Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • March 14, 2012 Mahwah Crossroads development plan calls for big box stores by Frank J. McMahon The development plan for the 140-acre International Crossroads property at the intersection of Routes 17 and 287 in Mahwah calls for two big box stores and what appears to be three smaller retail buildings on the southern portion of the property. Plans also call for a tenplex theater on the northwestern portion of the property. The northeastern portion of the site would contain 200,000 square feet of retail shops along a pedestrian oriented corridor. An athletic field would be constructed on the eastern portion of the site behind the Sharp Electronics building. Tony DiGiovanni, a representative of Crossroads Developers, LLC, recently explained to the township’s planning board that the plan calls for the largest stores possible because it is not known at this time what tenants will seek to occupy the retail spaces and what their needs will be as leases are negotiated. DiGiovanni described the plan as the “worst case scenario,” and said he expected changes to be made to the plans in the future. James Jaworski, the attorney for the developer, added that, once the site plan is approved, tenant agreements would be negotiated with stores that could fill the development, and his client would return to the planning board later for a more-specific final approval of those stores. The comments by DiGiovanni and Jaworski were prompted by planning board members who asked if the developer would consider eliminating large retail stores. But Jaworski said the plan for the retail town center follows the zoning ordinance approved by the township council a year ago. According to DiGiovanni, the zoning ordinance anticipated two big box stores. He claimed that reducing the size of the big box stores and adding smaller shops would not reduce the vehicular traffic on the site. However, several planning board members voiced concern that the big box stores would attract more vehicular traffic because of their wider regional appeal. Concerns were also expressed about the environmental status of the site and the environmental impact of the Crossroads development on the property. Mahwah Township Engineer Michael Kelly requested future testimony on that subject by an environmental expert. There will also be testimony from the developer’s architect, traffic expert, and professional planner at upcoming board meetings. The owners of the Crossroads property have been negotiating with the officials of the township for many years to rezone the property from office park use to a retail use. A year ago, the Mahwah Council adopted ordinances to rezone the property to permit retail use on the site, despite strong opposition from members of the public, some of whom organized the Stop the Mahwah Mall Committee. In response to the public opposition to the rezoning, the council repealed the rezoning ordinances in September 2011 after voting to permit a public referendum on the issue. Voters who cast ballots on the referendum disapproved of rezoning the property to retail use by a 52 to 48 percent margin. However, because the developer submitted plans one day before the rezoning ordinances were repealed, the development of the site must, under state law, be considered by the planning board based on the (retail) zoning of the property at the time the plans were submitted, unless a legal challenge to the rezoning is upheld in Superior Court. Lawsuits filed by the Stop the Mahwah Mall Committee and the Village of Suffern, New York seeking to stop the development of the Crossroads property for retail use are pending in Superior Court. School board and teachers’ union (continued from page 5) insurance plan which saved the school district $1.2 million. The MEA also claims its members pay 6.5 percent of their annual salaries toward their pensions. There were two negotiating sessions before the MEA filed a petition with the Public Employee Relations Commission to go into an impasse process in March 2010, four months before the expiration of the district’s contract. When an impasse is declared, the state assigns a mediator and then a fact finder to review the facts presented by both sides and make a non-binding recommendation for settlement. Late last year, the MEA filed an unfair labor practice charge with PERC against the board of education. The MEA claimed the district failed to provide the union with the documents it needed to negotiate a new contract. Saldarini and Deptula claimed at the time that the board’s Negotiating Committee had provided a lot of information to the MEA, including the district’s recent audit, even though some of the information is easily available to the MEA on the school board’s agenda, or in other public documents. The MEA and the school board have been involved in negotiations since February 2010, five months before the last contract with the MEA expired on June 30 2010. At the end of 2011, both the school board and the MEA expressed confidence that the two sides in the dispute were close to an agreement. However, Deptula has now advised that the next meeting of the two sides with a state mediator is not scheduled until May 2, although he is trying to schedule another meeting with the MEA before then. SAHARA Outreach Committee (continued from page 5) dance troupes, celebrating the area’s cultural diversity. The Spring Dance Spectacular will be held Sunday, April 1, at 3 p.m. at the community hall of the Hindu Samaj, 247 West Ramapo Avenue, Mahwah. The committee plans to sponsor a different fundraiser every year. “We hope SAHARA will one day become a model of service, bridging barriers and bringing different cultures together to lend a helping hand and make a difference,” said Rastogi. For information about the SAHARA Outreach Committee or to volunteer, call (201) 674-6665 or visit www. hindusamajmandir.org. The Hindu Samaj Temple and Community Center opened in November 2008. Today, it has a membership of approximately 2,000 families and provides religious, cultural, and social services to the Hindu community in New Jersey and the surrounding area. The ecumenical SAHARA Outreach Committee is staffed by members of the Hindu Samaj and other residents of Bergen County, with the sole purpose of serving the broader community.