The greatest crisis facing Parsipanny is the Threat from the RDR developer to destroy the last remaining mature forested sloped landscape on Route 46. This is no ordinary Block Lot. Its natural undeveloped resource is part of the aquifer water system of the New Jersey Highlands. A Rutgers university study has identified this very area for preservation of biodiversity and aquifer recharge its fits perfectly into criteria that would protect it from development because of its value to the integrity of the Highlands, which accounts for 65% of the States drinking water while making up 17% of the …

I am a parent and also a life-long resident of Parsippany. Why must we have elections at the elementary schools? While the last election at Intervale was to the least a huge lack of security for the 500 kids plus staff, I totally agree to close the schools. However, we can eliminate having to close the schools if we move the polling places to some place other then the schools. How about the PAL, the local firehouses, which I do not know why they moved them out of there in the first place. Something to do with 9/11 is what was explained to me.If they must be at the schools, how about using the…

The subject "community", what is it exactly, if not a relation of land and people; we all exist in a place and time. The time and place have also been part of a geological and a human history which has given its character in this time and place. Community would be then recognizing and maintaining this balance and understanding its unique elements so as to maintain this character. Too much change stemming from one aspect or political disrespect toward not recognizing the uniqueness of community; the man land relationship spells disaster. A healthy look around at Parsipanny one can see the …

You may be thinking, "Hey, Parsippany is a big town! I don't care if 26.6 acres of woods are knocked down to put in a Whole Foods, a big box retailer, 65 three-story townhouses, a strip mall and 1,100 parking spaces. After all, the area known as Waterview, where Route 46 meets Intervale Road, is several miles from my house."  Well, maybe you do mind:Are you concerned about overcrowding in our schools? The children from these townhouses won't all neccessarily go to Intervale School. They will be farmed out to all Parsippany schools to average out class sizes, which are already maxed out. These…

I attended a special Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council meeting in December 2008, the week before former Mayor Michael Luther’s last year in office. In attendance were the five council members, the business administrator, the township attorney and former municipal clerk Judy Silver.I identify Judy Silver because to me, Town Hall's Council Chambers was her “house,” yet all documents that evening were prepared by Morris County Joint Insurance Fund administrators and distributed by District 26 Asw. BettyLou DeCroce, who then served as Roxbury's town clerk and as MJIF chair. On that evening, …

Actavis, a $13 billion company in Parsippany, will not give us investors the opportunity to vote for or against any women to join its board at its annual meeting, which takes place Friday at 8:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel 199 Smith Road. Worse, there is only one woman on the whole board. Worst, there are no women executive officers at all. What man of moral merit or social integrity or possessing a scintilla of political consciousness would yield his name to a proxy, much less a board, on which there was such a poor gender ratio? What manager of a mutual fund or pension fund or …

When it comes to giving gifts, there is none more precious and important than a second chance at life. April is Donate Life Month and both our departments – the New Jersey Department of Health and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission — are working in partnership to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. We are encouraging individuals to register and help us save even more lives. In New Jersey, we are proud that more than 2.3 million adults are registered as organ donors, but we can and must do more to grow those numbers. But, sadly, eighteen people die every day in our …

To the Editor: The U.S. Supreme Court has written that traditional public forums are those that “have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens and discussing public questions." Public streets and parks are the quintessential example. The court has also determined that Township Council meetings are not traditional public forums and may impose reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on expression. However, that does not mean the Township Council or its attorney may …

At the last “township” meeting concerning the threat of the proposed Waterview development, a paper dated March 18, 2013, and addressed to John P. Inglesino, the township attorney, was made privy to the public. The letter came from law firm Bisgaier Hoff LLC on behalf of developer RD Realty. This correspondence is quite revealing and stands as circumstantial proof of a consortium existing between the developer and the present township administration. It perhaps demonstrates a similar relationship between the township and the owner of the property, Belle Meade Development Corporation. From the…

I recently received a letter in my mailbox from Councilman Paul Carifi Jr., who is running for mayor in Parsippany. In his letter, Mr. Carifi strongly opposes the Waterview Plaza plan, which will tear down 26.6 acres of woods, that are filled with wildlife and a historic cemetery. The area borders Route 46 to the south and Intervale Road to the west. What will replace these woods? A Whole Foods Market, a big-box retailer, a strip mall with 1,100 parking spaces and 65 three-story townhouses. How will this development affect you? Area property values will likely drop, resulting in higher taxes …

