Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

#5300 - I saw this article on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/10/health.care.questions/index.html

Perhaps residents should try to approach Rothman with a prepared remark at the end of the session should things get out of hand.

SAVE THE DATE - FOURTH HACKENSACK SPECIAL ZONING BOARD MEETING ON WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23RD AT 7 PM IN 3RD FLOOR AUDITORIUM AT CITY HALL 65 CENTRAL AVENUE.

#4984 Article in the Hackensack Chronicle on Friday July 31 should be titled "Architect raked over the coals.... stay tuned for next month's meeting on September 23rd to see if he can survive the grilling from objector's counsel". Shout out to Charles, Tama and Murray who live on Prospect Avenue and want HACKENSACK TO JUST SAY NO. Special shout out to newly elected council member John Labrosse who also came out to voice his opposition to the Pineles project planned for Prospect/Summit Avenues.

Residents irate at zoning board meeting
Friday, July 31, 2009
BY MARK J. BONAMO
Hackensack Chronicle

Architect Michael Szerbaty was just doing his job.

He came to the July 22 zoning board meeting in Hackensack on behalf of the potential project's owner Richard Pineles to explain the ins and outs of the proposed 24-story acute-care medical facility to be built on Prospect Avenue. Pineles did not speak at the meeting. But many members of the over 200-member crowd that packed the council chambers late into the evening spoke out, making it a long night for Szerbaty.

"If this building is constructed, which I hope it isn't, it's going to tie up traffic tremendously," said Prospect Avenue resident Charles Warren, reflecting a common concern of many in the audience. "I am profusely opposed to this structure. It's going to cause all kinds of problems environmentally, as well as with traffic. I don't think that this building belongs in a residential area."

Warren's words were a sample of the sentiments of most in the crowd, who have continued to clog zoning board meetings in the hope of stopping the project.

Controversy over project continues

Pineles is president of Bergen Passaic Long Term Acute Care Hospital LLC, the company that is seeking to obtain site-plan approval for the project, which would be built at 329 Prospect Avenue. According to deed records, the company purchased the property, presently occupied by a residential home, in 2007 for $1.33 million.

If constructed, 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.

Pineles 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. He declined further comment at the July 22 zoning board meeting about the project, stating that it was company policy not to comment about a project that is pending and that is being proposed to the public.

New councilman, residents united in opposition

Newly elected council member John Labrosse attended the meeting, and during a break continued to voice his opposition to the project.

"There are too many other locations in Hackensack that fit this building without affecting the quality of life for residents," he said. "It's really not fair for this building to go up… professional witnesses, as well as local residents, have to come forward in order to make their case against the project."

Prospect Avenue resident Tama Cuperman also came to the meeting and came away with a distinct feeling about the proposed project.

"I'm getting [very aggravated], said Cuperman, 68. "There are lots of people who dislike this building. It doesn't belong where we live."

Other resident complaints centered upon quality of life, property values, traffic and environmental issues, reiterating concerns they have voiced at two previous zoning board meetings held since mid-May.

After the meeting, Prospect Avenue resident Murray Runin also expressed his dismay about the facility potentially being built in his neighborhood.

"I'm more convinced than ever that this doesn't belong there," he said. "It's not the type of business it is that I object to. But it's going to create havoc on Prospect Avenue. The more I hear about it, the worse it gets."

The next zoning board is scheduled for Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 65 Central Ave.

E-mail: bonamo@northjersey.com

#4692

Go tonight!

When the Zoning Board opens the floor to the public please please please go up to the mic and at a minimum say "I am against this project". If Zoning Board asks you to sign up your name so that you can ask a question of the engineer or traffic expert at the Fourth Special Zoning Board Meeting, if one is called, walk up to the mic and state your name and address.

See you at 7 pm.

#4553 - @bergen07601, agreed that we have to stay focused but have been hearing from residents some misinformation that this application is a done deal meaning that the Zoning Board has already approved it and the Mayor and Council knowing this had publicly announced their opposition to garner election votes from Prospect/Summit/Overlook Avenues residents. Although we have PC Air Rights as an example and the support of Bill Noonan we are novices to the workings of local government.

The information that Just Watching has provided on Prospect Heights has been invaluable to us and will aid us in rallying Hackensack residents. Information re: Judge Jonathan Harris also helpful and we will investigate further to determine if we will encounter him on the appeal circuit.

Mr. Pineles said that he believed that property values in the neighborhood would increase after his hospital was built although he would not give me a guarantee. If you plan to sell your unit or home in the next couple of years email prospectavenuecoalition@yahoo.com and they will send you a picture of the windowless 24 story tower then you can determine if a potential buyer would like to live near to that.

If you live in the area and you would like to be able to cross the street or to drive down the block then come on down to the 3rd floor auditorium at  City Hall 65 Central Avenue on Wednesday July 22nd at 7 pm.

#4196: @Hack72, we appreciate your support of our opposition to Richard Pineles' plans to build a hospital at 329 Prospect Avenue which is currently zoned for residential and multi-family buildings. Perhaps your wish should have been for people to come and buy those houses which were torn down 25 years ago. According to the attached NYTimes article written in 1983 the conversion of Prospect Avenue began more than 45 years ago in an effort to forestall a deterioration of the area. Deputy city manager, Wilbur H. Lind II, feared that the area would experience a decline similar to Union/Park Streets with its transition to rooming houses and boarding homes. I have confirmed all of this with a family member of the builder who erected many of the high rise residential buildings on Prospect and Overlook Avenues and who happened to be on-site during the 1970s. Do you think that Mr. Pineles would have been lured to the neighborhood if it had deteriorated as anticipated?

