Mahwah May 22, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Crossroads talks fail to produce an accord by Frank J. McMahon Three recent settlement conferences were convened at the suggestion of Superior Court Judge Alexander Carver III in an attempt to settle two lawsuits concerning the Crossroads Town Center shopping mall in Mahwah. However, those conferences have failed to produce an agreement. The settlement conferences were attended by Michael Kates, the attorney for the residents’ committee that objects to the construction of a retail mall on the Crossroads site; James Jaworski, the attorney for Crossroads Developers, LLC; Andy Fede, Mahwah’s township attorney; Peter Scandariato, the Mahwah Planning Board’s attorney; and Judge Carver. The lawsuits were filed in response to two ordinances that were adopted by the Mahwah Township Council. One ordinance was to rezone the Crossroads Mall property to a retail use, and the other rescinded that rezoning ordinance The zoning of the property was changed on March 31, 2011 from office park use to retail use. That decision by the township council was challenged in Superior Court by a group of residents who identify themselves as The Committee to Stop the Mahwah Mall. The township council repealed the rezoning ordinance on Sept. 1, 2011, and that action is being challenged in Superior Court by Crossroads Developers, with the LLC seeking to nullify the repealing ordinance. The residents’ committee lawsuit that was filed against the township claims the ordinance is invalid primarily because of a conflict of interest on the part of one of the council members who voted for the rezoning of the property to retail use. The other lawsuit was filed by the developer against the township claiming the adoption of the ordinance to repeal the ordinance that rezoned the property to retail use was in violation of the procedural requirements of state statutes. Those lawsuits are now back in the hands of Judge Carver, who must decide if either the ordinance rezoning the property or the ordinance rescinding that rezoning ordinance is valid. His decision is expected in June. Meanwhile, Crossroads Developers is currently presenting site plans to the Mahwah Planning Board seeking approval to construct a 600,000 square foot retail center on the site with two big-box stores, a tenplex theater, 200,000 square feet of retail shops along a pedestrian oriented corridor, and an athletic field, on the 140-acre International Crossroads property at the intersection of Routes 17 and 287. Michael Richards, a founding member (continued on page 27) Mahwah High School Director of Guidance Dominick Gliatta (left) and Principal John Pascale (right) congratulate Peter Xiong, a member of the Class of 2013 who has been designated a National Merit Scholarship winner. The 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships are the awards for which every finalist is considered. NMSC’s own funds support the majority of the National Merit Scholarships, but corporate sponsors help underwrite these awards with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Xiong wins scholarship