ROCKAWAY TWP. -- For a second time, the state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a "notice of technical incompleteness" to Christ Church as it reviews the church's request for a Highlands law exemption.
DEP Bureau of Watershed Regulation Chief Terry Pilawski, in a letter to Christ Church pastor David Ireland, cited an incomplete calculation of impervious surfaces at the proposed mega-church building site on Green Pond Road.
In a revised application following the first notice on July 11, Christ Church did not incorporate the dimensions of two baseball infields in its calculations even though "structures and improvements on the fields" qualify as impervious, Pilawski wrote.
Pilawski also requested a recalculation of the overall imperious surfaces at the site. He wrote that the latest design from Christ Church had increased pavement at a 169-square-foot polygon near the entrance.
Calculations pertaining to impervious surfaces -- defined in the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act as "any structure, surface or improvement that reduces or prevents absorption of storm water into land"-- are critical to Christ Church's request for an exemption to the law.
Christ Church received an exemption in Sept. 2004 after DEP ruled its building plan fell was within 125 percent the lawfully existing impervious surfaces on the property, which was previously owned by Agilent Technologies.
Enacted in Aug. 2004, the Highlands law placed strict new limits on developments in a preservation zone that includes the proposed mega-church site. However, it also authorized more than a dozen circumstances under which an applicant might gain an exemption.
The exemption was a big boost to the church's building proposal, highlighted by a 2,512-seat sanctuary and private K-5 school.
After Rockaway Township appealed, an appellate judge ordered DEP to reconsider the decision.
The church has 30 days to respond to DEP's latest letter.
Meanwhile, the Rockaway Township planning board is moving ahead with its review of the mega-church plan.
Hearings have been underway since Dec. 15, 2003 and the next one will be on Sept. 11.
I learned about this issue this morning. Christ Church has yet to provide complete plans to the DEP... and they claim Rockaway Twp is STALLING?
One issue that is of significant concern is how did the DEP ever issue an exemption in the first place? 2 years later the documents are still incomplete, how in the world did they ever issue an exemption?!
Have a nice day everyone! Lisa
-- Edited by Lisa Salberg at 16:34, 2006-08-22
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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.
It seems like real small potatoes if they are quibling over an infield and a 169 square foot polygon. These things are NOTHING compared to the overall magnitude of this project, so why even bother bringing that up? So, if that is all that they have to play against cc, then you can see what the outcome will be. They will compromise and eliminate the polygon and permission to build can then be granted.
I don't understand all this impervious stuff, but since cc has NOT given complete plans twice to the DEP (and numerous times to the pb) there is a reason why. Obviously, something is not right in their calculations and they are trying to get away with it. I don't think it's a slam dunk. If it was, they would have had completed documents from the beginning.
The fact that the state "asked the church for a revised,complete set of site plans, and asked them to double check their figures for the area of certain paved areas that have changed between plan revisions" says a lot. It means that while the PR firm for Christ Church complains that the Rockaway Planning board and the state are stalling, it is in fact Christ Church Inc. that has caused the delays by not submitting the required and requested materials by everyone involved. Is it a pattern of deception, or did they really hire an incompetent planning and engineering firm. On this, we will just have to wait and see.
I am hoping that the DEP has finally paid attention and seen the light. I maintained from the beginning that CC never calculated the IS correctly and if anyone did, it would obviously NOT fall within the 125% of the original IS. Hopefully someone at the DEP is finally doing their homework and realized the same. If the exemption is denied, and the full force of the Highlands comes into play, including the 300' min. buffer to the streams, then the whole plan would have to go back to the drawing board. As expensive as it has been already for CC, it would be nothing compared to what they are in for with a total redesign and starting all the processes over again which of course would have to be a much smaller facility, which wouldnt meet their goals. Lets also not forget the $630K per year to the twp. in the meantime.
