Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus Published Every Thursday Since September 3, 1890 (908) 232-4407 USPS 680020 Thursday, May 16, 2013 OUR 123rd YEAR – ISSUE NO. 20-2013 Periodical – Postage Paid at Rahway, N.J. www.goleader.com [email protected] SEVENTY FIVE CENTS Testimony Continues on Proposed Expansion of Westfield Stop & Shop By CATHERINE WATSON the overall square footage from made prohibiting deliveries to Stop Specially Written for The Westfield Leader 35,426 square feet to 53,555, of & Shop (then Mayfair Supermar- WESTFIELD — At a special which 41,016 would be on the main ket) past 5:30 p.m. meeting last Wednesday, Westfield’s floor, and excludes the basement. Stop & Shop currently accepts Planning Board continued hearing Last month’s meeting, slated for deliveries until 10 p.m. and would Stop & Shop Supermarket Com- April 3, was cancelled because Art continue to do so at its expanded pany LLC’s revised application to Attenasio, lawyer for a residential facility. Mr. Gasiorowski said the expand its Elm Street, Westfield objector to Stop & Shop’s project, 1983 resolution was binding on the location. was ill. board, and that Stop & Shop would As previously reported, the com- Mr. Attenasio, whose practice is need to formally apply for relief pany plans to demolish two office in Westfield, was replaced by law- from it. buildings it owns at 203 and 195 yer Ron Gasiorowski of Red Bank. Stop & Shop’s counsel, Howard Elm Street and enlarge the Mr. Gasiorowski will represent ob- Geneslaw, protested that he re- supermarket’s parking lot. The su- jecting resident, James Hughes of quested any documents relevant to permarket, located at 219 Elm Massachusetts Street, for the re- the case six years ago. He said he Street, would then be closed for mainder of the application process. never received notice of this reso- approximately five months for ex- At last week’s meeting’s outset, lution from the board. pansion and renovation of the build- Mr. Gasiorowski called the board’s Mr. Geneslaw also said the reso- ing. The proposal would increase attention to a 1983 resolution it lution may no longer be relevant, as sealed loading docks included in the new application would elimi- nate outdoor loading noise. ANIMAL HEALTH...Area officials and Merck representatives join New Jersey’s Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno to Planning Board member John formally dedicate the company’s new global Animal Health Division in Summit on May 15. Pictured, left to right, are: Bennett asked Mr. Gasiorowski, Westfield Mayor Andy Skibitsky, Merck Animal Health Marketing; Senator Tom Kean, Jr.; Merck Animal Health “Could you remind me – it’s been a President Rick Deluca; Lt. Governor Guadagno; Asm. Jon Bramnick (D-21) and Asw. Nancy Munoz (D-21). few hearings – who do you repre- sent?” Mr. Gasiorowski provided his client’s name, although he did not have Mr. Hughes’ address on Judge Suspends Sentences hand. Mr. Bennett asked why Mr. Hughes, who has not attended any of the Stop & Shop hearings, had For Seniors in DWI Accident not raised this issue earlier. “Mr. By JULIA QUELLER propriate for him to comment. none of them would have gotten in- Attenasio might not have been Specially Written for The Westfield Leader Anthony Rinaldo, the attorney who jured or killed,” Mr. Rinaldo said. aware of the resolution,” Mr. WESTFIELD – A state Superior represented Mr. Diaz, told The Leader Mr. Rinaldo also cited Mr. Diaz’s Gasiorowski said. Court judge in Union County ordered that the sentence was fair given all of perfect record, maladies from old age Robert Cockren, serving in the suspended sentences on May 10, for the circumstances. and service in the Army as factors that role as board attorney for the hear- two elderly men whose vehicles fa- “You have to remember that the the court considered. ings, asked both lawyers to send tally struck a 68-year-old woman in original accident was caused by Mrs. “The mitigating factors substantially formal written legal positions to the Westfield last January. Currie herself when she hit Mr. outweighed the one aggravating fac- Photo courtesy of Joe Graham board for review. Meanwhile, he Charles Casiere, 85, and John Diaz, Kervick… If there was no accident to tor and that’s why [Mr. Donohue] was PAPER BOYS…Fourth-grade students from Jefferson Elementary School in allowed Stop & Shop to continue 75, who both admitted they had been begin with, everybody would have able to form the sentence as he did,” Westfield perform in the Jefferson Jubilee on April 20. presenting witnesses. drinking prior to the accident, pleaded passed through that intersection and CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Stephen Szulecki testified as Stop guilty in March to various charges & Shop’s sound expert. He ex- including vehicular homicide and