deacentiis letter

8/3/2019 DeAcentiis Letter

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(Misrepres entations wersusFacts)MISREPRESENTATION:We-kept urplan-a-secret,as.":aclic,to?:eztento?Fo-sitionfrornleing mobilizedutithin the cornmunity.,- Letter sent o Wnonah residents y Mary Bet'h'Krame/and Peter'Celano,December , 201 I.FACT:We expected that the community would have questions and concerns about this proiect and we wantedto beprepared.o addre.sshoseoncerr,,p..#."ily and '.;i;lg;;Lti;f#:;J,.,".-. Jiou. pt"r,and to assesshe feasibiliry of what we wanted to dt, we hlt.d " .Srrr,rliant who specializes n ElderCare to.give us anopinion onwhether our property wa! well suited to senior llving. We also retainedan architect to evaluateboth the interior and .xterior of the properry in light of ori. ,p..in. goal topreserve he integrity of the property as aresidence. rIt took severalmonths of meetings-with theseprofessionalsto determine if we could qo forward withour idea-Once we completed o.ridn. diligence,we submirted o.,, "ppli.";i"";;;.?"*iit ..rr"i'residents nforylally'Wi neverhad any iniention to approach he cJmmuniry in anythins but antntormed and torthcoming manner and we believe ouiactions attest to that.'If we t "a tri,lv intended to:T..{.o"I.plan, we most certainly would not have approached.;; ""igil;;;i;il*;'iolitior, ".,dtfered to discussour proposal.

MISREPRESENTATION:Y: *t:p?::ing to house 28 unrelated/ ransient adults in 14 rooms." Letter sent o Wenonabesidents yMary Beth Krarner and PeterCelano,Decernber , 201 1.FACT:We requestedpermissionto housea maximumaccommodatehusbandsand wiveswho wishedhad private bedrooms.

of 28 residents in ou r 14 bedrooms so that we couldto occupy one bedroom. Ijnrelated residents would have

MISREPRESENTATION:Weareplanning to createa State run facility.FACT:This facility w.ouldnot havebeen yn by the statebut by Roseannand myself Al l facilities such as rhese3re regulated bl t: State.n that they rlquire certain licensing and accommodations. It would haveoeena pnvate tacrhty wlth privatepay residence hat was family owned and operated.Additional concernshave been expr.essedhat if we receivedour variance and began to operate as weintended, that the Statecould actuallyoverride he specification,of o,r. variance hat limit our residentsto seniors and require us to housewhomever the StaL told us.To be clear, he State *;J; have no role]n the.opgration of this ftcjlity. We would be receiving absolutely no state'fundi"g- o". ..ridents wouldbe individuals who would be capable.ofpaying-for r"fia.rr." *iiit ,i.i. own private income sources.Further, the State could,not uniiateralytrrlrtii. the condition, oio.r, use_variance s mposed by thePlanning/zoning Board where they harr" ,ro interest in our privately run faciliw.

MISREPRESENTATION:Weacknoz'oledgebat tberezoouldbe "substantial itec!1ngu." - Letter sent o Wenonabesidents 1tMary BethKiamer and PeterCelano,December , 2011.FACT:We never.acknowledgedor planned substantial sitechanges. Our intention was alwaysfor the propertyto maintain its residentialcharacter.Th;,gropo;ed changJswould have ncludea .n-iji"g the existing:lt:yl^t driveway to be one way.o4y:adding'a handicap'ramt ;;;h; r."t entrance of the house and thefll::if:11-g_,:1p*t*ng on the Marion Avenue side of thi drive, along with two handicap spaces:::J|o-'nt carport'-lhese changes_woulde so minoS in fact, that we coild make th. ln""g", ourselveswrthout any use variance or formal approvalsfrom the Borough.


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MISREPRESENTATION:Wehave "absotutetyo experience"n operatinga residentialhealthcarefacilitlt. Letter sent o Wnonah residentsby Mary Beth Kramer and Peter Celano,December , 2011.FACT:Roseann s trained and certified to operateAdult Family Home facilities n Washington State.Her sisterand brother-in-law operateAdult Family Homes in Washington, and Roseannhasparticipated n themanagement of same.Roseann and another family member were both in the processof obtai_ningherCertified Nurse'sAssistantcertification to ensure hat we were literate regarding he needsof our prospectiveresidents. Further, I have a Masters degree n BusinessAdministration and have owned and operated smallbusinesses ver the courseofthe last twenty-fouryea rs.In addition, NJ.A.C. 5:27A-7.4(a)1 would have requiredus to completeadditional training within ayear ofbeginning to operate.The facility would al sohave had a certified registerednurse and a-physicianon call andthe profeisional staffwould have complied with the specific icensure equirementsunder NJ.A.C. 5:271'-7.1-.t. r.q. We also ntended to establishan advisoryboard made up of medical professionals,ndustry experts andrepresentatives rom Wenonah to ensure the quality of our facility.In addition to the foregoing,we cared or Roseann'smother,who suffered rom COPD, diabetesand heart diseasefor ten years.We managedher medication, onsultedwith her doctorsand mplementedher treatmentplan.

