Area January 25, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 15 Borough’s D zone explored at planning session by John Koster Allendale’s contract planner, Ed Snieckus, and the borough’s engineer, John Yakimik, took the Allendale Planning Board through a preliminary look at the tentative plans for zoning changes in the D zone –a light industrial zone on West Crescent Avenue that may have outlived its viability but could still have its uses. A small D zone also exists along the Waldwick border, but was not considered in any detail at last week’s meeting. “Everything in planning is a balancing act,” Snieckus told the members of the planning board at last week’s meeting. Snieckus explained that the original plans for the main D zone had been devised in the 1950s, when light industrial uses were still viable in the New Jersey suburbs. He noted that changing demographics had taken most light-industrial jobs to the South or overseas. He saw a better future for a D zone that would incorporate uses such as consumer facilities for physical therapy, athletics and gymnastic coaching, music lessons, or preparation of catered food that would be consumed elsewhere. The D zone, Snieckus said, should comprise those uses that would not directly compete with the downtown business zone, which includes restaurants, professional offices, and retail shops. “You want to establish a critical mass of retail in the downtown,” Snieckus said, as the planners concurred. “What we’re proposing would have minimum impact on the downtown retail zone.” Snieckus said he would not recommend a health club, due to the related demands on traffic and parking. Officials also agreed that a bowling alley would not be a good idea because West Crescent Avenue has traffic issues and a bowling alley would only be practical if it were located right along Route 17, which is not possible. Two options the planners did not want to see were an indoor hot-house farm for medical marijuana, now being legalized in New Jersey, and “adult entertainment” facilities. Snieckus said the best way to discourage these uses was to discuss them openly and make installation as difficult as possible by requiring setbacks. Mayor Vince Barra, who is also a member of the plan- ning board, said the intention would be to invite the citizens of Allendale to a hearing once the plans have been somewhat more formalized. The Allendale Planning Board would then forward the D zone change to the Allendale Borough Council for an ordinance change that would make the update part of the master plan. Help for Peru Six Bergen Catholic High School senior students, one administrator, and one teacher recently took a seven-day trip to Peru to help and support the citizens in one of the impoverished areas of that country. The students, who helped to refurbish a house and visited orphanages during their stay, are pictured in front of a church in Peru. Standing: Victor Villari of Englewood Cliffs, Brendan McCullagh of New City, New York, James Pirro of Ramsey, Phillip Yoon of Edgewater, Ryan O’Boyle of Oradell, and Stephen Jakubiec of Haledon.