Law would allow appeals of zoning cases to council
BY LARRY RAMER
Staff Writer

MARLBORO — The Township Council has introduced an ordinance that, if adopted, would allow certain decisions made by the zoning board to be appealed to the council. At the present time zoning board decisions may only be appealed in state Superior Court.

The ordinance will come up for a public hearing and second reading at the council’s Dec. 16 meeting.

Under the terms of the proposed ordinance, if an appeal of a zoning board decision was made to the council, the members of the governing body would review the transcripts of the board’s deliberations and decide whether to uphold or overturn the decision. The council could also choose to send the matter back to the board for further discussion.

Earlier this year the council defeated the same ordinance by a 3-2 vote along party lines. Democratic councilmen James Mione and Barry Denkensohn, and former Councilman Grover Burrows voted against the ordinance at that time, while Republican Councilwoman Patti Morelli and Republican Councilman Joseph Pernice supported it.

Following the election of Republican Jeff Cantor on Nov. 2 and the departure of Burrows from the council, the Republicans now hold a 3-2 majority.

On Dec. 2, Mione joined Morelli, Cantor and Pernice in voting to introduce the law. Denkensohn voted against the measure.

Asked why he changed his vote, Mione said he wanted to give residents a chance to share their feelings about the ordinance.

Morelli said the ordinance allowing appeals to the council would help protect residents.

“We have to let the residents know that we’ll listen to their problems. We have to give the residents an affordable solution and forum to be heard. We need to restore the trust and integrity of our government,” Morelli said. “The residents have lost faith with our zoning and planning boards.”

Denkensohn said an applicant whose application was overturned on an appeal could sue the town. The township would then have to incur legal expenses, he said.

“We would be taking the expense [of an appeal] away from an individual in the township and sliding that cost among the rest of the residents because we’d have to increase our taxes and I don’t think that’s fair,” the councilman said.

Mayor Robert Kleinberg said, “What is the cost of bad development? What about the impact on our school system? What is the cost of every new school? What is the cost of our residents being tired because they can’t get from Point A to Point B because of the impact [of overdevelopment] on our infrastructure?”