Hey rat, I assume you mean this one--I haven't even read it yet but wanted to get it on here.
Christ Church files federal suit alleging township discriminated against its plan CLAUDETTE LEMERDY 04/20/2005
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ROCKAWAY TWP- Christ Church of Montclair and its pastor, the Rev. David Ireland, filed a federal lawsuit against Rockaway Township and its officials on Friday, April 15, claiming the township discriminated against the church in an effort to thwart its plans to build a sanctuary, grade K-5 school, fellowship hall and administrative facilities on the Agilent property on Green Pond Road.
The church, which has had its application pending before the Planning Board for more than a year, names all the members of the Township Council and Planning Board, as well as the Environmental Commission and its Chairman Pat Matarazzo, and Rockaway Township Mayor Louis Sceusi, who is also a member of the Planning Board.
Reached Monday, Rockaway Township Councilman William Schievella said, “The only comment I can make is that obviously it’s ongoing litigation and it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time We’ll have to let the lawsuit take its course.”
Schievella said he received a call Friday evening (April 15) from the municipal clerk, informing him about the church’s lawsuit.
“It’s their right to sue - that’s what government is, and you can’t take it personally. We’ll have to let this go through the courts ... I’m not angry at them.”
“It’s an emotional issue, no matter where you stand on the issue, for different groups,” added Schievella. “I’m sure the township attorney will review it (the lawsuit) and advise us about what the situation is.” He said most of his information about the church’s suit, thus far, came from what he read in the newspapers.
The suit alleges on July 15, 2003, at a private meeting at which Ireland, his attorney, the township attorney and others were present, Sceusi said, “We don’t want you here,” and threatened to take the property by eminent domain if necessary.
The suit also claims the mayor “spearheaded a propaganda campaign against Christ Church” and cites a meeting of Voices of Rockaway Township (VORT) held on Nov. 3, 2003, at which it asserts Sceusi “applauded” the opposition to the application and pledged his support of that effort.
Several days before the church filed its lawsuit, church spokesman Marc Weinstein said by phone that at the latest Planning Board hearing on the church’s application, Sceusi questioned church traffic expert Karl A. Pehnke about what he described as a “discrepancy” between numbers submitted in a church document to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) when it successfully sought an exemption from the Highlands Act and numbers in a submission to the township.
“Our position is that the allegation has not been proven and if there was an error, then we’ll take the proper steps in correcting it,” Weinstein said.
Sceusi said at the meeting, “It raises a whole myriad of issues; all I know is that there’s a discrepancy; I don’t know why, or if it was a mistake, or if it was intentional.”
Mayor Is Criticized
“We believe the mayor is in line with the opposition; he is not a neutral party in these proceedings,” said Weinstein.
Church officials, he said, “don’t object to being asked hard questions,” because they think it gives them an opportunity to fully explain the project. However, he added, “It appears that the mayor has assumed the role of the objector’s attorney, rather than as a neutral member of the Planning Board, based on his line of questioning, which we feel has become aggressively hostile towards our experts.
“This hearkens back to what we said before, that we feel the mayor should have stepped down from his position on the Planning Board because he has been opposed to the church’s plans to build the project at the Agilent site.’’ Weinstein concluded.
“He should recuse himself at this point, rather than continuing to make a mockery of the proceedings.”
Contacted before the church’s filing of its suit, Sceusi said by phone he simply questioned Pehnke and he alleged that Pehnke did not know the traffic numbers that were submitted in the church’s application to the DEP with regard to the Highlands Act.
Reached Monday and asked about why he thought the suit had been filed, Sceusi said, “I don’t know what prompted it.
“They (Christ Church) filed it, and obviously we feel that there’s been nothing improper that was done. We treated them fairly, as we would any other applicant, and the ordinance does nothing that would violate their right to practice religion.”
Hearings Will Continue
The church is scheduled to continue its traffic testimony with Pehnke at the next hearing on the application which is scheduled for Monday, May 2, at the municipal building. A church spokesman said on Monday the church plans to go ahead with the hearings.
The lawsuit filed by the church alleges the Planning Board delayed consideration of the church’s building application for six months while deciding whether Christ Church was really a church in an effort to intentionally delay and stall the church’s application.
The suit also alleges township officials stirred up local opposition to Christ Church. “Misinformation” about church plans included the distribution of literature to the homes of Rockaway Township residents via handouts that school children were to give to their parents describing Christ Church’s plans for the site as including a nursing home, a medical clinic, and prisoner rehabilitation facilities, according to the church suit. The church asserts in the suit it never planned to put any kind of nursing home, medical clinic, or prisoner rehabilitation facility on the property.
Additionally, the suit states the township threatened to deprive Christ Church of the property by taking it through eminent domain and then an ad hoc Facilities Study Committee was formed to present the Rockaway Township Board of Education with recommended sites for a new public school. That committee, in spite of the fact the Christ Church property was not on the list of original preferred sites, put the property on the list of “finalists” in early 2004.
Also addressed in the suit is a new ordinance, which was adopted by the Township Council on March 1. The church alleges in its suit the ordinance was aimed directly at Christ Church. The suit states the ordinance contains new provisions on houses of worship that, if applied against the church, would prevent Christ Church from developing the Agilent site, as planned. For example, it prohibits parking decks, which the church has planned.
The suit further asserts the Planning Board recommended the Township Council adopt the ordinance despite the fact the Planning Board had a site application pending (i.e., Christ Church) for more than one year which contained a parking deck and had previously granted site plan approval for an office building which contained a parking deck.
Church officials also note in the suit that no Planning Board member prior to the adoption of the ordinance had ever indicated a parking deck would be an unacceptable component of Christ Church’s building plans.
Before the filing of its suit, Planning Board Chairman Morton Dicker said by phone he thought the hearings on the church’s application would continue through the summer, since engineering and environmental issues had yet to be considered.
Other issues brought up in the suit involve the township’s environmental commission chairman, Pat Matarazzo. The suit against Matarazzo stated the Environmental Commission chairman attended an event sponsored by opponents of Christ Church (VORT) and brought to that event his official copies of the Christ Church Site plans for VORT members to review and discuss. At the time of the VORT rally, the Environmental Commission was reviewing the environmental aspects of the Christ Church application.
The suit also states Matarazzo agreed to recuse himself from attending or participating in any Environmental Commission meetings addressing the Christ Church application but then Matarazzo attended the Nov. 10, 2004 meeting of the Environmental Commission, at which the Christ Church proposal was discussed.
Suit Called ‘Inevitable’
Russell Jones, founder of Residents for Truth in Rockaway, a group formed in support of the church’s application, spoke by phone about the church’s lawsuit, saying, “From the outset, the present situation seemed inevitable. A small, vocal segment of the Rockaway Township population has been determined to stop Christ Church by whatever means possible. Since we are a country of law, the courts will decide this matter.
“I am very concerned about how much of our tax dollars will be needed to defend our mayor’s actions, and also the perception of the Rockaway Township community, both regionally and nationally,” added Jones.