At this moment Prospect/Summit/Overlook continues to be a vibrant residential neighborhood where people live. If I wanted to live next door to a hospital or over the railroad tracks or better yet -- on a block jammed with bumper-to-bumper traffic I could now more easily afford a move to Manhattan which I will now reconsider as I fear more a decline in my property value if the 14 or more variances are approved.

Join us on Wednesday, July 22 at 7 pm at City Hall, 65 Central Avenue and be vocal.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
ON THE RIDGE, HACKENSACK'S LUXURY ROW
By ANTHONY DEPALMA
Published: June 19, 1983
Illustrations: map of Hackensack, N.J. photo of James D'Agostino photo of high-rise apartments

HACKENSACK does not come readily to mind when discussing luxury housing in Bergen County. But along one six-block strip of Prospect A venue in that city are more than a dozen condominium, cooperative a nd rental apartment high-rises usually associated with the long s tring of luxury towers atop the Palisades in Fort Lee.

Prospect Avenue actually sits atop its own ridge. Although modest in comparison to the majestic Palisades, the ridge (sometimes referred to as ''the hill'' or Hackensack Heights) provides the same principal advantage - fine views of the Manhattan skyline - that have become almost an essential part of luxury housing in the area.

To the north and west, the towers offer vistas of the Ramapo Mountains. And even on hazy days, it is possible to see as far north as Rockland County, N.Y.

As spectacular as the views are, they in themselves would not have been enough to transform an avenue lined with a long row of stately old city mansions into a contemporary wall of residential towers. Above all, it was the location - just eight miles from Manhattan, making for easy commuting, yet far enough away to be considered the suburbs - that attracted the developers.

The conversion of Prospect Avenue began more than 20 years ago. Wilbur H. Lind, a deputy city manager and longtime resident of Hackensack, said that in the late 1950's old residents began moving out of the Prospect Avenue houses to the developing suburbs of northern Bergen County, such as Upper Saddle River, Tenafly and Westwood.

''The planning board back then saw what was going on and didn't want to repeat what happened on Union and Park Streets,'' he said. He was referring to an older section of Hackensack, once the site of the city's finest houses, that shortly after World War II quickly deteriorated into an area of rooming houses and boarding homes.

Hackensack rezoned the six blocks of Prospect Avenue from Essex Street to Passaic Street for high-density, multifamily housing in 1962, Mr. Lind said. Within just a few years, the first high-rises were constructed and both sides of the avenue are now almost walled in by buildings as tall as 21 stories with a total of more than 3,000 apartments.

The latest is also one of the most luxurious. The Camelot, at 245 Prospect Avenue, is a 21-story condominium with 78 units ranging in price from $175,000 to the double-sized penthouses for $480,000.

The Camelot, opened last October, was built on a 200-foot-square lot previously occupied by just two single-family houses. The condominium tower is an indication of just how far Prospect Avenue has come. The building offers many of the latest technological features - including solar-assisted heat pumps, an elaborate security system and even a computer-operated talking elevator. But the basic idea behind both the old and the new Prospect Avenues remains the same: Luxury for those who can afford it.

''We could probably knock off $30,000 in extras from the selling price and still have nice units,'' said James D'Agostino, chairman of J.D. Construction Corporation of Hackensack, developer of the Camelot. ''But this is designed for people who want the best.''

Mr. D'Agostino, who has built more than 3,000 single-family homes around the state, said he thought people were willing to spend up to almost a half million dollars to live in Hackensack, the Bergen County seat. ''The city has overcome most of its ills at this point,'' he said, ''and everything here is so convenient - Interstate 80 is just five minutes away, the malls are close by, even Teterboro Airport is just a few miles away.''

Mr. D'Agostino himself has decided to live in Hackensack. He has purchased one of the two 4,000-square-foot penthouses. He said he would move into it as soon as he sells his home in Tenafly. His own circumstances, he said, are typical of many of the dozen or so people who have already either purchased units at the Camelot or are planning to.

''A lot of my old clients, people for whom I built big houses around Bergen County 25 years ago, are in the same boat,'' he said. ''Their children are grown and gone, they do a lot of traveling, maybe they've got another place down in Florida. They don't want to take care of a big house anymore.''

Beverly E. Amadei, the Weichert Real Estate Company agent handling sales at Camelot, said many of the buyers were empty-nester couples who were selling big, single-family houses. BUT, she added, a number of younger professional couples, either w orking in Manhattan or right in Hackensack, were also interested in l iving in the Camelot because of the conveniences and the special f eatures, including a full gym, a pool and an all-weather outdoor t ennis court.

A number of the older high-rises that were originally rentals are now being converted to condominiums and cooperatives. Next door to the Camelot is the Bristol House, a 143-unit tower converted to condominium ownership 3 years ago. Kathleen M. Smith, the sales agent, said many recent purchasers were older couples and professionals transferred from other parts of the country.

Scattered empty lots remain on Prospect Avenue, and tucked in between the high-rises are a few surviving mansions. But their days are numbered. Eugene J. Duffy, Hackensack's chief planner, predicted that in 10 years, all the principal sites remaining on Prospect Avenue will be built on.

The city does not mind that, Mr. Duffy said, because the conversion of Prospect Avenue from single-family homes to multifamily high rises has brought Hackensack nothing but good.

''In terms of city services, the new buildings are built up to the latest codes and so they're safer,'' he said. ''Schools? Many of the new residents are young, unmarried or older, and most don't have kids with them. And from the tax point of view, these buildings pay many times more than the single-family houses were giving.''

@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

BE THERE TONIGHT:


Second Special Zoning Board Meeting
Thursday June 25th at 7 pm
3rd floor auditorium
City Hall 65 Central Avenue