Mahwah September 7, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Council repeals Crossroads rezoning ordinances by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Council has voted 5-1 to adopt an ordinance that repeals the three ordinances to rezone the 140-acre International Crossroads property from office use to a mixed retail, office space, hotel, theater, and recreational use. The repeal, which required five affirmative votes, came at last week’s special session. The lone opposing vote was cast by Councilman Samuel Aldersio, who maintains that he has always supported the rezoning of the Crossroads property to retail for the benefit of the township and to avoid the possibility of a less desirable development on the site. Councilwoman Lisa DiGiulio was ill, but made a point of attending the meeting to vote for the repealing ordinance. Councilman Harry Williams could not attend the meeting because of a prior business commitment that was rescheduled to that night due to Hurricane Irene. Council President John Roth cast the deciding fifth vote. The council needed five votes to adopt the ordinance because the developer, Crossroads Developers, LLC, which owns 20 percent of the lots or land included in the proposed rezoning, filed a protest petition to the council on August 24. Such a protest petition, when signed by the owners of 20 percent of the area either of the lots or land included in such proposed zoning change, or the lots of land extending 200 feet in all directions from the proposed zoning change area, requires a favorable vote of two-thirds of the members of the governing body of a municipality before a zoning revision ordinance can become effective. The council’s repeal the rezoning ordinances was taken a day after Crossroads submitted plans to develop the site into a mixed retail use. James Jaworski, the Crossroads attorney, attended the meeting and told the council members they were acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner by repealing the rezoning ordinances. He said the land use law concerning the submission of development plans is new and may have to be reviewed in a court of law, but he said he believes the law is very clear that, once his client’s plans were submitted, the zoning that was in effect at the time of submission would have to be the zoning upon which the plans would be considered by the planning board. There are differing legal opinions as to whether an application must be considered according to the zoning in effect when the application is submitted to a planning board, or when the submitted application is considered complete. That timing is critical in this matter because a state law known as the Time of Application law that recently became effective states that those development regulations which are in effect on the “date of submission” of an application shall govern the review of that application for development. The effectiveness of the ordinance that was adopted last week to repeal the rezoning of the Crossroads property depends on the ultimate legal determination of the zoning under which the Crossroads application must be considered by the planning board. Jaworski was berated by some of the room full of residents who attended the meeting, and DiGiulio criticized him for coming to the meeting and threatening the residents with possible legal action. (continued on page 27) State aid sought for Ridge Road resurfacing work by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Council recently authorized an application for state aid to fund the paving of Ridge Road. The paving project, which is slated for 2012, would include the area near Mahwah High School, the public library, the Ridge Road Middle School, and the Lenape Meadows and Joyce Kilmer elementary schools. Mahwah Township Engineer Michael Kelly pointed out that Ridge Road, which is under the jurisdiction of Bergen County, travels past school property and connects to Macarthur Boulevard, which is another county road. Kelly said the location and condition of the road make it a good candidate for such a grant. He also said that his engineering firm has been successful in obtaining state aid grants for the township. He said the application has a good chance of receiving aid from the state, although the maximum aid the state gave a municipality for this purpose in 2010 was $150,000. According to Kelly, the application is for $325,000 to $350,000, which is the amount that would be needed to pave the entire road. If less than that amount is received, Ridge Road would be paved from West Ramapo Avenue past the high school and as far as the amount of state aid would permit. The double line striping on Ridge Road from the Ramapo Ridge Middle School down to the area of Mahwah High School was moved to the east a year ago to provide a lane for traffic to pass the cars that park on Ridge Road, especially when parents drop off and pick up their children at the middle school. The old double line was scraped off the road and a new yellow double line was painted on the road to provide a double lane on the west side of the road that borders the school. The township council was prompted to move the double yellow line on Ridge Road by Arthur Lowe, a 14-year resident of nearby Erskine Court. While Lowe has no school-age children, his cul-de-sac is accessed from Ridge Road and he said he travels past the middle school on a regular basis. Lowe said his concern was the possibility of an accident on that road because drivers traveling southward up the hill had to cross over the double line to pass the cars (continued on page 27)