Mahwah March 24, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Lack of jurisdiction halts zoning board hearing by Frank J. McMahon The year-long public hearing of an application by Mahwah property owner Philip Filippone has been nullified because the Mahwah Board of Adjustment decided it does not have the jurisdiction to continue hearing the case. Filippone had been seeking the board’s approval to build a single-family dwelling on his landlocked property, which does not have frontage on an improved street. The property would be accessed by a 12-foot wide driveway partially within a 25-foot wide access easement that would extend over an adjoining property to Midvale Mountain Road, a private road that leads to Glen Gray Road and on to Ramapo Valley Road (Route 202) near the Oakland border. The applicant’s adjacent neighbor, James Venusti, over whose property the easement extends, has been contesting Filippone’s plan for several years. However, in 2007, a Superior Court judge found the resident was entitled to the easement across Venusti’s property. The judge also ruled that the easement would expire in four years if all the approvals necessary for the construction of the dwelling were not received within that time, or sooner if the application for the necessary approvals is denied. The judge directed that, once all the approvals are received and all appeals are resolved, the easement would become permanent. The zoning board has been hearing expert testimony on the application over the past year, and Filippone had been acting as his own attorney. Venusti’s attorney, Robert Zisgen, recently notified the board that his research of a recent case in the Township of Clinton revealed that all property owners within 200 feet of all properties impacted by a proposed development must be notified about the public hearing, and Filippone had only notified those property owners within 200 feet of his own land. Zisgen also argued that the notice Filippone sent to the property owners within 200 feet of the subject property was deficient because it did not clearly explain what he intended to do on his land. The attorney argued that the board did not have the jurisdiction to continue hearing the application. Another attorney, Ira Weiner, advised the board that he had recently been retained by a property owner on nearby Fox River Crossing who had only now become aware of (continued on page 16) Volino is National Merit Finalist Mahwah High School has announced that Alyse Volino, a member of the Class of 2010, has been designated a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. Volino has been named as a member of the top 15,000 students from the original pool of more than 1,000,000 students who took the PSAT in October 2008. Finalists are determined on the basis of a professional evaluation of their abilities, accomplishments, and personal attributes considered important for success in rigorous college studies. From this group of 15,000 students, 8,200 will receive scholarship money. Pictured are Mahwah High School Principal John P. Pascale, Alyse Volino, and Counselor Dianna Farquharson.