MISREPRESENTATION:A residentof suchafacility can be "apersonuho is 18yearsof ageor older mobileunderhis or lter ownpouser,zuith or ztsithout ssisted evices."FACT:Though NJ.A.C. 5:27A-1.3 definesa "resident"as such,our application or the use variancespecificallystatedthat we were applying only to provide housing for senior citizens who would prefer to not live alone. Ourproposeduse variancewould havepermitted only senior citizen residents.Some residentshave expressedo us that while they arc confidcnt in our ability to implement this plan in away that would be a credit to the neighborhood, future owners could deviate from the plan we envision andallow non-senior residents.As the variancewe were requestingwould only permit seniors,any future effort toinclude non-seniors would require a new application to the planning board. Such an application would entailnotice to the residents and the opportunity to be heard at a public meeting. Much like with our application,residents'voiceswould not go unheard.

MI SREPRES NTATI ON:"Owners?rz?ose[dJ ellingsiteaitlt idea to cltanget to a ltealtltcarefacility...- Gloucester ounty Times,December , 2011F}4.CT:We have never had any intention to sell our home or the businesswe were proposing. Our vision was for thisfacility to become a privately owned and operated family business hat could be run by our children and forthe property to remain in our family.

MISREPRESENTATION:Weare pusbing thisplan with virtually nopublic input." - Letter sent o Wenonah esidents yMary Betb Krarnerand Peter Celano,December ,2011.FACT:Our plan was slated to be presented to the planning/zoning board at a public meeting with prior publishednotice. Notices were sent tb all ho-es within 200 feet from the property and an announcement was placed inthe newspaperas equired by law.The planning/zoningboard meetingwould have been open to the public for.o*-.nis ind quesiions. n addition to thesenotices,we reachedout to our neighbors privately and offered tomeet with them in person to explain the details of our plan prior to the planning/zoning board meeting.


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MISREPRESENTATION:Thereare inberent safetyconcernsn placing 28 unrelated/transientadults (ztsitltunknoun backgrounds)3 blocks n;ayfrom our elernentary chool.FACT:As evidencedby our submission to the planning board, under no circumstances would there have been 28unrelated/transient residents. Labeling senior citizens who prefer not to live alone as transients who pose athreat to our elementary school is nothing more than blatant fear mongering. As set forth aboveand in ourvariance proposal, only couples would be occupying one room and unrelated residents would be in privaterooms.Further, NJ.A.C. 5:271'-4.72 requires hat a medicalprofessionalcertifr that he or she has seen he residentwithin 30 davsprior to admissionand that the resident does not have needswhich exceed he levelof careprovided by ihe facility. Also, a medical professionalmust certifr annually that the resident does not haveneedswhich exceed he care provided by the facility. Ifa facility has reason to believe that the facility isnot capableof providing proper care to the resident, then the medical professional on call shall evaluatethe resident to determine whether the resident is appropriately placed in that facility and to locate a newplacement f necessary.his requirement ensures hat the facility would only house hose who it is capableofcaring for, thereby ensuring the safety ofthe residents and neighbors.

MISREPRESENTATION:Weconceived f this plan because f the'\ignifcantf.nancial gain"for us and baaeno regardfor the'detrimentalimpact on the guality "f ltfrf", Wenonab esidents." Letter sent o Wenonah esidents y Mary Beth Kramerand PeterCelano,Decernber ,2011.FACT:This project was a labor of love for bo th Roseannand I. We env isioneda homey place or local seniors o livethat would have been family owned and operated. Having Roseannt mother live with us until she passedandknowing that being in our home enhanced her quality of life and most likely prolonged it, we believed thatour home could provide a healthy home-like environment for other seniors.Unfortunately, we found ourselvesin the opposite position after my father had a strokeand we were forced to find senior nstitutional care orhim in Florida before his death.Basedon our experiences, e firmly believe hat home-like environmentsprovide a superior quality of life for seniors. n fact, n many other states, en ior care n residentialhomes scommon, preferred and promoted. In light of all this, we conceived of a businessplan that would allow us toput our home to good use while achieving a worthwhile goal and we stand behind that.

MISREPRESENTATION:Dangerousdrugs trsouldbestoredon site, copiousmedical aaste oould begeneratedand thefacility u-toulddrain gooernmentseruices.FACT:Run of the mill prescription medications would be stored in a securearea asrequired by law.An applicant forresidency who requires the regular administration of narcotics as part of their carewould not be permittedto reside at the faciliry, as heir needswould exce d the level of ca rewe could provide.Though it is possiblethat residents could occasionally be prescribed common narcotics for pain, such as Percocet, his would bethe exception to the rule and all such medications would be stored in accordancewith State and Federalregulations.The level of careprovided at the proposed acility should also not producesubstantialmedicalwaste. Whatever minimal medical waste may have beengeneratedwould have been stored and disposedof in accordancewith the applicable Federal and State regulations. Furthermore, the purported drain ongovernment services s speculative at best. Given the level of care we intended to provide, we would notexpect any extraordinary use ofBorough services.Notwithstanding the facts above, t is worth mentioning that Wenonah Medical Associates and Drs. Nester,Wyckoffand Wyckoffdental practiceboth could store controlled substances nd presumablycreatemedicalwaste.Nor has the presence of these ocal businesses reated any safety hazards n the neighborhood.


