Mountain Lakes Approves Waterview Protest Petition

The following Letter to the Editor is from Nancy du Tertre, Board member of Citizens for Health, Safety & Welfare


Mountain Lakes Council Votes To Sign Protest Petition On Controversial Parsippany Waterview Development

09/10/13 – In an unusual move, the Mountain Lakes Council voted unanimously last night to vote in favor of signing a Protest Petition that would require the Council of the neighboring town of Parsippany to obtain a supermajority vote before being able to pass an ordinance to rezone the highly controversial 27-acre property known as “Waterview” that lies on the border of Parsippany and Mountain Lakes in New Jersey.

The proposed rezoning ordinance would permit RD Realty, the national developer for Walmart, Target and Kmart big box super stores, to pave over nearly 80% of the woodland property. It intends to build a retail strip mall, 150,000 square foot 4 story big box store, a supermarket, drive-thru, 1,200 parking spaces, a 22’ tall retaining wall, and very dense townhouses on the top of the hill. The Parsippany rezoning ordinance has been supported by the Mayor. Despite local hearings in which up to 600 angry residents have attempted to voice their unhappiness with the plan, no public hearing has been held to date and their pleas have fallen on deaf ears! Only the developer has been permitted to present his case to the Parsippany Planning Board and Council.

The Protest Petition, circulated by a grassroots group of concerned local residents, called Citizens for Health, Safety & Welfare (www.dontrezonewaterview.com) , who have been battling the rezoning proposal since last January. The Petition requires the signatures of 20% of all property owners within 200 feet of the Waterview property in order to trigger the supermajority provision. The Mountain Lakes Council’s decision to sign will undoubtedly bring the number of signatories over the requisite 20%.

The final showdown for this vote is next week. The Parsippany Council will hold its Second Reading, the only public hearing on the matter, on September 17, 2013, at 7:30PM at the Parsippany Hills High School, 20 Rita Drive, Parsippany. Citizens’ attorney and experts have already been told they can only speak for 3 minutes - no longer than the rest of the public comment period! The developer was permitted to make his case for one year at monthly meetings before the Planning Board. Despite this, Citizens intends to demonstrate through evidence why this rezoning proposal will devastate Parsippany and neighboring towns like Mountain Lakes.

Nancy du Tertre

Board member of Citizens for Health, Safety & Welfare