First Hearing in Works on CHCC's Vista Project

The Vista project at Christian Health Care Center will soon proceed to its first hearing before the zoning Board of Adjustment.

The board, which will ultimately grant or deny variances to build the independent senior living complex, aims to start proceedings in late October or early November. The complexity of the matter and likelihood of a lengthy initial hearing has board members planning to hold a special meeting outside of their normal business sessions. 

Board Chairman Doug Christie also suggested the meeting be held at a neutral, off-site location due to the anticipated crowd. Christian Health Care Center representatives and board members, who discussed the status of the application Thursday night, agreed to meet at a township church or school that could handle an overflow crowd.

The Vista project, a 258-unit development to be built on the health center's 78-acre campus, has already won the recommendation of the township's Design Review Board and is currently pending before the Shade Tree Commission.

Although the latter body has not yet fully vetted the Vista landscaping plan, the zoning board will move to its hearings.

"We can't hold up an application," board attorney Harold Cook said. Although "my intent was we would have all the committees meet" prior to zoning board review, the hearings legally "have to run concurrent," Christie said.

Christian Health Care Center attorney Jerry Vogel was asked to submit all plans to the board prior to its Oct. 21 meeting to allow members sufficient time to review all materials before proceeding to the first special hearing.

Vogel also indicated he would be able to submit a full list of planned witnesses prior to the first hearing, which will likely feature the testimony of health care center CEO Doug Struyk  and engineer Ken Karle, president of Lan Associates.

Christie said sufficient notice will allow the board to produce its own witnesses to answer applicant testimony.

The Design Review Board, which was charged with reviewing the Vista's architectural plans and general aesthetics, praised the look of the complex, which aims to reflect a residential effect rather than an institutional feel.

However, members expressed repeated concerns about the size of the complex, which will straddle Wyckoff and Hawthorne land. One wing of the Vista, which will be broken up by courtyards, measures 720 feet, a fact that particularly vexed the design board.

The question of size and impact will be dealt with by the zoning board, which relies on the other township bodies for advice and expert review.

Shade Tree members have begun their work but require more detailed information from Christian Health Care on specific plantings and the exact trees planned to remain and those to be removed from the 20 acres of woodlands on which the Vista would be built. Members also expect the assistance of an application representative to walk the grounds prior to compiling a report for the zoning board.

Cook noted that center representatives will be able to answer any potential Shade Tree input that would alter landscaping plans while proceeding before the zoning board.