Politics & Government

Board Votes to Continue Hearing CVS Application

An attorney objecting to the proposed CVS on the corner of Pascack Road and Washington Avenue said the Washington Township Zoning Board should deny the application because of a DEP ruling.

The Washington Township Zoning Board voted 5-2 this week against voting on a proposed 14,500-square-foot CVS before the application is complete.

Tendai Richards, an attorney representing the Northgate Condominum Association's objection to the plan, said that the board should vote to deny the application because a ruling from the state Department of Environmental Protection prevents construction on the property, which is located on the corner of Washington Avenue and Pascack Road and has a Category One stream running along it.

The DEP requires a 300-foot buffer between Category One waterways and "major developments" comprising an acre or more.

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Carmine Alampi, the attorney representing the application, said that the board did not have the authority to vote on the plan before they finished presenting it, even with the DEP's decision.

"There is no basis for an application to be denied before it's been heard," Alampi said.

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The applicants are filing for an Individual Flood Hazard Permit and Hardship Exemption with the DEP, which, if granted, would allow them to build the CVS if they also get approval from the zoning board.

After the vote to continue the application, architect Robert Gehr continued his testimony from the previous meeting and explained some changes which had been made to the plan.

The building's roof was changed to have slanted shingles which would fit in better with the residential neighborhood, Gehr said. The shingled sections would hide all the rooftop equipment and the height of the building was brought below 30 feet, the maximum allowed by township ordinance.

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