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MISREPRESENTATION:Thereare no studies0n what theplan zuoulddo to our community.FACT:Concerns over the effecton the community is one of the many reasons hat matte rssuch as hese arepresented n a public forum with the opportunity for all interestedparties o respondand be heard.Thoughwe were confident that our proposalwould have no negative mpact on the community, we were eagerandwilling to hear the concernsofour neighbors and respond n kind basedupon our research. n the event thatissueswere raised that we had not explored, we would have, of course, ollowed up with whatever due diligencewould havebeen necessaryo address he concernsof the town.The sad ruth is that very few genuine ssueswere raisedor questionsasked. nstead, he messagehat wascommunicated to us and to the town is that taking care of senior citizens s somehow beneath Wenonah.It was made clear to us that some felt that people who care for seniors, and the seniors themselves,were anundesirable element that posed a threat to Wenonah. Although many neighbors greeted us fairly, we alsoencountered strong opinions, such as"why do you want old people running around your home," and "doyou know the type ofpeople that get hired to take care ofthose people, they are uneducated, they do nothave college degrees."Wedo not feel the need to refute this bigotry aswe a re confident that people'sownexperienceswith their eldedy relatives and those patient and compassionate enough to care for themis proof enough that this mindset is wrongheaded.


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(Narratiwe portion of usewarianceapplicationpackage)HOLL]'BUSH ESTATtrRESIDENTIAL HEALTH CAREEACILITY20rE. MANTUAAVENUE, WENONAH, NEWJERSEY

William O. DeAscentiis ndRoseann . DeAscenriis,underNJ.S.A. 40:55D-70(d)o allow heirproperVatResidential ealthCareFaciliry "RHCF"').

the applicants,haveapplied for a use ,'ariance20I E. Mantua Avenue to be usedas a

RESIDENTIAL H EALTHCARE FACI LI TY/AMEN ITI ESAs defined by the NewJersey Statutes,a RHCF is a facility which furnishes ood and shelter o four ormore unrelated adults,and provides dietaryservices, ecreaiionalsupervisionofand assistancen dailyliving activities,and assistancen obtaining health services.N.1.s.e.30:114-1.Although a RHCF may provide such care to persons under the ageof 65 years, his application is onlyfor senior citizens who would prefer to not live alone.A RHCF is NOT allowed to provide skilled nursing care, except for temporary periods (1 week or less)or in emergencies. n_the overall schemeof nursing-home care,a RHCF proviiei lessskilled care thanan assisted iving facility (which in turn provides less skilled care than a nlrsing home).As sPecificallystated n the NewJerseyAdministrative Code, a RHCF provides shelteredcareandservices,n a homelike setting, o residentswho do not requireskilled nursing care, n order to assistresidents to maintain personal interests and digniry as well as to protect theiihealth and safety.NJ.A.C. :27A-1.2.RHCFs leqyire a license from the State of New_Jersey. epending upon whether they are free-standingT Part ofa hosP.italor nursing home.complel, they require a licen-serom either the Department ofpomqrnig Affairs (i f fy.e-131{Tg) 9r_he Depaitment of Health & Senior Services if part of al:rger facility). Because his RHCF will be free-itanding, a license is required from the bepartment ofCommunity Affairs.The applicantsacknowledge hat thlisuse variance, f granted,would bi conditionedupon subseq"..Tly obtaining this Department of Community Affairs liceise. This Department ofCommunity Affairslicenge-c_ap nly be issuedafter the .*t.rr.irr. and thorough State egulations thatare set forth in NJ.A.C. 5:27A-7 et seq.havebeen complied with by the app-licants.This RHCF can accommodatea maximum of twenty-eight (28) senior residents,as here will befourteen (14) bedrooms available depending upon howir^ny m y be occupiedby couples).Minimumrequirements for bedrooms, toilets and common areasare mandatld by the'Depait-".tt of Community4Qit regulations (N.J.C.A. 5:27A-3, et seQ.)and must thereforebe met by the applicantsaspart oftheir Department of Community Affairs licensureapplication (asnoted abov.). The property *itt U.handicapped accessible,with stair lifts availableto enhance mobility "rrd "..es, to th" r.rid.ntial units.The RHCF will in generalprovide the following services:Dining in central dining room;Laundry service;Social and recreational activities:tansportation to and from doctors and other medical appointments; andPrescription fi ling/delivery.For social and recreational needs,a whole range of activities will be provided for those who wish toPTli:iP",,"'including such tems as:cardplay-r1gpoker,bridge,etc.); exercise lasseslight gardening;lo.r.d"t dec-orating;presentations on topics of interestl_memorycare activities; mixed chorus singingffield trips; family gatherings;shopping trips; picnics,photog.aphy; movie nights; and otherui*fi"rig.-appropriate recreational or social activities.

deacentiis letter

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