It appears that the residents of Parsippany are being deceived once again. The fact that Mayor James Barberio has refused to answer resident’s questions outright is testament to that. At the Town Council meeting of March 12, Councilman Brian Stanton verified the following: There was a meeting held at 8 p.m. Sunday Jan. 13, 2013 at Town Hall There was discussion of creating a new job in the police department and Brian was asked to poll other council members for their support Town attorney John Inglesino was in attendance Brian did request resumes from Councilman Paul Carifi and Lou Valori. The…

The following is an open letter to Parsippany's Township Council from David Kaplan, president of a nonprofit citizens group standing in opposition to developer RD Realty's plan to construct a retail and residential complex including Whole Foods Market, a big-box retailer and a 60-unit townhouse community on 26.6 now-undeveloped acres on Waterview Plaza. On behalf of Citizens For Health, Safety, and Welfare, I am writing to let you know that we believe the Town Council did the right thing by tabling the draft overlay rezoning ordinance. You recognized the need to further investigate all of the…

Another aspect of the new "Waterview Threat" is that no environmental impact statement will be forthcoming until after the zoning ordinance is passed. The Parsippany Planning Board and the developer are playing games. Did not the developer at the February meeting present an overlay map? This map, although showing no contours as regulation would require, gave quite an impression as to the impacts that would be suffered. The block lot which contains slopes of 380 to 360 feet down to 320 feet closer to Route 46 have various steep percentages. For example, at the meeting that night the developer …

It was obvious at Tuesday's Town Council meeting that Town Attorney John Inglesino didn't know what he was saying concerning Highlands Council conformance and how "that block lot" could have fit into the Highlands' Master Plan. In addition, the council members appeared to be going along with developer RD Realty, which wants to rezone Waterview. Don't think for one minute that these guys or the Planning Board took any effort to diminish the developer's exceeding demands. Inglesino also seemed more worried about saving the town from "fantasy" lawsuits. Who would sue the town for not allowing …

Parsipanny is part of the Highlands Watershed; geographically we are in the transition zone of the Highlands and the Piedmont physiographic provinces. Living in this region of topography brings certain responsibilities; thanks to organization like NJ Highlands Coalition we are aware of this unique place to live. Our future as a people and a state of the union has been entrusted to the health of our water resources. Therefore the Highlands Coalition through hard work has legislation has certain protections to our water resources in the nature of a Regional Master Plan of which Parsipanny plays…

All things in life have limits; not knowing when these limits have been reached will be detrimental to any way of life. A community’s quality will be offset by a quantity of some imbalance. In Parsippany's case, imbalance is caused by overdevelopment and development for the sake of no necessary or desirable need.   Imbalance can also result from a property owner who wishes to maximize his profits through a developer who is not the least concerned with the fact that the town has many properties already developed and abandoned landscapes already converted from earth to impervious  surface, from…

It's amazing how "some people" can ignore and purposely undermine legislation and guidelines developed with public funds that help us develop a sound, healthy future concerning our water supply and landscapes' integrity, landscapes that should have already reached a "post development" phase. [The possibility of] Waterview "re-zoning" this by itself is an audacious act by corporate forces to plainly undermine environmental law. The New Jersey Master Development Plan, the Wetlands Protection Act, the New Jersey Highlands Protection Act, Clean Water and Air Acts and subsequent studies concerning…

The pictures here show a chronic situation that exists at 88 N. Beverwyck Road. On Monday, the township's sanitation department "emptied" municipal trash containers. At about 10 a.m. Tuesday, this scene appeared—and this is the norm. This site is just one of several chronic dumping spots. Many times the culprits can be identified by the trash they leave. This spot has white plastic bags filled with hair. No actual litter abatement is performed. For example, there is nothing done in terms of cleaning gutters and sewers to prevent or curtail runoff pollution from entering our river-sensitive …

As a mom of the class of 2013-2014 (the fledgling kindergarten class that is), I am writing about the process of registration, which is coming this Monday.First, how does one learn about registering for kindergarten? I heard about it from moms I know. There was no email and no letter from the town or Board of Education arrived in my mailbox. I haven't seen anything about registration in any local news outlet, nor is it on the town website. (Editor's note: The information is available on the Board of Education website, and has been for weeks.) Since kindergarten registration is coming up on …

A 7-year-old boy and his 52-year-old stepfather died tragically in a house fire on the morning of Monday, Feb. 18 on Flanders' Main Street. The boy’s mother and nine year old sister survived the fire but with injuries. Authorities suspect an improperly altered space heater to be the cause of the fire and investigators reported that the home did not have working fire alarms. The winter months tend to be the most deadly for residential fires with the increased use of fireplaces and home heating systems. I urge families to take the proper precautions to prevent potentially dangerous fire …