Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 28, 2009
Franklin Lakes
Board to reconsider Cinnamon Lane subdivision
by Frank J. McMahon The attorney for the owner of a 3.4-acre site at the end of Cinnamon Lane in Franklin Lakes has asked the planning board to reopen his client’s subdivision application, which the board denied in June, and the board has agreed to allow additional public hearings on the application. The board allowed the additional public hearings with the understanding that the board’s denial would not be appealed in Superior Court until the board resolves whatever issues are raised in the new hearings. The board’s action is the result of a letter sent to Planning Board Attorney John Spizziri, by Craig Hughes, the attorney for William Smith Jr., the owner of the property, who is no relation to the former borough attorney. In that letter, Hughes requested the additional public hearings based on new evidence about a soil moving permit that Hughes claims he has discovered. “In my opinion, the applicant has the right to request the reopening of the application for the purpose of additional testimony and evidence,” Spizziri told the board, “but, if granted, the period for filing an appeal should be held and no appeal should be filed until the final disposition of the reopening the application.” Spizziri advised Hughes that he would have to re-notify the neighbors who live within 200 feet of his client’s property and advertise the new public hearings in the legal newspapers. Planning Board Chairman Frank Conte pointed out that so much material was covered during the public hearings of the first application that he did not think it would be fresh in anyone’s mind, so “it’s almost like starting from ground zero.” He suggested it would be necessary to review how the board got to this point and then to consider
how to resolve this new issue. No date was set for the new public hearings. The previous application came before the planning board in December 2004 and the board heard testimony about the application over the course of eight public meetings starting in March 2007. During those public hearings, two adjacent neighbors complained that a large amount of fill had been brought to the site over the years, eliminating much of the wetlands on the property and elevating it so wetland areas were forced onto their properties. One of those neighbors, Rosa Festa, who (continued on page 25)
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