Page 14 THE VILLADOM TIMES II, III & IV • March 13, 2013 Vista approved unanimously, but with stipulations by John Koster The Wyckoff Zoning Board has approved the Christian Health Care Center’s application for the 199-unit Vista housing project for seniors who need only a modicum of assisted care. The board’s unanimous March 4 approval, however, includes 55 stipulations. One of the key stipulations is that the existing driveway to and from the CHCC and its adjunct Eastern Christian Children’s Retreat will continue to provide access to both operations, and that all deliveries to the CHCC will be made from Sicomac Avenue. Signals will be provided at the entrance on Mountain Avenue and will state “No CHCC deliveries.” The existing access to Merrywood Drive will continue to be used as an emergency access only, and will remain closed and gated to through traffic. Traffic concerns were at the height of the list of neighborhood objections to the Vista proposal, which kept hearings going for more than a year and led to the planning board’s request for a reduction in the scale of the project and to agreements about the entrance. “During these hearings, we’ve had some laughs together, we’ve reacted in anger at times, and everything in between, but in the end, we’ve both come together to service this community,” said Douglas Struyk, president and chief executive officer of the CHCC. The Vista plan is proposed as an adjunct to existing services for older people in need of full-time supervision or care. The Vista application drew opposition from neighbors, both about traffic and about drainage on the site, so much so that the size of the project was scaled down by about a quarter based on an agreement between the board and the CHCC. Neighbors argued that the expansion would intrude into their residential ambiance and asked if care The Wyckoff Township Committee has introduced an ordinance that would cover gas generators for powering local commercial properties during emergencies such as the storms that knocked out electrical power in Wyckoff in 2011 and 2012. The ordinance, which will be heard and considered for adoption at the next public meeting, March 27 at 4 p.m., would allow commercial property owners to keep their businesses open and possibly allow residents to shop at the stores and charge their cell phones, as often happened at various locations during the last two power losses. The ordinance would enable commercial operators to install generators without site plan approval from Gas generator ordinance introduced the township -- often a lengthy process -- as long as the generators, once installed, do not interfere with existing parking, traffic, or building layout, and would not require any variances for setbacks before installation. Screening would be required by the township engineer and the commercial applicant would be required to provide a current site plan, including the exact location and size of the proposed generator. The generator would be installed not less than 15 feet from any neighboring residential property and would not be more than 20KW in size. Those with generators of large capacity would be required to apply to the Wyckoff Planning Board. J. KOSTER for people who did not need full-time supervision or assisted living really qualified for special conditions. CHCC suggested that having adults who shop locally and pay taxes through their leases but do not send children to the school system would represent a financial benefit to Wyckoff. The unanimous vote to approve the plan came at the March 4 board meeting after the CHCC met the conditions for reduced size and minimal impact. Some of the key conditions in the lengthy list included: The applicant has agreed to deed restrict the property to prevent use of the project for any purpose other than congregate care use and to prevent the rental or use of the CHCC property for future uses of the property for a cell tower, satellite, and/or water tower. The minimum resident’s age is 62. All residential cooking appliances will be electric. A condition of the contract for each unit must be that resident is able to self-evacuate from the building. If they are not able to self-evacuate, the CHCC has the ability to have the resident moved to the next stage of care. There will be no increase in storm water runoff to adjacent properties. Proper drainage measures must be maintained during construction. Proper soil erosion control measures must be maintained during construction. The applicant will provide for sufficient dust and air quality control measures during construction. All utilities will be installed underground. Refuse and recyclables will be stored inside the building. HVAC/roof top equipment will be screened. Additional (continued on next page)