Gun BuyBack Debriefing and Council Talks Waterview This Week

Was last weekend's Morris County Gun Buyback Amnesty Program held at the Public Safety Training Academy in Parsippany and at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Madison successful? On Monday morning, Acting Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and other law enforcement officials will meet with media to announce the event's results.

Tuesday will be especially busy: At 7:30 p.m., the Parsippany Board of Education holds a special public meeting to discuss its preliminary $132M+ budget for the 2013-14 school year. The gathering takes place at the BOE's administration building at 292 Parsippany Road. At the same time, the Township Council, hoping to avoid a fire capacity shutdown, gathers at Parsippany Hills High School for its monthly business meeting. Among the items to be discussed is the controversial proposal to give overlay zone status to 26.6 acres of undeveloped land on Waterview Plaza to allow mixed-use development there. The reason for the proposed zoning change is permit consideration of RD Realty's application to put a retail and residential project including Whole Foods Market, an officially unnamed big-box retailer and a townhouse community on the site. Also on tap is a controversial resolution regarding Mayor James Barberio's appointment of his wife to the Municipal Alliance Committee.

The township's Zoning Board of Adjustment gathers at Town Hall Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. On the agenda is the resumption of testimony regarding the long-debated, formerly rejected plan to build a townhouse community at 700 Mountain Way. Opponents of the plan, including members of the group Preserve Mountain Way, are expected to be in attendance. There is no word as to whether a final decision on the years-long matter will come.

Spotlight on Parsippany, as is done each week, will shine on a local business or entity working hard to remain successful in a difficult economy. This Thursday, Patch will focus on the Blackthorn Irish Restaurant and Pub, which just held its annual St. Patrick's Day celebration and looks forward to what it hopes will be a busy spring and summer.

On Friday, Patch features a chat with new Parsippany Police Acting Chief Paul Philipps. The town's top cop will touch on his hopes for the department, manpower issues, his reasons for being involved in so much volunteer work for the community and why Parsippany is "such a great town."