Now that the christs circus has been approved to hold two services on sundays by the wonderful guardians of our township, I wonder how many tax dollars we are going to be loosing.
In a sense, we are all members of christs circus in that everyone one of us taxpayers in town are contributing to his business. I wonder if that portion of next years property tax increase (resultant from the lost revenues from the circus propery) can be declared as a charitable donation and thus be written off of our federal income taxes?
I do not know about the rest of you, but I resent having to support a so called church (that is in essence a fraudulent cult) and that has no membership from Rockaway Township.
When did that happen Rat? I hadnt heard. I thought the twp refused until the building was done and pollution remediation was complete.
Being forced to support ANY non-profit organization that has no local roots was my primary objection all along.
Never mind. I just found the Star Ledger story. So once again the Twp whimped out and gave in even though the appeal and permits havent even been approved yet.
Christ Church to open in township Temporary venue approved while new 'mega' site is constructed Tuesday, February 05, 2008 BY PAULA SAHA Star-Ledger Staff A Montclair megachurch can hold Sunday services at its Rockaway Township site until comple tion of the more-expansive campus approved a year ago, the local planning board ruled last night.
Christ Church, a 5,000-member congregation, will maintain a temporary sanctuary for about 1,000 people inside an existing building at the Green Pond Road site that once housed Agilent Technologies. Construction will take three to four months, said the Rev. David Ire land, and services will begin afterward
"We want to keep the congrega tion happy," Ireland said after the Rockaway Township board unanimously approved his tenancy appli cation last night. He said he was eager to start meeting the needs of people in the community, noting the church's Rockaway administrative office gets many queries about local services.
The township's experts last night weighed in on a variety of is sues, ranging from traffic management to snow removal to fire safety procedures. The church agreed to several conditions, including hiring an off-duty police officer to help manage traffic on site.
It took nearly three years for Christ Church to get site plan approval from the township to build a 2,500-seat sanctuary, a K-5 school and other amenities. The applica tion drew opposition, with many residents questioning traffic and environmental issues, and decrying the size and scope of the church's plans.
The project has been the subject of a federal religious discrimination lawsuit, a Department of Justice probe and an appeal of an exemption from the Highlands Act, a state law that restricts development in an environmentally sensitive area that includes the Rockaway Township tract.
The exemption remains in dispute. The state approved the church's plans in August, but the township has again appealed that decision. It is unclear when the appeal will be resolved, said church attorney Wendy Berger. In the meantime, the church leadership wants to start holding services.
The temporary sanctuary improvements will be limited to put ting up some walls and adding doors to meet fire code needs, church officials said. The church will start with one Sunday service from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Berger told the planning board. If needed, they will move to two services, with a second session from 8 to 9:30 a.m.
The church also will continue holding five Sunday services at its Montclair site, Ireland said.
Paula Saha may be reached at psaha@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910.
I hate to tell ya this, but I think that you and I are 6-Sigma Wackos on this issue. It would seem that nobody else in town could care less about cc and our opinions that it is going to trash the township, so why on earth would the township "leadership" fend for the best interests of the town folk?
For all I know, most of the township folks may be eagerly anticipating a conversion from their present religion to "Irelandism". After all, the people are eagerly asking him when he is going to open for business. That sort of conversion would certainly seem highly possible based on the (lack of) reaction to the situation at hand.
Every day I'm praying that the recession will hit Rev aka Dr. Book Seller hard in the pocket book.
Oh and before I forget a big thanks to all RT leaders, yes sir, thanks for looking out for us, great job; now we are all doomed.
"He said he was eager to start meeting the needs of people in the community, noting the church's Rockaway administrative office gets many queries about local services."
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha damn that is some funny stuff Rev are you going to do stand up too ???
He's probably referring to how many times a guy from Marcella keeps asking when they are going to start having services and when he can get a job working for them.
I am sure we will hear that the "group of minds greater than ours" has another plan and that they HAD to approve it or the Rev. would get mad and start RLUIPAing them to death again. Obvious BS as there is nothing that requires them to allow a temporary circus prior to completing the application and permit process. With all of the unanswered issues still pending on this abortion it would have been logical (hence their decision) not to allow any additional use until all the t's were crossed and i's dotted. Sorry folks, but I just want to get the hell out of dodge before the elephants start parading up Green Pond Rd.
I think that we are trying to close the barn doors after the horses got out. It really is too late; everyone in the market knows about the circus comming to this town and nobody wants any part of it. Why, who in their right mind would invest any of their hard earned money into a community with the bleak future that this one has?
