November 6, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Mahwah Zoning board denies landlocked lot development by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Zoning Board of Adjust- ment has denied an application for per- mission to develop a landlocked lot. The owners had planned to build a single- family residence on the property, which is located in a wooded area west of the Ramapo River and Ramapo Valley Road near the Oakland border. Following a four-and-a-half hour meeting in October, the board voted 6-1 to deny the application based primarily on the board’s finding that the proposed 1,070-foot long driveway access over a 25-foot wide easement across a neigh- bor’s property would not be safe due to the severe slope of the driveway, the difficulty fire trucks would encounter getting to and from the site, the fire pro- tection that would be needed for a home on the site, the damage that might be done to Midvale Mountain Road by the trucks carting soil from the area, and the potential safety of the occupants of any home that might be built on the land- locked lot. Applicants Philip and Julia Filippone have been in a legal battle with their neighbor, James Venusti, since 2007. At that time, the Filippones won the right in Superior Court to an easement over the Venusti property to construct a driveway to provide access from their lot to Midvale Mountain Road, a private road not under the township’s jurisdiction. Judge Robert P. Contillo ruled that they were entitled to the easement across the Venusti prop- erty, but he declared that the easement would expire if all approvals necessary for the construction of a dwelling on the Filippone lot was not received within a four-year period. Contillo ordered that, once all the approvals were received and all appeals resolved, the easement would become permanent. The Filippones had been seeking the zoning board’s determination as to whether they could develop their 3.39- acre undeveloped lot for several years. In 2009, the board began a public hearing that continued for nine months before the board realized it did not have the juris- diction to hear the application due to the Filippones’ faulty notification of the neighbors of the site. The public hearing was stopped and declared null and void. Following a lawsuit in which a Supe- rior Court judge agreed that the Filip- pones’ notice was deficient, the public hearing began anew in early 2012. The applicants again asked the zoning board to confirm that a single-family house could be constructed on their property with a 12-foot wide driveway that would be 1,070 feet long and extend over the 25-foot wide court approved easement. Since then, many experts, and both Venusti and Philip Filppone, have tes- tified about the application. Recently, Mahwah Zoning Board Chairman Charles Rabolli advised the attorneys for both sides that he wanted to bring the public hearing to a close. Venusti had testified about the severe drainage that occurs on his property due to the slopes of the land in that area. He showed the board a video of the water cascading down his driveway to prove his point. He also described the severe icing conditions on his property in the winter. Filippone testified that he bought the landlocked lot in 1973 when the land was zoned for two acres; then the land was rezoned in 1983 to require five acres for development. He said he attempted to obtain an easement from another adjacent property owner, but could not because of a lot coverage issue. He also said he has not offered to purchase land to add to his property or to sell his land to an adjacent property owner, but he has offered to sell his land to Bergen County, which owns parkland adjacent to his property. He also explained he never offered to sell the land to Venusti, but Venusti once made an offer through his attorney to buy the property for $36,000, which was the assessed value of the land at that time. Several Midvale Mountain Road resi- dents testified at the hearing and voiced strong objections to granting the Filip- pones the right to develop their prop- erty due to the potential damage to their homes or properties during the construc- tion, and the potential damage to Mid- vale Mountain Road.