Zoning Board Derails Library Move

It's unlikely that Montrose Avenue will be the site of the Borough's new library.

In a unanimous decision last night, the Zoning Board of Adjustment denied granting a use variance to the library, which halts the controversial move from the facility's current home on Plainfield Avenue.

Zoning Board members cited safety as a top reason for their decision, pointing to lack of sidewalks, lack of an effective evacuation plan, and the isolated nature of the location.  They also noted how the library would be sharing the building with a light industrial tenant and how the site lacked appropriate ingress and egress as reasons for their decision.

The library had been asked to supply the board with a traffic study, but its attorney, Walter K. Abrams, said his client decided not to honor that request.

The denial represents the latest setback in the library's seven-year battle to move to another facility.  Former Councilman Robert Cusick first suggested building a new library in 2003 when running for re-election.

Five years later, voters turned down the plan during Democracy Week, which prompted the Library Board of Trustees to look for other solutions.  In March the board voted 7-1 to sign a ten-year lease for the Montrose Avenue site.  That lease was contingent upon getting a variance, however, as the property sits in a light industrial zone, which does not permit libraries.  

Board President Eric Aronowitz has been quoted in other news sources as saying the Library Board would appeal a denial, but Abrams did not suggest last night whether his client planned to go that route.