March 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 7 Mahwah Chai Lifeline appeals court ruling on property use by Frank J. McMahon The attorneys for Chai Lifeline, Inc. have notified the Appellate Division of Superior Court that their client intends to appeal the recent ruling by Superior Court Judge Alexander H. Carver III. That ruling found Chai Lifeline’s use of a residential property on a private driveway on Ramapo Valley Road in Mahwah violated the township’s zoning ordinance. The appeal will contest Judge Carver’s ruling, which affirmed the May 2011 decision of the Mahwah Zoning Board of Adjustment to deny a use variance for Chai Lifeline to continue its use of a single-family residential property in an R-80 residential zone on Ramapo Valley Road. The Jewish non-profit organization has been using the 4.58-acre residential property since it was donated to them in 2007 to provide short term respites for families affected by terminal illnesses and for grief counseling for widows. The Superior Court ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed by Chai Lifeline against the Township of Mahwah, the township’s zoning board, and the former zoning officer, after Chai Lifeline’s use of the property was determined not to be permitted by the former officer, and the zoning board denied the non-profit’s use variance application. “My client is confident in its position and will push through an appeal to the highest court, if necessary,” said Marc Liebman, one of Chai Lifeline’s attorneys, after the court ruling was issued. “We are not intimidated and we are 100 percent confident in our position. We think the law is clear and we will pursue our rights before a higher court. I will have no further comment out of deference to the judiciary.” Liebman advised that he has also filed a tax appeal on the $860,200 assessed value of his client’s property and arguments have already been heard in tax court, but a ruling on the tax appeal is being withheld pending a New Jersey Supreme Court decision in another case. Brian Campion, the township administrator, advised that Mahwah officials are discussing the township’s options with its legal counsel as a result of the court ruling. Those options include possibly citing Chai Lifeline for violating the township’s zoning ordinance, or going back to court in an effort to stop Chai Lifeline from continuing to use the property as it has been, but Campion said no decision has yet been reached. In his ruling in the Chai Lifeline lawsuit, Judge Carver disagreed with what he described as the three main arguments presented by attorneys for Chai Lifeline. Carver found that Chai Lifeline failed to meet the statutory time period for challenging the ordinance that Mahwah adopted in 1986 which defined the term “family” and “single family dwelling;” that municipal actions enjoy a presumption of validity and Chai Lifeline did not show that the zoning board’s decision to uphold the ordinance defining “family” and “single family use” was arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable; and Chai Lifeline was not entitled to a use variance because its use of the property was not an “inherently beneficial use.” In the notice of appeal Justin Santagata, another Chai (continued on page 12) Playing the part Second graders at Mahwah’s George Washington School participated in an interactive assembly on endangered species.