Respect Master Plan, reject Gulick plan
To the editor:
For the past 35years, my wife and I have lived at the southeast corner of Province Line Road and Route 206, 50 yards or so diagonally across from the Gulick property on the northwest corner. The Gulick property, of course, is the site of a proposed 150-bed skilled nursing and assisted living facility.
This applicant for the proposed facility is scheduled to appear before the township Zoning Board of Adjustment in mid-March, seeking a use variance for the third time in the last 10 years. Despite earlier rejections, the current application requests variances that are even more flagrant than those requested in the earlier applications.
David Prescott’s excellent letter to the editor (The Ledger, Feb. 16) clearly and fully spells out the major reasons why the zoning board should reject the current application. Earlier this fall, a letter from Scott and Hella McVay of Province Line Road also appeared in The Ledger with equally persuasive arguments as to why this application should be rejected. I highly recommend both letters to the zoning board for study. I fully support their positions.
From my perspective, I am deeply troubled among other things by the magnitude of the variances requested. Current information indicates that the applicant wishes to put up a 100,000 square foot building, or two-plus acres, on a 6.4-acre lot, resulting in an impervious coverage of 36 percent of the land mass. Zoning permits 8 percent coverage. Accordingly the applicant is asking the zoning board to approve a variance that is four-and-a-half times the permitted use. Or put in other terms, current zoning requires a lot of close to 30 acres for a 100,000 square foot building to fall within zoning requirements.
This is the most egregious of the variances requested, though the height and setback variances are also serious enough in their own right. Not to mention accessibility and safety for both residents and visitors as a major problem and concern.
And not to mention the potential water run-off problems caused by the noted 36 percent impervious coverage proposed by the applicant. Let’s not lose sight of the serious water drainage problems experienced in this area in the last 15 years or so.
While the applicant will undoubtedly try to say that there is a compelling need for this facility, that argument is easily dismissed on the basis of much evidence to the contrary. There are many facilities in the Mercer County area, including a major one only three miles distant from the Gulick property.
I would strongly urge the zoning board to reject this application out of hand. To do otherwise would be a disservice to all of the citizens of Lawrence by literally saying that the Master Plan has no teeth and is being trashed. There simply are no compelling reasons for approving this application and many reasons for rejecting it.
William C. Becker
Province Line Road
Gulick site proposal undercuts Master Plan
To the editor:
In response to the article regarding the Gulick House (The Ledger, Feb. 16), I am outraged by the comments made by Steven Rother, attorney representing Care One and 3641 Lawrenceville Road.
Mr. Rother uses the arguments that it’s "still America" and that "older people have the right to live in a nice neighborhood." These arguments miss the point entirely and distract people from the true issue at heart. The main point is that the zoning board has a responsibility to the people of the Lawrence and for whom a master plan was created. Granting a use variance would undermine our Master Plan.
My husband and I were very well aware of the zoning restrictions for the area when we purchased our property six years ago. Likewise, the owner of the Gulick House property must have been aware that it was in the residential Environmental Protection-1 zone. It is rather audacious and unethical to expect a variance to be granted for change of use. While the legal battle continues, the only example of Italianate architecture in the township continues to deteriorate and an aesthetic gateway into Lawrence stands in jeopardy.
The investments that people have made in the area for their properties should not be overlooked. These investments are both financial and emotional. I can not imagine what additional strain the increased traffic would bring from staff to support a 150-bed facility, not to mention the visitors and deliveries. The greater this burden is, the less desirable our properties become and more difficult it is to access them.
I would like to reiterate that the zoning board has a responsibility foremost to the people who reside in the township and for whom the Master Plan was created. I can only hope that the zoning board will respect the Master Plan and the people and town that it protects. After all, what is the point of having a Master Plan if it can be undermined.
Deborah Walson
Province Line Road
Celebrate NJ pride
To the editor:
Like many other people, I’m proud to be from New Jersey. That’s why there is a movement called Celebrate New Jersey Celebrate NJ! a grassroots-campaign that builds awareness and pride in all that New Jersey has to offer.
The newly launched Celebrate NJ! School Program for fourth-graders, was designed with the help of New Jersey teachers, to meet state core curriculum requirements. There is still time for teachers to sign up for this no-fee program before enrollment closes on Feb. 28.
In only two weeks, 98 teachers, representing over 3,000 students from every county and region of our state, have signed on to the Celebrate NJ! School Program. Fourth-graders, using an exciting Web Quest online program, will help to create the first New Jersey kids newspaper to be published in special supplements to leading New Jersey papers. While researching their columns for the newspaper, kids will be learning about New Jersey’s proud history, people, places and events. These newspaper inserts will be published later in the spring, and will feature the best articles written by the students.
Participating students and teachers will be recognized locally at Celebrate NJ! awards nights at bookstores in many communities. All eight of New Jersey’s minor and independent league ball clubs have already scheduled special Celebrate NJ! game nights during the month of June as a treat for participating students.
The Celebrate NJ! Web site, www.CelebrateNJ.org, provides all the information and teaching materials needed to implement the program. Celebrate NJ! School Program fosters pride in our kids and gives them a sense of place. We invite all fourth-grade teachers to register their classes before the Feb. 28 deadline.
Celebrate NJ! is a joint venture of the Crossroads of the American Revolution with 20 other statewide organizations. We invite companies and individuals to lend their support by sponsoring the schools program.
Karen Melito
Coordinator
Celebrate NJ!
Halstead Street
Clinton
Blood matching effort will help find donors
To the editor:
As we celebrate Black History Month and the significant contributions of African-Americans to our country’s history, New Jersey Blood Services would like to highlight the life-saving work of Dr. Charles Drew.
Beginning in 1940 Dr. Drew made important contributions to the science of blood and blood banking through his research and documentation of a technique for long-term preservation of blood plasma. His efforts revolutionized the medical profession and created the world’s first blood bank.
Patients in New Jersey hospitals must rely on volunteer blood donors for an adequate blood supply. In particular African-American blood donors are critically needed to meet the medical needs of state residents with sickle cell disease (SCD) a hereditary disease that mainly affects individuals of African descent. Approximately 80,000 Americans have SCD with more than 2.5 million generally healthy citizens having the sickle cell trait in their blood and could pass the trait or disease on to their offspring.
Patients with SCD often require frequent blood transfusions to treat this life-threatening disease. After multiple transfusions, SCD patients can develop immunity to different kinds of blood antigens, or proteins in blood, and must then receive rare "compatible" blood transfusions. Such blood is most likely to come from donors of the same ethnic or racial group.
To address this need, New Jersey Blood Services has an initiative called "Precise Match." This program’s goal is to ensure that our increasingly diverse patient population has ready access to precisely matched blood to include patients with SCD who may require many blood transfusions to combat the disease. The necessity of receiving compatible blood for SCD patients heightens the imperative for African-Americans to become regular blood donors.
NJBS is thankful for the pioneering work of Dr. Drew. In his memory NJBS encourages all eligible New Jersey residents including African-Americans to donate blood on a regular basis. To help residents with sickle cell anemia, we seek African-American donors and organizations interested in holding blood drives to call (732) 220-7101. To donate blood, go online to www.nybloodcenter.org. Be a life-saver!
Maggie O’Shea
Executive director
New Jersey Blood Services
New Street
New Brunswick
