Town asks Highlands panel's aid in lawsuit Wednesday, August 24, 2005
BY PAULA SAHA Star-Ledger Staff
The mayor of Rockaway Township has asked the Highlands Council to defend the township in Christ Church's pending religious discrimination lawsuit.
The suit, filed in April, includes charges that an ordinance passed by the township council in March "discriminates against houses of worship."
In a letter dated Aug. 19 and addressed to John Weingart, chairman of the Highlands Council, Mayor Louis Sceusi says the ordinance was adopted "to comply with the purposes and intent of the Highlands Act."
Toward that end, Sceusi asked Weingart for the council's help. "The township of Rockaway respectfully requests that the Highlands Council defend the township in the Christ Church litigation," the mayor wrote.
Rockaway Township's local ordinance also set specific parameters for churches and other "conditional uses" in town.
Liz Maziarz, a spokeswoman for the Highlands Council, said yesterday that Sceusi's letter is under review.
"The legal protections provided for by the Highlands Act do not go into effect until the master plan is completed and towns come into conformance," Maziarz said. "That being said, we are doing our best to work with the township of Rockaway and all the parties involved. We're trying to be as helpful as we can."
The legislature passed the Highlands Act last year to limit development in a 395,000-acre watershed area spanning parts of Morris, Sussex, Warren, Somerset, Bergen and Passaic counties. The Highlands Council is currently charged with drafting and adopting a regional master plan, a guide to future development in that region.
Christ Church, a 5,000-member congregation currently in Montclair, has been before the township planning board since December 2003 seeking site plan approval for a complex on Green Pond Road that would include a 5,200-seat sanctuary and a school. The project has prompted concerns from residents who fear increased traffic and environmental problems.
The hearings are ongoing, but earlier this week, the church went ahead with the purchase of the former Agilent Technologies property.
The site is in the Highlands preservation region, but the state granted the church an exemption from restrictions of the act. The township is appealing that exemption. The state Attorney General's Office, which is representing the Department of Environmental Protection, has asked the court to send the exemption back to the DEP for further review.
Sceusi yesterday called the state's position "interesting."
"Here they are, under appeal, for granting an exemption for allowing more development under the Highlands Act, and now we're asking them to defend us because we've asked for less development under the Highlands Act," he said.
Sceusi also acknowledges in his letter that the legal protections do not come into play until after the Highlands Council adopts a regional master plan and approves local laws as being in conformance with that plan. But the regional plan, he adds, will not be finished until June 2006, and local approvals would not come until well after that.
Sceusi says in the letter that it is "unlikely" the Legislature intended for towns to be left vulnerable to "costly legal challenges" in the months before the regional master plan is enacted.
"This is just another desperate and futile act to prevent the church from relocating in Rockaway Township," Marc Weinstein, a spokesman for the church, said yesterday.
Paula Saha covers the Rockaways. She may be reached at psaha@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910.
""This is just another desperate and futile act to prevent the church from relocating in Rockaway Township," Marc Weinstein, a spokesman for the church, said yesterday." Hey Whinney, what do you call what cc did by buying 140 before approval? If this was your town being taken over by a minimum of 5200 people not of your town, ruining your environment, traffic and infrastructure, would you just sit back and watch? Fight fire with fire. Kudos Mayor!
Remember Lisa saying 22? Read section 22 of the Highlands Law.
22. (New section) The council shall provide legal representation to any requesting local government unit located in the Highlands Region in any cause of action filed against the local government unit and contesting an act or decision of the local government unit taken or made under authority granted pursuant to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.), R.S.40:27-1 et seq., the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.), or this act, provided that: a. the municipal master plan and development regulations, or, in the case of a county governmental entity, the county master plan and associated regulations, have been approved by the council to be in conformance with the regional master plan in accordance with sections 14 or 15 of this act; b. the council determines that the act or decision of the local government unit which is the subject of the cause of action is consistent with the regional master plan; and c. the act or decision of the local government unit that is the subject of the cause of action involves an application for development that provides for the ultimate disturbance of two acres or more of land or a cumulative increase in impervious surface by one acre or more.
a premature lawsuit, and now a premature purchase of property that imho will never be approved for a mega-anything - the pious reV either has the most reckless gambler ever, or hE has other plans. The math on 200 office workers tells us that these folks are going to enjoy some pretty nice digs at work...
p.s. - I cannot imagine the train of thought that induced taking over the maintenence and bills on this site to house a handful of office workers for the next 3 to 5 years of legal battles - must be nice to play with other peoples money.
"Sceusi also acknowledges in his letter that the legal protections do not come into play until after the Highlands Council adopts a regional master plan and approves local laws as being in conformance with that plan. But the regional plan, he adds, will not be finished until June 2006, and local approvals would not come until well after that. "
So Sceusi confirmed that PB approval will not take place until well after June 2006. The township needs to find every loophole possible to keep 140 GPR tax ratable in that timeframe.
