June 25, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Midland Park Resident appeals decision to grant mosque a CO The Midland Park Board of Adjustment has decided to hear at its July 9 meeting an appeal on the zoning officer’s granting of a certificate of occupancy to the Elzahra Education Foundation, Inc.The non-profit orga- nization is under contract to purchase the former Han Maum Reformed Church building at 218 Irving Street for an Islamic Center and mosque. Joan Doumas of First Street has filed an appeal chal- lenging the sufficiency of the application for the CO and the zoning official’s decision to issue it, and she asks the board to “revoke the permit based on its being defective until a properly detailed application is re-filed with the zoning officer.” The permit was approved on April 24, but the NJ Zoning and Land Use Administration statutes dictate that an appeal must be filed within 20 days from when the applicant gets the denial. Board Attorney Les Andersen advised the board to accept the case, however. In this instance, he explained, there was no denial and no one was notified, so that the date of the action may be construed to be when it was reasonable to assume people may have become aware of the action. The issuance of the CO was published on the agenda of the Planning Board’s June 16 meeting, which was made public 10 days earlier. “It is certainly within 20 days of that,” he said. Because of the appeal, the approval is stayed until the board determines its validity, Andersen said. He said Zoning Officer Mark Berninger has been asked to pro- vide the board with all the information he relied upon in making his decision. He will also be present at the board meeting to serve as a resource to the board as it consid- ers the issue, Andersen said. In her appeal, Doumas said that the CO application does not provide a specific number for the number of daily visitors, nor for the hours of operation, or the extent of the noise that may be generated. At a council meeting the previous week, she objected to the traffic and noise a group of congregants who live outside the commu- nity would generate. More than 100 residents attended that meeting to object to the proposed use of the former Irving Park Christian Reformed Church building as a mosque. About 40 members and supporters of the Elzahra Edu- cation Foundation attended last week’s planning board meeting, but no one was permitted to speak because that board has no jurisdiction over the CO application. The foundation proposes to use its new home as a place of worship and related services. It had also indicated on its application that it wants to provide day care services, but Berninger said more information would be required before he could sign off on that use. The property is zoned for residential use, but houses of worship are permitted in any zone within the borough. Additionally, the church use is an existing condition and therefore a grandfathered use. The Foundation is purchasing the 2.8-acre site, which is now in foreclosure, for $2.1 million, and plans about $250,000 in renovations. The building features a sanctu- ary with a seating capacity of 300, a large meeting room and adjoining kitchen, eight classrooms and several bath- rooms, all of which would eventually be upgraded. Park- ing for 80 cars is available. Constructed by the Irving Park Christian Reformed Church in 1956, the building housed an Eastern Christian School Association pre- school, a Montessori school and New Life Ministries Christian Reformed Church before being purchased by the Han Maum Reformed Church in 2009. Godwin School principal to leave Matthew Murphy, Midland Park Godwin School’s principal since August, 2012, will be leaving the district as of mid-August. He will assume a similar position with the Glen Ridge School District in Essex County. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Cirasella said she would begin an immediate search for Murphy’s replacement and said she was confident someone would be in place by the start of school in September. Murphy was hired when the Godwin principal’s posi- tion was upgraded to full time. Prior to that, the High- land principal headed both schools, with an assistant principal stationed at Godwin. At that time Dr. Cirasella said that the move was made “to provide the early learn- ers in the K-2 environment the benefit of the full-time efforts of a principal.” This also allowed the principal at Highland , a 3-6 grade school, to concentrate on the upper elementary grades, she said. “I’m sorry to see him go,” resident Patricia Fantu- lin of Vreeland Avenue told the board.”I hope you now find somebody half as hard working, compassionate and intelligent. I hope he does well where he is going,” she added. Prior to coming to Midland Park, Murphy was a guid- ance counselor in Upper Saddle River for two years after five years in the guidance department of the Bloomfield school district. He started his career as an elementary school teacher in Newark, followed by two years as a special education teacher at the Sage Day School in Boonton. He holds bachelor’s, master’s degrees from Montclair State University.