Opponents Seek Sparked Interest in Vista Project

Christian Health Care Center's Vista proposal is drawing opposition from organized groups who aim to have an impact on the long, complex approval process.

Community organizations have been working to solicit interest among the public in the , while questioning the Vista's potential impact on the surrounding Sicomac neighborhood. Christian Health Care Center's CEO said he invites the questions and is ready to put concerns to rest with expert testimony on a host of topics.

"We welcome the interest," said Doug Struyk, CHCC CEO and president. "There's so much we have planned for such a long time.. we're anxious for people to hear it," he said.

However, it is what many have already heard that has inspired skepticism and opposition.

'It's enormous'

S.A.V.E. Wyckoff (Stop Aggressive Vista Expansion) was born this fall as the Vista project . The new organization has joined Save the Woods, a Hawthorne-based organization, in questioning the merits of the project. Another Wyckoff-based organization, Friends of Wyckoff, has not taken an official stance on the proposed development although members have been trying to draw attention to the project via the organization's website and e-mail newsletters.

At issue is a of one- and two-bedroom apartments to be built on approximately 20 acres of woodlands that straddle the Wyckoff/Hawthorne border. The estimated $100 million project on CHCC's 78-acre campus is designed to offer seniors a full range of amenities, with gift shops, restaurants, banking, a performing arts center and more.

The of the complex has given many pause.

"The project is just too big," said Dan Melfi, founder of Save the Woods. When nearby Hawthorne residents, some of whose homes have sight-lines to the CHCC campus, first heard of the project "everyone was kind of taken aback," said Melfi, a zoning officer in Teaneck.

the proposed size of the Vista is based on demand among seniors, culled from market research, as well as the need to build enough units to make the investment financially feasible. Also, the 172 units (owned by CHCC, leased by residents) in Wyckoff would represent tax ratables for the township.

S.A.V.E. Wyckoff and Save the Woods question whether 258 units are actually necessary for the project to be viable. Elaine Fichera, a Wyckoff resident active with the Friends of Wyckoff, wants the market research detailed, as she questions whether data reflects the current housing market.

"There's a lot of unanswered questions," she said. "I'm concerned about the veracity of this whole thing."

Save the Woods has been working for approximately three years to draw attention to the proposal, which has seen several revisions over the decade or so its been planned. While the bulk of the Vista would be built in Wyckoff, Melfi said Hawthorne residents have unique concerns because they're the most likely to hear and see construction given their proximity to the project.

"Nobody would be disappointed if the whole thing disappeared," Melfi said.

Stan Goodman, a Birchwood Drive resident, started S.A.V.E. Wyckoff in the fall because he "felt the need.

"It became apparent I needed to form an official organization... to do whatever is necessary," Goodman said. 

He also believes the Vista is just too big for Wyckoff.

"It's enormous—there are all sorts of impacts," Goodman said. "If built as proposed, it would be bigger than Boulder Run."

Concerns, questions

CHCC attorney Jerry Vogel will introduce a series of witnesses before the zoning board in coming months to testify on traffic, planning, drainage, landscaping and more. The board, which will ultimately rule on site plans, subdivision approval and variances, also will counter with its own witnesses, and concerned residents are expected to question experts, as well. Some, such as Goodman, already have retained attorneys to handle their concerns during the hearings.

Struyk is confident the center's witnesses will be able to satisfy everyone's questions.

"We do what we say and say what we do," he said. "People expect to see substantiation of the facts. The experts will show how those plans will be put in place."

The center has contended that the project not only will not contribute to certain problems, it will help alleviate them. Struyk said the center's experts approached the questions of traffic and drainage with the goals of figuring out "ways to improve the problems that already existed."

For example, the traffic such a project could generate (via residents themselves, deliveries, visitors, staff, etc.) will not be substantial, Struyk and Vogel have said. The center has been in talks with Bergen County authorities to install a traffic light at the corner of Sicomac and Cedar Hill avenues and would donate 15 to 20 feet of its Sicomac Avenue frontage to the county to widen the road as well as redirect the main entrance off the traffic light.

"One of the biggest concerns is traffic," said Fichera. She, like many at hearings thus far, question claims that the senior residents won't have much need to drive at all, given the amenities on campus.

"It all comes from the size of the building," Goodman said. "I can't imagine it won't increase traffic."

Struyk said representatives are "looking forward to showing all the hard work we've done to assess that issue."

Questions also have been raised about water runoff and drainage, especially since natural growth will be cleared to make way for the Vista on CHCC's hilly campus. Struyk has said runoff actually will be alleviated by the addition of a new drainage system on the campus, although some have their doubts.

"You cannot convince me they're going to improve the drainage problems by adding more blacktop," Fichera said.

The will be influenced by whether board members judge the CHCC use to be "inherently beneficial" to the community. If it does, CHCC will not have to convince the membership of the application's positive criteria. If it doesn't, CHCC will have to prove the Vista will bring benefits to Wyckoff. The board has held in the past that CHCC, with various mental health and nursing facilities, is an "inherently beneficial" use, although board attorney Harold Cook has said prior decisions have no bearing on current proceedings.

Melfi, the zoning officer, thinks it's a bit of a stretch to consider the Vista "inherently beneficial" to anyone besides the center. While he, like Goodman, lauds the center's 100-year history of service to the community, Melfi believes the burden should be on the center to prove the need for such a project.

Goodman questions whether an approval would set a troubling precedent on what variances are reasonable in a largely residential neighborhood.

"You have to consider precedent," he said.

Community Interest

Interest in the Vista application has been so strong that the zoning board is holding special meetings at to solely deal with the project. The first hearing drew more than 200 residents.

Goodman said the public has a role to play in the zoning board process. "I think we have to double check and hold every witness to a high standard of proof," he said.

The township resident said he's "trying to get as many people in Wyckoff and Hawthorne involved as possible."

It will be some time before any decision is reached on the Vista. Board Chairman Doug Christie has said the application could take upwards of a year to conclude, and CHCC representatives will then have to start the entire process over before the Hawthorne Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Save the Woods and S.A.V.E. Wyckoff are resigned to the thought that some version of the Vista will eventually be allowed to be constructed. They don't seek to derail the process, but to influence it.

"I don't think it's reasonable" to hope to stop the project, Goodman said. "A scaled-down proposal is what I'd like to see."

Melfi doesn't question CHCC's interest in developing its land. "Everyone has the right to develop their property within the rules and regulations," he said. Instead, he also will work to see if the scale of the proposal can be reduced.

 "You try to compromise and make a deal to make everyone happy," Melfi said.

Stuyk said the scrutiny can only help the project and the center overall.

"We exist to serve the community. The more the community understands the better the project will ultimately be," he said. "There's a whole lot we do that a lot of people don't know about... it's an opportunity to highlight what we're already doing." 

The zoning board's next Vista hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at St. Nick's, 467 Grandview Ave.