March 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Mahwah Judge affirms Chai Lifeline denial by Frank J. McMahon Superior Court Judge Alexander H. Carver III has affirmed the Mahwah Zoning Board of Adjustment’s May 2011 denial of a use variance, which would have allowed Chai Lifeline, Inc. to continue its use of a single-family residential property in an R-80 residential zone on Ramapo Valley Road. Chai Lifeline is a non-profit Jewish organization whose services include counseling families affected by terminal illness through annual retreats, crisis intervention, and grief counseling. Judge Carver’s ruling is the result of a trial held in January on a complaint filed by Chai Lifeline. The organization filed suit against the township, the zoning board, and the former zoning officer after that former officer determined that Chai Lifeline’s use of its Ramapo Valley Road property was not permitted, and the zoning board denied Chai Lifeline’s subsequent use variance application. In that trial Ben Cascio, the zoning board’s attorney, and William Smith, an attorney for several neighbors of the Chai Lifeline property, argued in support of the board’s denial of the use variance. Attorneys Justin Santagata and Marc Liebman, the attorney who represented Chai Lifeline during the zoning board’s public hearings of the use variance application, argued for the plaintiff. The 4.58-acre residential property is located in the township’s R-80 residential zone and contains a single-family residential structure. In 2007, Craig and Pamela Goldman donated the subject property to Chai Lifeline. Since that time, the non-profit has been offering its property to Chai Lifeline members as a family retreat when a particular family member is suffering a terminal illness. In his ruling, Judge Carver found that Chai Lifeline’s case rested on three arguments. One of those arguments was that an ordinance Mahwah adopted in 1986 which defined the terms “family” and “single family dwelling” failed to refer the ordinance to the planning board for review. Carver noted that state law requires such an ordinance to be referred to the planning board, but any challenge to that adoption procedure must be made within 45 days. He pointed out that Chai Lifeline did not file its challenge until 2011, and did not meet any of the reasons to warrant relaxation of the 45-day requirement. The second argument was that Chai Lifeline’s use of the property constituted a single-family use. Carver found that municipal actions enjoy a presumption of validity and Chai Lifeline did not show that the board’s decision to uphold the ordinance defining “family” and “single family use” was arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. “Ordinance 919 permits groups of unrelated individuals to live together in a single-family zone if the residents bear the generic character of a relatively permanent functioning family unit,” Carver stated in his decision. He added that the board found the plaintiff’s proposed use did not constitute a single-family use as contemplated by the township’s zoning code and master plan, and the board determined (continued on page 12) Grace D’Angelo of Mahwah, a student at The Robyn D’Angelo School of Dance in Ramsey, earned three awards at Starquest Dance Competition, including High Gold for choreography, fifth place for her solo, and a costume award. Although D’Angelo has been dancing since she was two years old, this was her first dance competition. All told, The Robyn D’Angelo School of Dance took nine gold awards and all 10 of their dances performed placed in the top five at Starquest. Dancer earns gold