July 13, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 9 Mahwah Phillips describes assisted living plan as beneficial by Frank J. McMahon A professional planner for Zoccoli Associates, the developer who wants to build an assisted living facility on a 4.6-acre property in a GI industrial zone on Edison Road in Mahwah, has testified before the Mahwah Zoning Board of Adjustment that the facility would be an inherently beneficial use. Lisa Phillips, an Oakland-based professional planner, told the zoning board that, in her opinion, the proposed assisted living facility would have similar characteristics to nursing homes and other typical housing for the elderly that can be considered inherently beneficial to meet the growing need for a variety of housing options for senior citizens. In addition, Phillips said the proposed development would further several purposes of the state’s Municipal Land Use Law, which has a goal of encouraging senior citizen community housing construction and it would pose no detriment to the public good or impairment of the intent and purpose of the township’s zoning plan and zoning ordinance or the township’s master plan. Stephen Sinisi, the attorney for Zoccoli, also described several revisions to the plan, which included relocating the parking spaces from the front of the building to the southeast part of the front yard along Edison Road, the addition of walkway striping between the parking lot and the covered entrance, moving the loading area to the rear of the building, the addition of a retaining wall behind the building on the north side of the fire lane, the addition of landscaping in the rear buffer area and in the front year along Edison Road, and the relocation of the dumpster to the Edison Road front yard area surrounded by a sixfoot high pressure treated board on board fence. Several board members voiced concerns, however, about the number of parking spaces provided and whether the formula for determining the required number of parking spaces included spaces for employees, visitors, and residents. Great golfer Christian Health Care Center in Wyckoff recently held its 22nd Annual Golf Classic at High Mountain Golf Club in Franklin Lakes. Mahwah resident Merv Smith (left) scored the lowest gross in the tournament. His name will be engraved with previous winners on a trophy that is on permanent display at CHCC. Smith’s motherin-law, Patricia Barker, is employed at CHCC as nursing office staffing coordinator. Smith is pictured with CHCC Foundation Executive Director David Krentel of Ridgewood. Zoccoli Associates is seeking a use variance and several other variances and waivers to build an 86,175 square foot, three-story building with 96 single rooms on the south side of the subject property with frontage on Edison Road and to subdivide the existing 10-lot residential portion of the property with frontage on Fairmount Avenue into five lots to form a buffer between the assisted living facility and the residential area on the north side of Fairmount Avenue. A suggestion was made that the facility could be scaled down to reduce the number of variances and the number of parking spaces that would be required. Sinisi asserted that the number of proposed parking spaces (51) is based on the state’s formula of one half a parking space for the proposed number of beds. The zoning board is expected to continue the public hearing on July 20.