I am writing in response to your October 8, 2004 e-mail concerning the Department of Environmental Protection’s 2004 determination that the proposed Christ Church project in Rockaway Township is exempt from the permitting requirements of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, N.J.S.A. 13:20-1 et seq. I apologize for the extreme delay in my response. The Legislature created numerous exemptions from the permitting requirements of the Act which are listed in N.J.S.A. 13:20-28. These exemptions became effective upon enactment of the Highlands Act on August 10, 2004. Since that time, the Department has routinely issued written determinations to any person seeking ourguidance as to whether an activity in the Highlands preservation area is exempt from the Act. Such determinations are agency final decisions which may be appealed to the Appellate Division of Superior Court under court rule R. 2:2-3(a)(2). We acknowledge your statement of concern over the environmental impact of the proposed Christ Church project. However, we are not free to reply to your concerns or comment upon the project because our decision is currently the subject of an appeal filed by the Township of Rockaway in the Superior Court, Appellate Division. Be advised that the Department shall bear your concern in mind if and when the litigation ends and the matter is ever returned to the Department for reconsideration. Again, thank you for taking the time to write us.
Be advised that the Department shall bear your concern in mind if and when the litigation ends and the matter is ever returned to the Department for reconsideration.
Does this mean that they are NOT looking at the updated information sent to them, and will not look at it until the court case is done?
Very confusing...
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I got exactly the same email response as Rat. Word for word, boiler plate. It is my understanding that they have all the info and have reviewed it, and we have a pretty good idea of what their opinion is at this point, but since the twp has a legal case pending, they would prefer the legal decision to be made first. What is interesting is that they still bothered to reply at all to an email sent on Oct 4, 2004 and that it came directly from the Commissioners office instead of some underlings office. I think it goes along with his appearance on News12 and shows that he is personally fully aware and on top of things now and involved.
Interestingly I recieved an email from Campbell several months back, it was similar in tone. I wonder why he wrote back to your October letters NOW? It is very odd to say the least.
Without getting in to details, I would suggest we all just wait a little longer and the exemption will likely be history. My visit last week to the Highland Council was very enlightening.
Keep the faith,
Lisa
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The truth wins out over slick PR and personal attacks.
The Christ Church Plan for the redevelopment of 140 Green Pond Rd is just too big for the area.
I was wondering the same thing. Chuck and I sent our letters so long ago that they were long ago forgotten. Why respond now; they could have just let it lay. There must be something else going on behind the scenes that we do not know about that precipitated this latent reaction. I wonder what it could be.
