12/21/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom Steeples draw sparks at board hearing on Christ Church
By Rob Jennings, Daily Record
ROCKAWAY TWP. -- A tiff over two towers included in Christ Church of Montclair's controversial building plan provided some sparks at Monday's planning board public hearing.
After the 5,000-member church's architect, Kenneth Ruskin, asserted that the township's zoning ordinance permits height exemptions for religious steeples, board attorney William Dimin said he was unsure whether the exemption would cover more than one tower.
Dimin noted that the ordinance made plural references to masts and flagpoles but was singular in reference to towers.
Dimin said he was "going to have to be pretty convinced" that the ordinance would permit more than one tower at the proposed mega-church on Green Pond Road.
"I don't have to convince you, Mr. Dimin -- I have to convince the board," shot back Christ Church's attorney, Wendy Berger.
Dimin replied that it was his responsibility to advise the board and asked Berger for specific documentation that towers would qualify as a "religious symbol." Ruskin had described the towers as "symbols of the strength of God."
Berger said the towers were inspired by a Biblical passage that she paraphrased as, "God is the tower of our strength." She offered to provide a scriptural reference at the next planning board hearing.
The height of the towers was not discussed but the township has a height limit of 45 feet. Christ Church originally proposed four towers at the site, ranging from 65 to 100 feet high.
Dimin said he wondered whether the church's interpretation of the ordinance could be used to justify up to ten towers.
"We didn't propose ten, we proposed two," Berger said.
The exchange came halfway through Monday's public hearing at the Copeland Middle School, attended by approximately 120 people.
The hearing began with more than an hour of testimony from Ruskin under questioning from Berger.
Ruskin discussed specifics of the church building plan in greater detail than at previous hearings. The sanctuary would include a balcony with room for 618 seats. The main level would be built on a slope to "maximize sight lines," he said.
The church would remove underground oil tanks used to heat the existing 283,000-square-foot building and replace them with a natural gas line, Ruskin said.
Students at the K-5 private school would eat lunch in a 600-seat fellowship hall that could be divided into multiple partitions, he added.
Lisa Salberg, co-founder of the Voices of Rockaway Township group opposing the church plan, was in attendance Monday.
So was Ted Doty, who said he wrote a letter criticizing the opposition that was sent to thousands of homes in the township last month.
Planning board chairman Mort Dicker scheduled an 11th public hearing on Christ Church's application for Jan. 31.
Monday's meeting was the first Christ Church hearing in ten weeks and followed several twists in the contentious case -- from the township's decision to challenge the church's Highlands law exemption in court and the environmental commission chairman's decision to step aside from future hearings after attending a Voices of Rockaway Township fundraiser in October.
The environmental commission is conducting a separate inquiry into the church's proposed 2,512-seat sanctuary, private K-5 school, fellowship hall, fitness center and outdoor recreation facilities at the 107-acre, former Agilent Technologies site.
Christ Church reached a $14 million agreement with Agilent 18 months ago and the first planning board hearing was held last December.
Christ Church's plan has drawn sizeable local opposition from residents who claim that it will hurt the environment and worsen traffic.
The church has countered with studies indicating that the traffic impact would be manageable. The church's spokesman, Marc Weinstein, said the church's plan would improve environmental conditions at the site.
