Franklin Lakes September 21, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Surgical center hearing resumes without objection by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Planning Board’s public hearing on a site plan and variance application for a proposed surgical center on Tice Road has resumed without the objections previously raised by the owner of an adjacent property. The applicant, Tice Road Properties LLC, plans to build a 16,000 square foot, two level medical office and ambulatory surgical center building on two lots at the end of Tice Road. Christopher Minks, the attorney for the applicant, advised the board that an agreement with the adjacent property owner was reached, and a revised plan will be described to the board for approval. Harold Cook, the attorney for Sabra Realty Associates, the adjacent property owner, confirmed the agreement and withdrew his client’s objections to the application. Professional Engineer Robert Weissman then described the revised plan, which calls for extensive buffering of the Sabra property to prevent motorists visiting the surgical center from parking in the Sabra parking lot. The plan also calls for gate across a 15-foot wide emergency access to an easement that leads to Franklin Avenue. Officials want the gate constructed so it cannot be locked. The buffer area would include a row of five-foot high evergreens along the property line separating the two properties and along the edge of the 26-foot right-of-way easement that abuts the Sabra Realty Associates property and leads to Franklin Avenue. It would also include a five-foot high cedar stockade fence along the northeastern portion of the surgical center property line that abuts the adjacent board of education property, and along the property line separating the surgical center property from Sabra Realty Associates. The cedar stockade fence would also extend along the edge of the easement separating the Sabra Realty property from that easement, and most of that area would also contain a three-foot nine inch high retaining wall. Weissman told the board the frontage for access to the surgical center would be from Tice Road and the property would have a septic system until sewers are installed in the business district. He also described the several variances required by the plan, most of which involve intrusions into setback areas, although one variance is required because fewer parking spaces are provided than required by the borough’s zoning ordinance. Weissman said the traffic circulation on the site would be suitable, the building would have a sprinkler system, the use of gasoline powered generators would be reviewed with the borough’s fire official, and the air conditioning units on the roof would be concealed by a parapet. According to Weissman, the plan was a logical one considering the grading of the property. He told the board it would not have any adverse effects on the surrounding community or the borough’s zoning ordinance. Bill Cohen, an expert in the development, management, and oversight of surgical centers in the state, then described how a surgical center operates with patients arriving on a prearranged schedule and leaving the same day with a family member or car service. He emphasized that surgical centers have no overnight stays, do not handle emergency situations, and there are no walk-in patients, so the lack of a main street frontage would not be a hindrance to the operation of the center. Cohen testified that four operating rooms in this building would be a functional plan, but the building could house (continued on page 11)