leav- Closure of Lindeman Buick: plained the complex modeling ing the scene of a fatal accident. The GW Council Discusses WF equipment he used to develop an incident resulted in the death of Patricia estimate of noise impacts the ex- Currie, a hospice nurse from Scotch End of an Era for Westfield panded site would produce. Plains. Ms. Currie had grazed 65-year- Development; Bulk Waste By LAUREN S. BARR resulted in having their Buick fran- Mr. Szulecki used measurements old pedestrian David Kervick with her By LAUREN S. BARR letter to the Town of Westfield asking Specially Written for The Westfield Leader chise taken away, Mr. Lindeman is now he collected along with manufac- car, and was hit by both Mr. Casiere Specially Written for The Westfield Leader that the developer “provide a better WESTFIELD — In its heyday, selling the Buick franchise back to turers’ information to add decibel and Mr. Diaz while tending to Mr. WESTFIELD – The Garwood Bor- vegetative buffer” between the new Westfield was home to eight new car GM. levels for each piece of outdoor Kervick on North Avenue. ough Council discussed a recently ap- development and the Garwood line. dealerships, a place where area resi- Mr. Lindeman told The Leader that equipment on the prospective prop- According to a story in The Star- proved development in Westfield on Mr. Guarriello added that the drain- dents could buy anything from a Jaguar GM has been asking him to leave erty to his modeling program. Ledger, Superior Court Judge Joseph the border of Garwood, moving for- age system will feed into the Garwood to an Oldsmobile within a short dis- Westfield for the past seven years and The program calculates a variety Donohue gave Mr. Casiere a three- ward with the possibility of designat- Brook and that it should reduce the tance along North Avenue. Now, with move to a highway location. He said of factors to arrive at the maximum, year suspended sentence for a second- ing a portion of North Avenue as an flow of storm water currently coming the closure of Lindeman Buick this that because he was not operating out worst-case noise impact from these degree vehicular homicide charge and area in need of redevelopment and off the property. Friday, Westfield will no longer have a of an upgraded “big box” facility, GM sound sources at different nearby a four-year suspended sentence for the upcoming bulky waste pickup. Alex Grohol of Myrtle Avenue in single new car dealership. was penalizing him by charging a higher “receptor sites,” or places likely to third-degree assault by auto charge Borough Engineer Donald Guarriello Garwood, whose property abuts the “My biggest upset about going out cost for vehicles. Mr. Lindeman added be affected. filed for hitting Mr. Kervick. Mr. told the council that he reviewed the new development, said he recently at- of business was my customers and my that despite his smaller building, his The noise levels produced with Donohue gave Mr. Diaz a five-year plans for the development of 16 units at tended a Westfield Town Council meet- employees,” Thomas Lindeman told was the highest customer-rated facility all equipment running simulta- suspended sentence for leaving the Grove Street and Myrtle Avenue in ing and felt that Garwood could have The Westfield Leader. “I love Westfield in the tri-state area. neously at top output, and in the scene of an accident. Both Mr. Casiere Westfield, which will abut Garwood. taken a more active role in objecting to and I love my customer base.” According to Mr. Lindeman, most most sound-conducting conditions, and Mr. Diaz are prohibited from driv- He said that while he does not think it this development. Mr. Lindeman’s father, Frank of his employees have been with him would fall well within standards set ing and are under parole supervision. is a particularly nice development, the Mr. Grohol suggested that the bor- Lindeman, Jr., bought the business from for over 20 years, and that other by the State of New Jersey and by Assistant Bergen County Prosecu- borough does not have any say in that. ough file an objection to Westfield’s Union County Buick in June of 1964. dealerships have been calling to offer Westfield’s stricter local code, Mr. tor Martin Delaney prosecuted the case He did suggest that the borough send a CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Frank Jr. then hired his father, Frank many of them jobs because they are an Szulecki told the board. because the Union County Prosecutor’s Sr., as the sales manager. “incredible staff.” He said several cus- Mr. Gasiorowski objected to Mr. Office had a conflict. Mr. Delaney did According to Thomas Lindeman, tomers have come in crying since learn- Szulecki’s testimony on several not recommend jail time for Mr. Casiere customers still come in with stories of, ing about the closure and that it proves grounds.