Toni's Kitchen.  We've all heard of them.  They provide food and clothing to those in need.  This is commendable, but while they preach about the importance of addressing food insecurity, they are also being subsidized with our tax dollars.  They are ruining the peace, quiet, and beauty of our neighborhood with impunity.  Toni's blights the neighborhood with mountains of garbage, signs, noise, commercial equipment, and excessive pedestrian and vehicular traffic.  And now Toni's Kitchen wants to further dominate our community.  NO MORE!  Montclair is not a charity!  We should not have to forfeit our heath, safety, and welfare.  Let's take back our neighborhood and recover our peaceful lives.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church has submitted Application 2814 to further expand the storage and service capabilities of Toni’s Kitchen. If you’ve traveled or tried to park on Union Street or South Fullerton while Toni’s is accepting deliveries or distributing food, then you’re already familiar with the nuisances they create.  St. Luke’s conveniently describes the use of their property as “a church.”  This is an abject misrepresentation.  St. Luke’s property is a church in name only… a “chino.”  Their predominant activity is a commercial-scale warehousing and distribution operation, not bona fide religious observance and other "church" activities.  Identifying St. Luke’s property as a church is akin to claiming Newark Liberty International Airport is “a church” simply because there’s a chapel in Terminal C.  Legal precedent for this distinction already exists.  Click here and search the page for “wag the dog.”  St. Luke’s is hoping to railroad the approval of their application with the complicity of an uninformed adjustment board.  Without a use variance, an operation of this scale is required by law to be located in a commercial zone.  St. Luke's has not been granted such a variance nor have they ever applied for one.

On Wednesday, October 26 at 7:30 PM in the Municipal Building, there will be an in-person hearing for St. Luke’s Application 2814.  I will be there to oppose it. I’m going to explain the law and demand rejection of the application.  Allowing Toni’s Kitchen to expand will only further destroy our neighborhood.  I'm not going to be quiet about it and neither should you.  This petition will be presented along with my testimony and other evidence and your signature will allow your voice to be heard.  Thank you for helping to keep our neighborhood an enjoyable place to live.

www.tinyurl.com/tonisvids

UPDATE: Please check out the updates and comments below for additional information.  And please share this petition if you can.  Thank you!!!

UPDATE #2: The Board of Adjustment is not required to accept this petition as evidence.  HOWEVER, it is still important to sign and make comments so that decision makers and others will hear your voice.