Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • February 1, 2012 Mahwah Planners delay start of Crossroads public hearing by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Planning Board has delayed the start of the public hearing on the Crossroads Developers, LLC application. The applicant is seeking site plan approval for the development of the 140-acre International Crossroads property at the intersection of Routes 17 and I-287 where the Sheraton Mahwah Hotel is located. The hearing was postponed until the Feb. 13 meeting of the board because Mike Kelly, the township’s professional engineer, advised the board that he had not yet received the traffic information he requested from the applicant. He described that information as a major component of the application, and recommended that the board should not proceed until that information is received. “Before hearing testimony, we should have all the information submitted to the board and then proceed,” Kelly said. James Jaworski, the attorney for the developer, acknowledged that he received a recent letter from Kelly, but said that information was not requested in Kelly’s original review letter. He said he felt the information Kelly recently requested was not within the township engineer’s jurisdiction because the board had hired its own traffic expert, and his expert is also ready to testify about traffic access and circulation. Jaworski said he was disappointed the start of the public hearing was being delayed because he felt the board was wasting two to three hours of testimony time because of an issue that he feels is not within the jurisdiction of the township engineer. “We’re ready tonight to proceed with the site plan,” he told the board, pointing out that, under the municipal land use law, the board has until March 31 to act on this application. Previous situations involving the statutory time a board has to decide on an application, however, indicate that a board will ask for an extension of time if it cannot act by the statutory deadline. If the developer refuses to grant that extension, the board can deny the application on the basis that it does not have enough information on which to base a decision. Prior to taking public comments and addressing the Crossroads application, the board went into closed session for about 20 minutes, apparently to discuss with Planning Board Attorney Peter Scandariato the ramifications of a recent court action related to the application. That court action involved Superior Court Judge Alexander Carver’s dismissal of the civil complaint filed by the Mahwah Planning Board which sought a declaratory judgment as to whether the board has the jurisdiction to hear the application. That complaint was filed in order to determine if an exception permitted in the law that governs the zoning under which the Crossroads application must be considered can be exercised by the board for this application. If that (continued on page 16) Team takes tournament The Mahwah seventh grade girls’ basketball team recently won the Oakland Braves tournament. Front row: Emily Burns, Fiona McNulty, Morgan Morris, and Sara Grunblatt. Middle row: Brenna Jaffe, Kayla Devine, Olivia Sprofera, Tabitha Paul, Danielle Petrovic, and Erin Jaffe. Back row: Coaches Steven Jaffe, TJ Downey, Steven Grunblatt, and Marcus Paul.