#14656
SAVE THE DATES - WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 AND WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 27, 2010
HACKENSACK ZONING BOARD SPECIAL MEETINGS AT 7 PM
CITY HALL 3RD FLOOR AUDITORIUM AT 65 CENTRAL AVENUE
NORTHJERSEY.COM
Proposed hospital protest continues Friday, September 3, 2010
BY MARK J. BONAMO
HACKENSACK CHRONICLE
MANAGING EDITOR
HACKENSACK — Anyone expecting a summertime lull in the level of concern exhibited by Hackensack residents regarding the potential construction of a 19-story, long-term acute care hospital at Summit and Prospect avenues would have been disabused of that notion at the Aug. 25 zoning board meeting.
Mark J. Bonamo/Staff Photo
Hackensack residents Doris Pape, Tama Cuperman and Murray Cuperman (left to right) listen intently at the Aug. 25 zoning board meeting on the proposal to build a 19-story, long-term acute care hospital at Summit and Prospect avenues.During public comments, local resident Alexis Palinkas asked Frank Miskovich, a traffic engineer from Birdsall Engineering who was hired by the city’s zoning board, a question that highlighted a major issue for neighbors of the proposed project. "Do you really believe that six days out of 365 gives an accurate representation of the traffic in that area?" said Palinkas, referring to the time period of a recent traffic study of the location, not far from Hackensack University Medical Center. "This is the problem – we live here 365 days a year."
Traffic, property values, quality of life and the aftermath of the recent parking garage collapse in the vicinity of the proposed hospital were among the issues brought up by crowd members.
Long-term hospital project controversial a long time
If approved, the proposed hospital would be built at 329 Prospect Ave. According to deed records, Bergen Passaic Long Term Acute Care Hospital LLC purchased the property, presently occupied by a residential home, in 2007 for $1.33 million. Company president Richard Pineles also owns Prospect Heights Care Center, a 180-bed nursing home facility close to the site, as well as Regent Care Center, a nursing home on Polifly Road.
The proposed hospital would provide a range of medical services if constructed. The 120-bed facility would have 10 floors dedicated to patient rooms, a dialysis center with 63 stations and an adult medical day-care center equipped for as many as 180 people. The facility would also include several driveways and five levels of underground parking.
City officials have stated that the project will need site plan approval, as well as more than a dozen variances in order to go forward. These include variances for use, parking and lot size. Pineles is also seeking approval to knock down two-story homes on four lots in order to build the hospital. The site is currently zoned for residential and multi-family buildings.
Pineles first proposed constructing a 24-story hospital with 140 beds and an adult day-care center equipped to handle 250 people. However, he revised the facility’s plans late last year.
Pineles has previously declined comment about the project, stating that it was company policy not to comment on a project that is pending and that is being proposed to the public.
Concerned residents speak out
More than a dozen hearings have been held regarding the proposed hospital, including some that attracted over 200 people. But the more than 70 residents present at the Aug. 25 hearing voiced a new concern about the impact of the potential project: the ongoing effect of the July 16 parking garage collapse at 300 Prospect Ave. that has left residents of the high-rise building without a home, and residents of the adjoining mid-rise building at 310 Prospect Ave. concerned about the future.
"Have you been on Prospect Avenue since the garage collapse?" said local resident Lillika Weinberger, who lives on the street. "This is a dress rehearsal of what could happen for the next three or four years if this building is going to be put up. The situation was absolutely horrendous. It’s sheer madness to think of what would happen should this building go up."
Kenneth Crusius expressed worry that the property value of his home will not go up if the hospital does. "Would you be willing to buy my house on Summit Avenue?" said Crusius.
For Prospect Avenue resident Murray Cuperman, the recent garage collapse down the block from his home only adds to his sense of trepidation about the hospital project.
"The building that collapsed had three levels of parking under it. Now, they want to build five," said Cuperman. "This makes no sense."
The next zoning board meeting on the proposal is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29 at City Hall, 65 Central Avenue.
E-mail: bonamo@northjersey.com