Public Comments on Krishna Temple Plan Ahead of Final Vote

The Parsippany-Troy Hills Zoning Board of Adjustment finally wrapped up a hearing for a Hare Krishna temple designed for the intersection of Baldwin and Troy roads after four years of testimony.

The application was designed by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for a proposed new temple to accommodate the growing congregation.

Attorney Robert Garofalo of Garofalo and O'Neill, the law firm representing ISKCON, brought in his final witness, ISKCON board member Mehul Barot, during the second to last meeting on Wednesday.

A host of opponents have fought the project since the beginning, among them owners of historic homes in the area and businesses such as Baldwin Ventures. They say the ISKCON plan would erode their quality of life and bring noise and traffic to an already congested area.

Barot, who has been with the congregation since 1999, testified as to the parking and traffic at the nearby Police Athletic League building (PAL), which opponents say already creates traffic in the neighborhood.

The temple services are held each Sunday beginning at 5:30 p.m. and ending at 8:30 p.m., he said. There are no services during the week but the building is still open to the public, he added.

“I observed Sunday activities at the PAL and counted cars in the parking lot,” he testified, while presenting a chart showing the date, time and number of cars in the parking lot to the Board.

His observations were recorded from February 2011 to June 2013 and at no time did the lot exceed more than 45 cars and was “never more than a third full,” he said.

Barot also offered to allow other neighboring buildings, such as the PAL, to use the proposed parking area when it is not in use.

Members of the public and dozens of families, who have been waiting for years for their turn to speak, finally got a chance to do so when the meeting was opened up to the public.

“Troy Road is one of the original roads in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township leading through the Troy Meadows to the original hamlets of Parsippany and Troy Hills represented by the existing historic district and effectively linking the Beech and Kimball houses to that district,” said Nancy Brighton, Chairperson for the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee.

“These two properties should be given special consideration in zoning cases,” she continued. “Historic houses need to be feasible as residences to guarantee their continued preservation. Based on the continuous reviews of the proposed plans, a building of this size and scale is inappropriate for this area.”

Congregation member and Morris Plains resident Santosh Shanbhag then spoke in favor of the proposal on behalf of more than 50 congregation members and families in attendance of the meeting.

“Freedom of religion is one of the pillars in which this country's proud history stands,” he said. “Freedom of religion is the crest jewel of this brilliant experiment in democracy and very much makes us the Americans we are today.”

“This proposed house of worship is not very different from any other house of worship. The proposed usage of this new building, a few hours on Sunday evening does not seem to be overly intense or unusual,” he said. “After taking a very humble stance and lowering our dimensions of the building, the visual impact of this structure has been greatly diminished.”

“Opposition to this house of prayer is an assault on the very principle this country stands for,” he concluded. “The congregation has been working extremely hard toward this by holding numerous bake sales and pulling together their own resources. To deny this small group of the faithful would be a travesty.”

The Zoning Board of Adjustment, having concluded the hearings, will hold one final meeting on Wednesday, September 18 for final summations from the attorneys, deliberation and finally, a ruling on the proposal.

“I have been on the Board for 25 years and this has been by far the longest case,” said Board Chairpman Robert Iracane. “It's going to be a very hard decision because we are dealing with religious freedom but also with land use.”