Plainfield's Abbott Manor nursing home expansion zoning case, which has dragged on for years, may be winding up this week.
Union County Superior Court Judge Walter R. Barisonek will give his decision orally from the bench Thursday at 2:00 PM, according to the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District's attorney.
The ruling comes two years after Plainfield's zoning board approved the expansion of the facility by its owner, CPR Holdings. The company has been pursuing the expansion for nearly seven years.
CPR Holdings was turned down by Scotch Plains when it attempted to locate the nursing home there, and that denial invigorated the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District activists, who contend the expansion will irreparably alter the character of the historic neighborhood.
Emotions ran so high when the Zoning Board approved the expansion that three councilors -- then-president Ray Blanco, Rashid Burney, and Don Davis -- wanted to hail zoning board members before the Council to explain themselves and, by implication from Blanco's remarks at the time, face possible expulsion from the board for their actions.
"Shame on you, shame on you," resident Dottie Gutenkauf was quoted as saying in the Courier News at the time.
And in the Ledger, she said --
Our position all along has been that the proposed expansion of Abbott Manor is just too large to be consistent with the historic district. ...The district will become less attractive to people who want to live in a historic district.Judge Barisonek's courtroom is in the Union County Courthouse, 2 Broad Street, Elizabeth.
The hearing is set for 2:00 PM.
If planning to attend, leave plenty of time. Parking is usually available in the jury pool parking deck about two blocks from the Courthouse. Remember that you will have to stand in line to go through the metal detectors.
For more information, contact Arne Aakre of the Van Wyck Brooks HD via email.
View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/
Posts
1 comments:
Win, lose, or draw, we owe a debt of gratitude to Bill Michelson, who has done a wonderful job of representing the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District in our lawsuit. (And by the way, we need help paying him--contact me to learn how to contribute.)
This issue is much larger than simply our Historic District, and it's certainly a "not in our backyard" issue--Abbott Manor has been in the District for years, and nobody has objected. But if a for-profit commercial enterprise-- in this case, a pre-existing non-conforming use--is allowed to make such a massive incursion in Van Wyck Brooks, virtually quadrupling its size, there isn't a Historic District in Plainfield or anywhere else that is safe.
This isn't just a Van Wyck Brooks Historic District struggle--it affects all of us.
Post a Comment