 |
The Abbott Manor Nursing Home, 2007. |
Andre Yates,
owner of the former Abbott Nursing Home at 810 Central Avenue comes
before the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) on Tuesday evening in
connection with his proposal to build a 3-story addition at the rear of
the now-vacant building and convert the building to 25 apartments for homeless veterans.
The matter was referred to the HPC by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, which held that the proposal must pass muster with the HPC before it can come before the zoning board.
From a bulk viewpoint, this sounds very much like the proposal of a previous owner to build an addition and convert the building into a nursing home for sixty residents.
Folks will recall that the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District and Grace Episcopal Church (whose rectory abuts the property in the rear) fought a long and expensive -- though ultimately successful -- court battle over the proposal (see my 2007 post on the case here).
Union County Superior Court Judge Walter R. Barisonek's ruling in the case was hailed as groundbreaking, setting a precedent in New Jersey on the importance of historic districts and that "an inherently beneficial use" may cease to be so at the wrong location. (See my post here, which includes a link to attorney Bill Michelson's summary of the ruling, which had been given orally.)
Yates quietly purchased the property in 2012 from Reynaldo and Maria Lapid for $100,000 (see my post here). Since owning the property, Yates has not been diligent about maintaining the structural integrity of the building until pressured to do so by the City.
In 2013, he incorporated a non-profit (Yates House for Military Veterans, Inc.). A search for the organization's 990 filings with the IRS turns up no public reports on the finances and officers ever filed (this does not mean they were not filed with the IRS, but only that they don't appear in publicly-used websites -- for example, see here).
In June 2013, then-Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and GOP Assembly candidate John Campbell, Jr., backed Yates' bid to turn the former nursing home into veterans' housing. In September of that same year, TAPinto published a story (see here) on a golf outing fundraiser for the nonprofit at the Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth, which was billed as the group's first fundraising event.
Yates also came under scrutiny in the demolition of a fire-damaged building in the 100-block of North Avenue in March 2015 (see post here). The demolition was done on an emergency basis and then-Director of Public Works and Urban Development Eric Watson awarded the no-bid contract to Yates, who sub-contracted the work (see post here).
The subcontractor was negligent in tearing down a parti-wall between the building and its neighborhood, causing debris to crash through the roof of a restaurant next door (Mi Buenaventura), damaging equipment and forcing the restaurant to shut down immediately.
It seems that wherever Mr. Yates goes, controversy follows in his wake.
Note that the City is renovating the former Dudley House on Putnam Avenue, which served for years as a substance-abuse halfway house, into apartments for homeless veterans, a fact which Mr. Yates may not bring to the fore in discussing the need for veterans housing.
The HPC meeting is scheduled for 7:30 PM, Tuesday, September 26, in City Hall Library. It is item (4) on the agenda, which means it will not be taken immediately the meeting gets under way.
City Hall is at Watchung Avenue and East 6th Street. Parking and entry to the building in the rear.
Plainfield Today --
TAPinto: "Golf tournament benefits veterans"
The matter was referred to the HPC by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, which held that the proposal must pass muster with the HPC before it can come before the zoning board.
From a bulk viewpoint, this sounds very much like the proposal of a previous owner to build an addition and convert the building into a nursing home for sixty residents.
Folks will recall that the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District and Grace Episcopal Church (whose rectory abuts the property in the rear) fought a long and expensive -- though ultimately successful -- court battle over the proposal (see my 2007 post on the case here).
Union County Superior Court Judge Walter R. Barisonek's ruling in the case was hailed as groundbreaking, setting a precedent in New Jersey on the importance of historic districts and that "an inherently beneficial use" may cease to be so at the wrong location. (See my post here, which includes a link to attorney Bill Michelson's summary of the ruling, which had been given orally.)
Yates quietly purchased the property in 2012 from Reynaldo and Maria Lapid for $100,000 (see my post here). Since owning the property, Yates has not been diligent about maintaining the structural integrity of the building until pressured to do so by the City.
 |
The city has had to keep after Yates about maintaining the building's structural integrity. |
In 2013, he incorporated a non-profit (Yates House for Military Veterans, Inc.). A search for the organization's 990 filings with the IRS turns up no public reports on the finances and officers ever filed (this does not mean they were not filed with the IRS, but only that they don't appear in publicly-used websites -- for example, see here).
In June 2013, then-Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and GOP Assembly candidate John Campbell, Jr., backed Yates' bid to turn the former nursing home into veterans' housing. In September of that same year, TAPinto published a story (see here) on a golf outing fundraiser for the nonprofit at the Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth, which was billed as the group's first fundraising event.
Yates also came under scrutiny in the demolition of a fire-damaged building in the 100-block of North Avenue in March 2015 (see post here). The demolition was done on an emergency basis and then-Director of Public Works and Urban Development Eric Watson awarded the no-bid contract to Yates, who sub-contracted the work (see post here).
The subcontractor was negligent in tearing down a parti-wall between the building and its neighborhood, causing debris to crash through the roof of a restaurant next door (Mi Buenaventura), damaging equipment and forcing the restaurant to shut down immediately.
It seems that wherever Mr. Yates goes, controversy follows in his wake.
Note that the City is renovating the former Dudley House on Putnam Avenue, which served for years as a substance-abuse halfway house, into apartments for homeless veterans, a fact which Mr. Yates may not bring to the fore in discussing the need for veterans housing.
The HPC meeting is scheduled for 7:30 PM, Tuesday, September 26, in City Hall Library. It is item (4) on the agenda, which means it will not be taken immediately the meeting gets under way.
City Hall is at Watchung Avenue and East 6th Street. Parking and entry to the building in the rear.
Plainfield Today --
- 7/31/2007: "Plainfield case breaks ground in historic preservation law"
- 8/19/2007: "Abbott Manor case makes NY Times. Eek!" -- A factually sloppy story by the nation's 'paper of record'.
- 6/27/2013: "Sharon, Campbell back move to convert Abbott Manor to vets housing"
TAPinto: "Golf tournament benefits veterans"
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment