Zoning Board to Consider Library Site

The Zoning Board of Adjustment on Thursday will consider whether to grant a use variance for the library's planned move to Montrose Avenue.  In March the board voted 7-1 to lease a facility there rather than stay in the current location on Plainfield Avenue.

The proposed site is zoned for light industrial and commercial uses, and the zoning prohibits libraries unless the applicant obtains a use variance.

This is the board's second hearing on the application.  Last month it asked for more information from the applicant, including a traffic study.


Plans for a new library were originally announced by Democratic Councilman Robert Cusick in 2003. After the plans were delayed, state funding dried up, which increased the cost of the project.  In 2008 the Council allowed the public to weigh-in on the plan by putting it on the ballot for Democracy Week.  Voters handily defeated the measure, with some saying the project was too expensive and others saying the location was insufficient and lacked parking.

Later that year, then-candidates for Borough Council, Christine Buteas and Franky Salerno, pledged to revive the plan, but shortly after taking office they announced that they had no plans to pursue it due to the economy.

The Council did not attempt to re-start the project in 2009. Earlier this year, however, the Library Board announced the plan to move to a larger facility on Montrose Avenue. The plan came under criticism when members of the public objected to the location

An 07080 poll in March found that most readers opposed the move to Montrose Avenue.