Residents Applaud Proposed Muhlenberg Study

Applause rang out Monday as residents cheered the City Council's decision to support a study of the 17-acre Muhlenberg tract.

The council will vote on the study at the regular meeting at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Municipal Court.

The proposed study will take six months and will include several community meetings. Meanwhile, JFK Health Systems, the owner of the campus where Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center closed five years ago, has been revving up support for a 600-unit apartment complex on the site along with enhancements to an existing emergency room.

Before public comment, Councilman Adrian Mapp urged his colleagues to give full support to the study, which he said will impact generations. Councilman Cory Storch voiced support, but asked whether it would examine "what other failed hospitals have done." Corporation Counsel David Minchello said the study firm, Heyer Gruel & Associates, was chosen in part because of their experience with a similar situation in Asbury Park.

"This study does look at the JFK study, but is in no way bound by it," Minchello said. Noting there will be several meetings with the public, he said, "We are looking for an expansive study that looks into all the best uses."

In public comment, residents deplored the idea of 600 new apartments, citing the likely impact on traffic, municipal services and schools. But Dr. Harold Yood said a study should have been done when Muhlenberg closed.

'This is about five years too late for this resolution," he said, but thanked the council for moving it to next week's agenda. He said of the tract, "Although JFK owns the title, it really belongs to all the people."

John Campbell Jr. said his experience in real estate tells him that 600 units is not feasible in a residential area. The surrounding neighborhood is zoned for low to moderate density residential use and a zoning change would be required for the proposed 600-unit project. JFK has petitioned the council directly for the zoning change.

Amomg other concerns, resident Nancy Piwowar said an animated tour note: content changed by JFK of JFK's proposal left her "totally shocked" because the people portrayed "don't reflect the community."

John Campbell Sr. asked Mapp about "CREAM," which Mapp said was an idea he had for a community-based group where ideas would "bubble up from the bottom" on what to do with the Muhlenberg tract. The acronym stands for "Community Residents Engaged About Muhlenberg," he said. But Mapp said JFK created its own citizen groups.

"Can we get CREAM rolling again, or did it get sour?" Campbell asked.

Resident Brenda Gilbert said she served on a grassroots committee to help 1,100 workers displaced when Muhlenberg closed. She said the land was not supposed to be used for anything but medical uses and also said claims that the owner could not find buyers for the tract were not true.

To Mapp she said, "If you get your little CREAM commitee going on, I'll be the coffee in the cream."

Warning the council to be wary, she said, "Don't let the snake in the garden."

Mustapha Muhammad voiced confidence that the city can have a medical facility again.

"If we don't have a medical center, it will be the final chapter of the gentrification of Plainfield," he said. Also citing the animation, he said any proposal must reflect the demographics of the city.

"There seems to be a hidden hand that wants to get rid of the so-called undesirables," he said. "I hope and pray that we can work together," he added to applause.

"Please do your homework," resident Sandy Spector said as she urged the council to consider the impact of JFK' project on schools, sewers and roads. She said, "This city wants a medical facility," not 600 apartments.

--Bernice