construction project. And Zisa had an answer.
“This is all about the money,” Zisa said, referring to the proposed construction of a 24-story acute-care medical facility on Prospect Avenue. “The property is pretty much across the street from this one and there are some serious problems with the project.”
Zisa was joined by Mayor Michael Melfi as both city officials and residents expressed their concerns about a project that could significantly impact the quality of life of those residents living on or around Prospect Avenue.
Project owner also runs other facilities Bergen Passaic Long Term Acute Care Hospital LLC is seeking to obtain site-plan approval for the project, which would be built at 329 Prospect Ave. According to deed records, the company purchased the property, presently occupied by a residential home, in 2007 for $1.33 million.
If built, the facility, which city officials have indicated will have a ground floor of 7,250 square feet, would primarily provide adult day care and dialysis, as well as other medical services, and would include several driveways and an underground parking garage. City officials have also stated that the company will need more than a dozen variances in order to complete the project, including variances for use, parking and lot size. The site is currently zoned for residential and multi-family buildings.
Richard Pineles, the president of Bergen Passaic Long Term Acute Care Hospital LLC, also owns Prospect Heights Care Center, a 180-bed nursing home facility located close to the site, as well as Regent Care Center, a nursing home on Polifly Road. Pineles responded to a previous phone call seeking comment about the project by stating that it was company policy not to comment on a project that is pending and that is being proposed to the public.
Residents, officials display ire about project Zisa was blunt with his assessment of the project.
“This project is scary to me,” he said. “They have a very small piece of property on Prospect Ave., and three pieces of property on Summit Ave. they want to put five stories of underground parking under the Summit Ave. properties.”
“Summit Ave. has always been a one-family [residential] zone,” continued Zisa. “By allowing them to build under Summit Ave., you’re now allowing a commercial developer to encroach on that one-family zone. To me, that is a very dangerous precedent to set.”
“We really believe that this is a project that is terrible for Hackensack . It is not only bad for the character of Prospect Avenue and Summit Ave., it’s terrible for everyone who needs to get through town,” added Melfi, noting that the project would exacerbate traffic flow problems between Route 4 and Route 80.
After several people present at the meeting also voiced concerns about the neighborhood’s atmosphere and traffic in the wake of the potential project, longtime resident Jack McKinney dramatically pointed to another concern raised by the project: property values.
“If we don’t stop these people, we are going to virtually destroy our property,” McKinney said. “If you want to sell your place, sell it now. Because if these people come in, you couldn’t give it away. You’ve got to find some way to stop these people.”
Zoning Board meetings critical
Some residents have expressed concern about the considerable legal fees that could be incurred fighting this project, including the $125-per-hour standard municipal rate that the city is paying Zisa to speak at several high-rise resident meetings. However, Melfi defended the expenditure as money well spent.
“This is too important of an issue to not keep the momentum going. That’s why the council has decided to allow this to happen,” he said. “This is a slippery slope issue. If a high-rise building encroaches on Summit Avenue, all Summit Avenue could fall. The residents need to be informed about this issue, and have the knowledge that they need to come to the zoning board meetings, step up, and fight this.”
While residents and the administration have disagreed on controversial issues in the recent past, the majority of those present at the Whitehall meeting seemed to be strongly against the 24-story medical facility project.
“I’ve lived in Hackensack all my life, and I can remember when the whole area was beautiful,” said Sal Presti, 80. “This project will make it much worse. Unfortunately, money is the whole thing.”
“Traffic is atrocious now on Prospect Ave.,” added Presti’s sister, Carmela Rivers, 81. “We do not need this. We are vehemently against it.”
In expressing her opposition to the project, a Bristol House resident who was present at the Whitehall meeting pointed to existing difficulties encountered during nighttime walks on Prospect Ave.
“We have a lot of cars going down the street at 9:15 p.m.,” she said. “It’s a nice neighborhood to walk up and down in, but it’s hard to cross the street most of the time. I hope that this project can be defeated.”
City officials emphasized that a very important way to defeat the proposed project is to attend the city zoning board meetings at which the proposal is discussed. The next meeting was scheduled for June 25, after press deadline. They emphasized that while the council appoints the board members, the zoning board acts as an independent entity from the council.
“If nobody shows up, why should the zoning board think it’s a bad project?” asked Zisa. “If you don’t want to show up to these meetings, don’t complain after this is over. If you want to defeat the project… you have to go to the meetings.”
“You must stay engaged,” added Melfi. “You cannot stop. If we stop, we will fail.”
E-mail: bonamo@northjersey.com
