Dear Editor:
Another scintillating evening spent at the Parsippany Zoning Board Adjustment meeting listening to another riveting presentation by an “expert witness” in support of the construction by the Islamic Community Cultural Center of dozens of apartments in the midst of a residential neighborhood.
In an extraordinary and totally unbelievable act of doubling down on a dumb idea that was proved untenable at the last Zoning Board meeting, the attorney for the Islamic Community Cultural Center threw caution to the wind and reintroduced the cockamamie idea of constructing a car lift system to address the overflow parking issues that will be created by the construction of 28 apartments.
Abandoning the hapless architect who at the last Zoning Board Meeting couldn’t answer a single question about the proposed hydraulic car lift system (commonly found in New York City), the Center’s attorney turned to an employee of BendPak who as that dealer’s authorized lift installer was called upon to provide expert testimony.
To his credit, he attempted to do so after the Zoning Board and the public were subjected to a glossy video which depicted happy homeowners showing off their luxury cars being hoisted up and down on BendPak car lifts. More an advertisement and a rather crass bid for business, than useful information the car lift presentation quickly crashed and after 2 hours of questions, it remained a question as to whether or not the proposed car lift solution would even fit under the proposed 3 story building.
As it turns out, the next Zoning Board meeting to consider the Islamic Community Cultural Center’s request for variances will be held on June 10. Mark it on your calendars, because if you need a lift there may not be any better show in town.
Bob Crawford
