Christ Church submits new plans for Rockaway Thursday, August 04, 2005
By ALICIA ZADROZNY of The Montclair Times
Fitz Hayles drives from Linden each week to attend services at Christ Church. If Montclair’s largest church gets its wish to move to Rockaway, he will keep driving.
Hayles said that Christ Church is more than just church on Sunday but is also a full-service community center where his teenage daughter can hang out and also be surrounded by a “spirit of excellence.”
“Here at Christ Church, it invites [youth] to bring out the best that’s in them and not to settle for mediocrity,” Hayles said. “This is a day-to-day place that you can call home.”
Hayles exemplifies Christ Church’s determined efforts to relocate to a 101-acre site in Rockaway Township in Morris County, despite an alleged “campaign against the church.”
Church officials recently unveiled a scaled-down proposal that requires fewer variances from the Rockaway Planning Board. Representatives of the 5,000-member church have been meeting with the Rockaway Planning Board since 2003. In the interim, the Rockaway Township Council passed a zoning ordinance this past March that prohibited the construction of a building 1,500 feet within a public water supply, which the church addressed in its proposal.
In April, the church responded to the ordinance by filing a federal lawsuit alleging that Rockaway violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The law was created to categorize religious institutions as beneficial uses and protect them being arbitrarily blocked by municipalities. This week, the church filed an amendment to its lawsuit, stating that Rockaway continues to discriminate against the church.
Christ Church was founded in 1986 and has steadily grown since. In 1994, the church relocated to an 800-seat cathedral on Church Street in Montclair. During the past several years, the church has held five consecutive services each Sunday due to the building’s inability to accommodate all the congregants at the same time.
Church officials searched for seven years before they found the Rockaway site, which was formerly occupied by Agilent Technologies.
In July 2003, the church submitted to the Rockaway Planning Board an application for site plan and conditional use approval of a 400,000-square-foot facility.
The church then reduced its square footage by approximately 25 percent to comply with the state Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act that was passed in 2003.
As the hearings proceeded, Rockaway residents publicly opposed the project. Church officials have claimed that Rockaway officials “have changed the rules midstream,” specifically citing the changes in the environmental stan-dards. In its lawsuit, Christ Church also claims that the township never explained how the church could fully satisfy the environmental standards.
Last week, church officials submitted new plans that call for a 263,000-square-foot complex instead of the previous design of a 302,000-square-foot facility, said church spokesman Marc Weinstein.
Additionally, a parking deck and parking lot were removed from the plans, and an underground parking garage was reduced from 277 to 240 spaces. A 28-classroom elementary school planned for the complex will now accommodate 350 students instead of 500. The newest plan retains the 2,512-seat sanctuary, but it will now sit back 435 feet from Green Pond Road instead of the 310 feet originally proposed.
As hearings for the project have continued, the Rev. David Ireland has maintained that he wants to work with Rockaway Township and is committed to moving there. However, Weinstein explained, the church has also made it clear that its rights have been impeded by the township.
“The plans were revised because the church felt it was necessary to comply with the township’s zoning ordinance,” Weinstein said. “However, the church filed the lawsuit against the town because it allegedly violated federal and state constitutional land use laws.”
Behind all the talk of size and square footage, Christ Church as it exists now was built and is sustained by people who have put the church at the center of their lives. These church members come from all over New Jersey and lead different lives as single people, married couples or young professionals, but all agreed that Christ Church is more than just going to religious services on Sunday.
With a gamut of social programs, including support groups, legal clinics, summer camps, singles groups, elementary school classes and day care, Christ Church endeavors to be a full-service community center.
These options are important for Joshua Tolentino of Montclair.
“You need to know what to do in every situation,” Tolentino said. “Traditionally, we find that churches help the homeless. Why shouldn’t we also help the downtrodden find legal advice”
Cindy Machado travels from Kinnelon to attend services and programs at Christ Church. As a newcomer to the area, Machado said that she wanted to find a place where many of her needs could be met. Machado considers the leadership training she has taken at the church to have helped her as an executive for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
“It helps me to lead my people better,” Machado said.
Russell Jones, a Rockaway resident, is a motivational speaker by profession and has also acted as a spokesman for the church’s move to his hometown. Jones noted that Christ Church is already serving a function that many community organizations are trying to duplicate. Jones emphasized that the church is not merely attempting to be “big,” but to interact with and uplift an entire community.
“It’s not just that they got big,” Jones said. “It’s people going out into the community. It’s more than just joining our church. It’s to flow out into the community.”
The success of Christ Church may be apparent in the crowds of people who gather inside the church between services. It may be seen in the people who park at the Montclair Art Museum and then ride in chartered vans to attend Wednesday night and Sunday services.
The church’s success may lead to its failure in its bid to relocate. Some Rockaway residents fear that Christ Church’s congregation will clog local roadways and hamper residents’ quality of life.
Lisa Salberg, who has organized with other residents against Christ Church’s goal of establishing a facility in Rockaway, said the church’s revised plans will not alleviate the pressure of a large facility that would have constant activities.
“We still oppose the plans completely,” Salberg said. “I find that absolutely hideous that a church would bully a town with a lawsuit.”
Christ Church’s engineer for the project will continue to testify at a Rockaway Township Planning Board meeting scheduled for Monday, Aug. 15.
"With a gamut of social programs, including support groups, legal clinics, summer camps, singles groups, elementary school classes and day care, Christ Church endeavors to be a full-service community center."
Be afraid, be very afraid if cc gets in. With their full service community center they will keep on growing. With all the programs and groups and day care, our roads will be unpassable. They are just way too big for 140GPR! Why ireland can't see that, I'll never know. I wonder what he does see as he looks up and down GPR. Does he see his congregation mired in traffic? Or does he see the more that come, the bigger the ego? Food for thought!
I believe that Joshua Tolentino did write a letter to the editor and stated he lived in Rockaway Twp. I may have the letter in my large file......... I'll have to look around.
Russell Jones, a Rockaway resident, is a motivational speaker by profession and has also acted as a spokesman for the church’s move to his hometown. Jones noted that Christ Church is already serving a function that many community organizations are trying to duplicate. Jones emphasized that the church is not merely attempting to be “big,” but to interact with and uplift an entire community.
“It’s not just that they got big,” Jones said. “It’s people going out into the community. It’s more than just joining our church. It’s to flow out into the community.”
This is the man who posted a prayer on his website who refered to his neighbors as "enimies of God"? This is there "spokesmen"? Who gave him this new title? This entire situation grows more and more bizzar by the moment. I cant wait to see how Ireland is going to duck all of these claims when questioned about all of the inconsistancies between testimony and press stories. Let just see what the DEP has to say about that little exemption... time will tell.
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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.
Regarding the review of the exemption. Is there any timetable for this review or is the review made entirely behind closed doors and the result announced without prior notice?
I thought VoRT had no problem with the church , its practices or members. I recall reading posts written by VoRT founders that defended the right of people to worship as they please.
But now Lisa and Thinker seem to warn us against religion and launch personal attacks on two men who attend th church.
I don't know why you are still on this board because you are nothing but an instigator. You twist things around and spin spin spin. I did not say anything against churches. The man I wrote about is a person, not a church (even though he thinks he's something greater than a man). Before you accuse someone of something, take some reading comprehension courses. While you're at it take some spelling courses too.
Karen, I think that's the problem you don't see the hypocrisy of allowing personal attacks on people you don't like yet objecting to attacks on people you do like.
If you're going to dish it out, you have to take some too
