The Maplewood Planning Board has determined the procedures it will follow regarding the appeal by the Village Keepers against the Maplewood Village Alliance board’s decision on the redevelopment of the Post Office site.
The appeal will be scheduled for the planning board’s regular monthly meeting on November 10, or at a special meeting scheduled by the board, according to a letter dated Sept. 10 from planning board counsel Michael Edelson to the Village Keepers’ counsel, Richard Schkolnick.
The letter, obtained Thursday by The Village Green, sets out the following procedures, which are summarized below:
- Village Keepers, the Township, Maplewood Redevelopers, LLC and the Maplewood Village Alliance (MVA) may submit written statements of their positions regarding the appeal; all statements must be served to the planning board and to all relevant parties by no later than October 12, 2015.
- Village Keepers shall supply the planning board by Oct. 12 the record before the MVA of its meetings of July 22 and 23, including transcripts, minutes and exhibits, as well as writings memorializing the decisions by the MVA at those meetings.
- Any arguments are to be presented by the counsels representing the parties; each attorney has thirty (30) minutes to present his/her argument. Any response or rebuttal is at the discretion of the planning board.
- Village Keepers’ counsel will go first.
- At the close of the argument, the planning board intends to deliberate and make a decision.
The letter was also sent to the attorneys for the MVA, the township, and the developer.
The appeal also asserted that Mayor Vic DeLuca and Township Committeeman Jerry Ryan, both of whom serve on the planning board, should recuse themselves from any discussion or vote regarding the developer’s plan.
On Thursday, Ryan said that Edelson had advised the planning board “that there is no reason for me or Mayor DeLuca to recuse ourselves from any of these discussions or votes.”
More information about the appeal hearing can be found in this article.
See the letter attached as a PDF below.
