Final Vote on CHCC Vista Project Likely Tonight

Monday night's Wyckoff Zoning Board meeting could decide the fate of the Christian Health Care Center's Vista application after more than two years of hearings before the land use board, substantial changes to original plans and countless hours invested by attorneys, the public and zoning board officials.

Chairman Jerry Lombardo told a packed township courtroom last month that his board intended to vote on the hotly disputed expansion plan Monday night.

The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., on Monday, March 4, in Wyckoff Memorial Town Hall.

Since the project first cleared the Design Review Board and Shade Tree Commission nearly 3 years ago the project has undergone numerous changes, among them, a reduction in size and scope of the project, a change in building materials and the complete erasure of a planned entrance at Sicomac and Cedar Hill avenues.

SAVE Wyckoff, a group of concerned citizens opposed to the proposed expansion, said in a message to supporters late last month that without the public's input the Christian Health Care Center's application process would have likely looked very different and ended long ago. 

"Had it not been for our community's persistent efforts — attending 20 hearings, displaying lawn signs for over a year, speaking out, hiring an excellent attorney [and] witnesses — I suspect The Vista hearings would have ended far earlier with very few changes," wrote the group's leader Stanley Goodman.

Should a majority of the zoning board decide to approve the application, CHCC officials would still have to clear hurdles before a land use board in neighboring Hawthorne — the land where Vista would be built straddles property belonging to towns.

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