Mahwah August 3, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 9 Anti-mall group files petition for referendum by Frank J. McMahon A group of Mahwah residents who oppose the rezoning of the 140-acre International Crossroads property at the northern end of the township have filed a petition with 2,020 signatures seeking a non-binding referendum on the Nov. 8 election ballot. According to Susan Chin, one of the leaders of the Committee to Stop Mahwah Mall, about 1,600 signatures, or 10 percent of the township’s registered voters, are needed to force the non-binding referendum. “I am extremely happy about how many signatures we have collected,” Chin said. Michael Kates, the attorney representing the group, advised that state law requires that the petition be brought to the township council at its next public meeting. If the proper number of signatures can be verified as valid, the council is mandated to submit a request to the Bergen County Board of Elections to have the question placed on the November ballot. That state law requires the governing body to adopt a resolution requesting the clerk of the county to print the proposition expressed in the petition on the official election ballot to be used at the next general election. Kates explained that the law was enacted many years ago to make local governments more responsive to citizens. Chin delivered the 226-page petition to the municipal clerk’s office on July 27 and was going to attend last week’s township council meeting to advise the governing body on the record that the petition has been filed. Brian Campion, the township’s business administrator, confirmed that the petition has been filed and that it has been turned over to the township attorney who will review the petition to determine if it is legally valid and advise township officials on how they should proceed. Chin has also been busy trying to keep her group’s “Stop Mahwah Mall.com” signs in place. She recently issued a lengthy e-mail recounting how the township police had told the group they had to remove their signs. Chin believes the signs should be left in place because they are political signs and, as such, forcing her group to take them down would be an infringement on the group’s constitutional right to free speech. According to Chin, some of the group’s signs are being removed by the police and by the township’s zoning official. Chin claims it is acceptable for her group’s signs to be on private homeowners’ properties and the police will not be removing those signs. However, she emphasized to her volunteers that they should make sure the signs are set back from the street. Chin said she met with Mahwah Police Captain Robert Sinnaeve, who said his department is not taking sides on the mall issue, but is trying to apply the law based on the township’s ordinance and that after discussion with John Conte, the township attorney, they don’t consider the signs political in nature. Sinnaeve also told Chin it would be all right to put the signs in car windows as a sunshield as long as the car is parked and not moving. “I don’t think we should apply for a permit for our signs,” Chin said. “I think that would concede to their point that our signs are not political in nature and that’s obviously a contradiction on their part because the signs on private property are being allowed on that basis.” Michael Beatrice, an attorney who represented a woman who was arrested during the May 2010 election campaign in the township for taking down political signs she believed violated the township’s ordinance, even though the township police left all other political signs on public property, disagrees with the police and the township attorney about the political nature of the Stop the Mahwah Mall group’s signs. “I have been told that the police and administration do not consider the Stop the Mall signs to be political. In my opinion, this is contrary to the ordinance and it is a First Amendment issue as the signs clearly address a political issue in the town,” Beatrice said. Chin has advised that she has contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and that organization is in complete agreement with the group’s First Amendment right to place the signs on private property. The Committee to Stop the Mahwah Mall was created by residents who oppose the rezoning of the Crossroads property and have filed a lawsuit in Superior Court seeking to nullify the Crossroads rezoning ordinances the council adopted in March. The rezoning ordinances changed the zoning of the property from hotel and commercial office space to a mixed retail, office space, hotel, theater, and recreational use entailing 600,000 square feet of retail space plus 150,000 square feet of office, hotel, and theater space with two big box stores with a maximum of 50,000 square feet of professional office space over the retail stores on a 300-foot long pedestrian walkway. Chamber sets breakfast, welcomes new members The Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold a networking breakfast at the Kingsbridge Diner at 44 Franklin Turnpike on Wednesday, Aug. 17 from 8 to 10 a.m. Members are encouraged to bring promotional literature and materials to display during the event. The cost is $25 for Chamber members and $40 for non-members. Prepaid registration is required to guarantee participation; an additional $5 processing fee will be charged if paid the day of event. Register online at www.mahwah.com or call the Chamber office at (201) 529-5566. The Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce recently welcomed the following new members: Director, International Terrie O’Connor Realtors Group, Saddle River; Event Consulting Group, Waldwick; Jawonio, Inc., New City, New York; PAYCHEX, Fair Lawn; Personalized Physical Therapy, Mahwah; and Valpak of New Jersey/Rockland, Rochelle Park.