Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Subcommittee to be formed as many Parsippany families are set to lose their homes.
The occupancy ordinance wasn't on the agenda for Tuesday night's Parsippany Township Council meeting. But that law—and the families set to lose their homes because of it—became the business session's central focus. The council decided Tuesday night to form a subcommittee to draft an occupancy ordinance amendment the members will accept. Council President Brian Stanton refused all requests to volunteer, saying he would hand pick who will serve on the panel. The issue arose when Councilman James Vigilante sneaked in a question just before Stanton was about to adjourn what had been a fairly routine meeting. Vigilante noted that at least four Parsippany families—including one with a 6-month-old baby—are about to be evicted because under Par-…
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Jonathan Nelson, a council candidate, suggests adding line that excempts children under 2 from anti-stacking ordinance.
The occupancy law controversy reared its head again at Tuesday's Township Council agenda meeting at the municipal building. Parsippany resident Jonathan Nelson, who is running for council in the November election, presented the governing body with a suggestion that, if taken seriously and adopted, could help families who run afoul of the ordinance. "Instead of taking a sledgehammer approach and creating waivers, as was tried last month, why can’t the council just amend the ordinance to exclude a child under a certain age?" he asked, suggesting that children 2 and under be exempt from the law (the age of 2, the benchmark used in the state occupancy law, was used merely as a nonspecific example). "We’re talking about adding one sentence to …
Friday, September 7, 2012
But the little-known provision in the ordinance could prove costly for the municipality.
Parsippany residents who receive an eviction notice because of a change in status—such as the birth of a child—put them in violation of the township's occupancy ordinance have some protection under law. Section 213, Chapter 42.1 of the township code covers issues related to housing and property maintenance. The law states: The Township shall establish a Relocation Assistance Fund to be administered by the Director of Human Services. The Fund shall accept relocation assistance payments as required by this Ordinance, and distribute them to eligible displaced tenants. It further says: Any tenant who receives a notice of eviction ... that results from zoning or code enforcement activity for an illegal occupancy ... shall be considered a …
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Town Council bows to pressure and halts occupany law change; family with disabled child again faces losing their home.
Ranya Tawfik said she learned a tough lesson at Tuesday's Township Council agenda meeting at Town Hall: "Parsippany doesn't care about my family." That was the reaction she shared with Patch after the council, citing citizen fears over overcrowding in apartments and single-family homes, decided not to go forward with proposed changes to Parsippany's maximum occupancy ordinance. Council President Brian Stanton said a new means to protect residents who find themselves in violation of the law will be explored. "That's going to take time," he said. "It's not going to happen overnight." And that puts Tawfik, her husband and their 4-year-old disabled daughter in jeopardy, she said. The proposal would have allowed waivers to be given to …
Monday, July 30, 2012
If you want to get something off your chest, send your Letter to the Editor to natalie.davis@patch.com.
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Monday, July 30, 2012
On Tuesday, July 17, the Parsippany Township Council voted on the introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2012:31, Occupancy Waivers. Four councilmen voted “yes” and one voted “no.” The “no” vote came from Councilman Paul Carifi Jr. Carifi stood by his campaign platform to strongly enforce occupancy ordinances to stop stacking abuses when the others did not! Please, fellow residents and taxpayers (commercial property owners), read introduced Ordinance 2012:31 and watch the July 17 council meeting tape of on the town website. This amended ordinance, if passed, would open up Parsippany to a lot of lawsuits. Just think, would you want the Town Council and the mayor to dictate to you how to run your business? What should come first is …
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Stephanie
12:30 am on Friday, October 5, 2012
The school district has already proven that the majority of stacking does not involve children. I remember living in an apartment years ago where I had complained about the noise in the middle of the night as more than a dozen men piled into a one bedroom apartment daily. When the superintendent went into the apartment, it was obvious that there were even more people living there as they said … more ›