Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • February 10, 2010 Mahwah Chai Lifeline now ready for board decision by Frank J. McMahon Chai Lifeline, a not-for-profit organization, recently advised the Mahwah Zoning Board of Adjustment that it is ready to hear the board’s decision concerning the use of the organization’s property. The board was not ready, however, and no objectors to Chai Lifeline’s appeal were in attendance at the public meeting, so the case was carried to the March 17 meeting. Chai Lifeline came before the board to appeal a decision by Mahwah’s former zoning officer, who determined that the group’s use of a single family house in a residential zone for different families to use for short stays did not meet the requirements of the township’s zoning ordinance. Zoning Board Attorney Ben Cascio explained to Marc Liebman, the attorney for Chai Lifeline, that the board has not yet heard testimony from neighbors and other public objectors about how the property is being used. “The board has to take that testimony into consideration before it can make a rational decision,” Cascio told Liebman. Chai Lifeline is seeking the board’s permission to continue to allow different grief stricken families to stay for short periods of time in the organization’s single family home. According to Joseph Burgis, the township’s professional planner, the township’s ordinance defines a onefamily dwelling as a building occupied exclusively by one family functioning as a single housekeeping unit whose relationship is of a permanent, stable, and domestic character. Chai Lifeline is asking the board overturn the ruling by the former zoning officer to permit the property to continue to be used by single family units for short periods of time. Specifically, it is seeking permission to allow up to 10 people to occupy the house at one time provided that 10 beds are maintained on the premises and the 10 people are related to each other. The group also wants permission to use the house for gatherings of grieving people who are served by the organization, with no more than 10 recently widowed women, or 10 women who share a common family crisis for multi-day grief counseling. Last week, Liebman cited several court decisions which he claims prohibit the township from restricting the use of the property for single families for short stays. He said it is a legal interpretation of these court decisions that leads him to believe that, as long as the family that is using the house is a stable family unit, it is a permitted use. “If we are successful (in our appeal) then we are done,” Liebman said. He added that, if the board decides not to overturn the zoning officer’s decision, Chai Lifeline intends to ask for a variance to allow the house and its 4.4-acre property to be used for their intended purpose. The township’s zoning ordinance defines a family as “a group of persons functioning as a single housekeeping unit and whose relationship is of a permanent, stable and domestic character as distinguished from non-familial institutional uses, boarding homes, fraternities, sororities, clubs, associations, transient housing, or other similar forms of housing.” The site in question overlooks the Ramapo River and is accessed from Ramapo Valley Road by a single private roadway that serves as access to seven lots. In July 2007, the house and property were given to Chai Lifeline as a gift by the previous owners, Pamela and Craig Goldman. The organization then began to use the house for multi-day periods of grief counseling of families with children who suffer from serious illnesses, groups of mothers whose children have passed away, groups of widows who have lost their husbands at an early age, or those who share a common family crisis. But in early 2009, Chai Lifeline was informed that the group’s use of the property is not permitted by the township’s zoning ordinance, although they have been allowed to continue to use the property for short stays by single family units. Local students and their teachers will raise money and awareness for victims of domestic abuse by hosting the Femme Mystique Fashion Show on Sunday, March 7. The event will feature fashions from the 1950s through today, with a focus on the theme of women breaking free. The event will begin at 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Crossroads in Mahwah. Admission is $20, and proceeds go toward Shelter Our Sisters. Shelter Our Sisters is a non-profit organization that Fashion show to benefit shelter assists women and children who are victims of domestic violence, including emotional, economic, sexual, and physical abuse. Available 24 hours, seven days a week, Shelter Our Sisters is Bergen County’s only non-profit organization that provides safe housing, hotline counseling, and life-changing support services to thousands of women and children each year. For tickets, contact Kayla Press, (201) 885-6753; Casie Tennin, (551) 265 4653; or Sunny Pacillo, (201) 739 0718. OCEANFRONT HOUSE with Private Beach Access FOR SALE Home Improvement Decorating The Villadom TIMES is giving you the opportunity to present your quality services and merchandise in its special Home Improvement & Decorating section. In The Villadom TIMES, you’ll get the exposure you need in 56,300 homes right in your market area. 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