Rockaway Township'sattorney says officials won't be intimidated

By Rob Jennings, Daily Record

ROCKAWAY TWP. - The planning board's attorney denounced Christ Church of Montclair's federal lawsuit as an attempt to "intimidate" the board, but said officials would continue holding public hearings on its mega-church building plan on Green Pond Road.

"This board is not going to shirk its responsibility," board attorney William Dimin declared at Monday's hearing, the 16th on the church's building proposal for the 107-acre, former Agilent Technologies site and the first since Christ Church filed its lawsuit April 15 in U.S. District Court in Newark.

The lawsuit, which names the planning board, mayor, council and environmental commission as defendants, alleges a coordinated attempt to target and undermine the church's controversial building plan - a contention denied by township officials.

Dimin said the board would proceed with public hearings, "in spite of threats, coercion and intimidation." He said that the lawsuit "will not have the impact the applicant is seeking it to have."

Applause for courage

Many of the approximately 150 people in the municipal building's hearing room applauded Dimin's words.

The planning board attorney, at times, appeared to be looking directly at Christ Church's pastor, David Ireland, who was sitting with church attorney Wendy Berger several feet away.

Ireland, during a break in the hearing, disputed Dimin's characterization of the lawsuit.

"We filed the lawsuit because we felt like our rights were being violated," Ireland said.

The lawsuit accuses the township of violating the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, as well as the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

It cites the council's March 1 vote to amend a local zoning ordinance - a decision affecting the church's plans; alleged encouragement by township officials of a misinformation campaign and a protracted planning board inquiry into whether "mega-churches" qualified as churches under local zoning.

Christ Church's building plan - highlighted by a 2,512-seat sanctuary, private K-5 school and recreational facilities - prompted heavy local scrutiny months before the first hearing on Dec. 15, 2003, and resulted in the formation of an opposition group, Voices of Rockaway Township.

Request to suspend

The group's attorney, Michael Edelson, did not attend Monday's hearing but submitted a letter advising the board to suspend the hearings because of the church's lawsuit - a suggestion Dimin rejected.

Township resident Lisa Salberg, one of the group's four founders, said she didn't mind that the hearings would proceed.

"I have faith in the board, as do all of us, that they'll do the right thing," Salberg said.

Prior to the hearing, Salberg passed out dozens of stickers with a line drawn through the word, "bullies."

"It's a general statement that the town shouldn't be bullied by someone who thinks he's bigger or tougher," she said.

Ireland said the critical reception Monday wouldn't sway him.

"I grew up in New York City. That doesn't bother me," he said.

The first half of the hearing also featured extensive questioning of Christ Church's traffic engineer by Mayor Louis Sceusi.