Dear Editor:

Was the so-called “special”/emergency meeting called on November 24, 2015 a Violation of the Sunshine Law?

This meeting somehow negated the Council decision of October 2013 in which RD developer was denied their proposals.

Mayor James Barberio also in front of hundreds of people stated he would have Waterview landscape as open space. Shall we consider this corruption as it overturned a grassroots movement in which overwhelming public opposition defeated a developer’s plan to change forever our master plan, for something which is unneeded, and favors a corporate applicant private economic concern over the public values of community and environment?

The former POD zone will now become a RC zone; and is being called a “minor change” in our municipal master plan’s goals and objectives. This new retail commercial zone is not a minor but a major change and is in direct opposition to several goals, objectives and policies as now written in our Master Plan Update of 2014.

This is what the Sunshine Law says concerning emergency meetings. Emergency meetings, which may be called by a three-quarter vote, may be held only if substantial harm to the public interest would result from a delay and the need for meeting could not have reasonably be foreseen.  Discussion must be limited to the matter which prompted the emergency meeting. The original meeting was scheduled for December 8; suddenly the date was moved up. Subject RD new threatened lawsuit, and their ultimatum to Parsippany, either the rezoning of the former Planned Office District (POD) or they would construct public housing units of 666-478 units.

Let it be stated that NO EMERGENCY existed to warrant this special meeting, and that the threat of public housing was a deliberate precipitation of the threatened event, public housing; without any due diligence in the matter of the very nature of the thing that must or possibly may take place in Parsippany. Waterview landscape would be highly unlikely; or near impossible to fall to such a proposal; and despite Waterviews rezoning to Retail/Commercial public housing responsibilities; if existing must still be forthcoming. Why would Waterview not be such a candidate; because of its recognition as an “existing community zone-environmentally constrained sub-zone. Instead RD along with our Planning Board caused a situation undesirable for their entrusted community, by prematurely and deliberately allowing RD a right of preemption over the people of Parsippany and the grassroots outcome of the No Vote in October 2013.

By corporations being people; RD has usurped all the citizens of Parsippany, by simply being a property owner; somehow not clear in how they exactly came to own and subvert an “existing area” of stability in the community and to undermine, rather than serve and protect prevailing residential character and existing density of the immediate neighborhood. This great undermine was certainly brought about by SuperPac politicians and a Planning Board favoring private economic interest over the community. A planning board that simply amends and makes changes to what they deem a phony and fluent master plan, that easily transforms itself against the benefit of the community and the environment; the so-called “minor change” which adoption of Ordinance 2015:26; rezoning of the Planned Office Zone to Retail Commercial will bring about. (Even the language is deceptive and false.)

This emergency/special meeting appears to be a method of fast tracking a corrupt method employed by the developer and in collaborations with Parsippany’s Planning Board and certain political cronies in their camp. No harm to the public interest existed; builders remedy courts which RD would need to petition if their public housing threat was to be manifest will even be in session until sometime in 2016, in fact the very harm was imposed by the Mayor and his administration beginning in October 2013.

In October 2013 after overwhelming opposition and sound reasoning the Council voted NO to RD proposal, and may it be emphasized not undermining our own Master Plan. Here is what happened next. Mayor James Barberio states he will have to acquire Waterview as Open space; this before the Mayoral Elections. A step further back; in July 2010 Parsippany began its idling within regional conformance of the Highlands Master Plan; volunteering Parsippany to higher standards and protections in its land use policies and standards. Parsippany’s main reason for beginning conformance was the expected lower public housing obligations then thought to be pending.

Under this “conformance” Parsippany apparently did little to improve its Master Plan. However in October 2013 we were still in a state of conformance; under this state a Memorandum of Understanding between the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council and the Council on Affordable Housing was in effect.

This document dated October 30, 2008 is still valid to this day to conforming Townships, states that environmentally sensitive land should be recognized preserved and encourages redevelopment and economic growth in appropriate areas.  Parsippany being in a state of conformance could simply have guarded Waterview landscape by implementing a “checklist approach”. This would have given Waterview a higher status of recognition as an environmentally sensitive landscape; of which it is; making it harder for any such development proposal that threatened it by RD. The very fact that RD used public housing as a threat and a method of moot circumstance at the time; being the higher courts were deciding and costing Parsippany tax-payers may not have been allowed to play out.

Mayor James Barberio also did not activate the open space, environmental or transparency committees. Rather in June 2014 using the breakdown of the Skyview pumping Station which occurred in June of 2013as a reason opted out of regional conformance. The Engineering firm which received the contract in 2014 became part of Parsippany’s SuperPac donation pool to local candidates. Using this Skyview incident as a reason to end conformance is suspicious to say the least; from October 2013 after the Mayors word he would have waterview landscape as open space; we went to an attempt to commandeer County open space funds to supply RD with a paid for buffer zone, they would be required to provide anyway, calling it open space. The County wisely chose to turn it down and with a reprimand, stating it was one of the worse open space proposals ever. This was the first light that Mayor James Barberio intended not to keep his word concerning Waterview as open space; all 26+ acres of it.

So all the advantages that the Mayor had he tossed away in favor of RD’s interest. Now Rd is positioning itself to gain $3.5 million dollars of our Municipal open Space tax-dollars for their buffer zone; after they are being allowed to make major changes in our master plan, and without just cause or need rezone a former POD zoned area and forever change the character of that immediate neighborhood. Our so-called master plan is not protecting us; and is an ambiguous ‘date dump” of deception favoring large corporate landowners against the benefits is allegedly offers to the community.

Regional Planning Conformance would have simply settled all this brought stability and transparency and most of all if completed to full conformance legal protections, saving tax payers perhaps millions.

Corruption is the word that must be used here; from a definition of the word: Therefore, a critical mass of excessively individualistic agents may have an amplifying effect on corruption as it increases the average value of observed individualism beyond the level consistent with the preferences of the representative agent.

We have RD right above the right of all; and a grassroots democratic organic process that actually occurred turned on its head; in the name of a tax-ratable. What administration can justify changing its master plan; and disregarding its citizens for dollars; the same administration that wastes our tax dollars on frivolous lawsuits like Captain Carifi and the Aurora Securities Bills?

Wake-Up people this is a clear case of taxation without representation. Throw in the BOE and the $2.5+ million for the fields of dreams. We are being used and our Town is not our own.  

Nick Homyak
Lake Hiawatha, NJ 07034