Mahwah September 12, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 7 Judge Carver ready to hear Crossroads suits by Frank J. McMahon On Sept. 21, Superior Court Judge Alexander H. Carver III is scheduled to hear the two lawsuits concerning the rezoning of the International Crossroads property from office park use to retail use. The 140acre site is located in Mahwah at the intersection of Routes 17 and 287. The trials were previously scheduled for Aug. 17, but were postponed when another trial before Judge Carver lasted longer than expected. While the results of the trial could impact the plans by Crossroads Developers, LLC to construct a 600,000 square foot retail center on the site, the developer has continued to present testimony about its plans to the Mahwah Planning Board. Plans call for two big box stores, a tenplex theater, 200,000 square feet of retail shops along a pedestrian oriented corridor, and an athletic field. The property was rezoned by the Mahwah Township Council from office park to retail use by the adoption of three ordinances at a March 31, 2011 public meeting. The controversial vote was strongly opposed by the majority of between 400 and 500 residents and others who attended the meeting. That vote motivated those residents to organize, hire an attorney, and file a lawsuit against the town and the developer. The residents organized as the Committee to Stop the Mahwah Mall. The group’s lawsuit claims the vote to rezone the property was flawed because one of the elected Mahwah officials at the time had a conflict of interest. According to the lawsuit, John DaPuzzo, a former councilman and mayor of the township, had a conflict of interest in the matter because he participated in the rezoning discussions while he was a councilman. He did not cast a vote on the rezoning because, at the time of the vote, he was the mayor and was ineligible to vote. However, he did approve the ordinances by signing them after they were adopted by the council. The group of residents claims DaPuzzo had a conflict in the matter because his wife is the township’s recreation director and the developer’s site plan includes an athletic field, which would benefit the recreation department. The other lawsuit was filed by Crossroads Developers Associates, LLC against the Township of Mahwah, its mayor, and council for repealing the rezoning ordinances on Sept. 1, 2011, five months after adopting the rezoning ordinances. The repeal of the rezoning ordinances was not effective, however, because the developer submitted the site plan one day before the council’s action to repeal those ordinances. Under state law, the planning board must consider an application according to the zoning in effect when an application is submitted. In this case, the zoning was for retail use. In November 2011, the planning board filed a petition in Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment as to whether the board had the jurisdiction to hear the Crossroads site plan application based on state law. The board sought a legal determination as to whether an exception permitted in the state law that governs the zoning under which the Crossroads application must be considered could be exercised by the board. Carver was the judge assigned to the petition, but he refused to address the issue and directed the planning board’s members to decide whether they wanted to invoke the exception. The board then decided to hear the application as it was submitted by the developer. That public hearing is still before the board. A third lawsuit that was filed by the Village of Suffern, New York against the Township of Mahwah and Crossroads Developers Associates, LLC was resolved out of court for a $300,000 cash settlement. As a result of that settlement, Suffern was expected to file a motion to dismiss its lawsuit against Mahwah and the developer. The two remaining lawsuits have been consolidated by Judge Carver, who has scheduled them for trial this month.