Teaneck made mistakes approving Holy Name Hospital's expansion, residents' complaint says

Marsha A. Stoltz, NorthJersey.com
·3 min read

TEANECK — Residents who live near Holy Name have filed a second complaint against the township, alleging that officials botched a June 28 motion to resolve conflicts and errors in a previous motion from March that approved the hospital's expansion.

The complaint was filed last week by 12 residents in state Superior Court in Bergen County. The same group filed a complaint on April 21 alleging similar shortcomings in the Township Council's first motion to approve the expansion and vacate a portion of Chadwick Place on March 15. The stated purpose of reintroducing the ordinances on May 17 was to correct errors allegedly made when the ordinances were introduced in March and voted on in April.

The 33-page complaint asserts that the following errors were made when the ordinances were introduced on May 17 and on June 28, when voted on:

  • Conflicting public hearing dates listed in the introduction motion;

  • Records "backdated" to include the correct public hearing date, rather than vote on a new resolution;

  • A public hearing date in the resolution is not the same as the date in a newspaper legal notice;

  • The Planning Board failed to conduct the required consistency review by the date of the council's public hearing;

  • The council approved the revised ordinance without a Planning Board consistency review report;

  • Whispering and texting by council members during the hearing is in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act;

  • The 10-minute recess called at the June 28 meeting was done without a motion for a closed session;

  • Council member consulted with a Holy Name executive, consultant and attorney in the lobby during recess;

  • Council members with conflicts participated in the closed-door discussion and voted on the ordinance;

  • The resident petition required five council votes to approve the project, but only four of the members were qualified to vote;

  • Public notice of the motion to vacate part of Chadwick Road was not received by residents of six properties.

Robert Simon, the attorney for the residents, concluded the combined actions nullified the Planning Board's Dec. 16 vote, approving the master plan change allowing for the hospital expansion, and the council's June 28 votes approving the plan and vacating part of Chadwick Place.

The hospital's proposed expansion has been discussed as far back as the township's 2007 master plan, but intensely during the last 18 months. The four-phase, 20-year construction proposal calls for adding two hospital buildings, four medical office buildings, a day care center, a four-story parking structure and two expanded surface parking areas.

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The major sticking point between the hospital and residents is whether the hospital should agree to a deed restriction on further expansion into residential properties Holy Name owns along Grange Road, now zoned for single-family residential use. The residents want a permanent deed restriction, while the hospital has offered a 40-year limit.

Holy Name spokesman Stan Steinrich said Monday that hospital officials "appreciate the commitment and dedication of township officials to improve health care services in this region for everyone, and they have our full support.”

“The Teaneck council has been very supportive in allowing us to build a state-of-the-art health care campus that will benefit the community for decades to come," Steinrich said.

Mayor James Dunleavy and Township Attorney John Shadanian did not respond to requests for comment.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Teaneck made mistakes when it OK'd Holy Name expansion, complaint says