Warwick, NY.
Ramapo, NY.
Edison, NJ.
This little riverfront parcel in Teaneck I posted about before.
See a pattern yet? The Watchtower is determined to build on environmentally sensitive lands which fall under pre-existing land and water preservation statutes. I've seen this here all my life, specifically with Hasidic Jews, and later the burgeoning Asian churches who took a page directly from their book and followed suit. Enter the Watchtower.
Comment from one of the readers:
"Many years ago, this whole area was a gem. 100 year old trees, lots of wildlife, hiking trails and natural water ways. Little by little, greedy developers like Nick Visco and Edison Township politicos allowed the area to be encroached and decimated by horrific developments. Years ago, Edison was mostly sprawling farm land and woods. Dense development zoning, driven by the same people (including local politicians which voted for this zoning), that owned this land, produced postage stamp lot sizes with large (3500 square foot homes) homes right on top of one another which enriched both the landowner and developer and produced the hyper populated area, which we all know today. One word summarizes it all…Disgusting."
~Sue
Religious group, environmentalists battle over preserved land in Edison
Published: Sunday, December 26, 2010, 6:30 AM
By Brent Johnson/The Star-Ledger
EDISON — It’s church vs. nature.
For years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have planned to erect a kingdom hall in Edison on one of the last private tracts of land in the Dismal Swamp wildlife sanctuary. The 3-acre property was donated by the widow of a prominent developer.
But there’s a problem: Because the property is landlocked, the religious group needs to build an access road through 1/10th of an acre of township land preserved as open space.
The issue has sparked a more than year-long debate. Environmentalists have tried to stop the project. Others say it’s an issue of religious freedom.
John Figlar/New Jersey Local News ServiceRobert
Spiegel, executive director of Edison Wetlands Association, Jill Weislo,
an intern from Manchester, England, and David Wheeler, director of
operations for Edison Wetlands Association, spot a bird while giving a
tour of the Visco parcel in the Dismal Swamp last year.
The most recent chapter ensared the Edison township council. The panel voted in October to deny the Jehovah’s Witnesses permission to seek approval from the state for the road. A month later, the council reversed its vote.
The road’s fate is now up to Green Acres, an arm of the state Department of Environmental Protection that oversees open space.
Lloyd Tubman, a land-use expert, said it won’t be an easy decision.
“A township cannot discriminate against a religious facility, nor can the state,” the Flemington-based attorney said. “But that does not mean it had to do whatever a religious entity requests. A religious purpose doesn’t necessarily trump open space.”
Edison officials promised the road years ago to developer Nicholas Visco, said the religious group’s attorney, Stephen Barcan, a member of the Wilentz law firm. But Barcan said the agreement was never finalized before Visco died. In 1994, the land where the road would have gone was designated for open space.
Eventually, Delores Visco sold 10 acres to Middlesex County, keeping three acres for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
But last month, environmental groups lobbied the Edison council to find another piece of township land for the hall.
“The Dismal Swamp is one of the jewels of New Jersey,” said Jeff Tittel, president of the state’s chapter of the Sierra Club. “Protecting this habitat is crucial.”
Though council president Charles Tomaro feared the Jehovah’s Witnesses would sue the township, the council shot down the project, with three members voting no and three abstaining.
But a month later, the issue was again on the council’s agenda, This time, dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses — and Delores Visco herself — pleaded for the council to change its mind. They said members travel to Metuchen and Plainfield to worship, and a town as large as Edison needed a hall.
“I am at a crossroads,” said Sudhanshu Prasad, one of the council members who switched his vote. “But I will support the right to own property and the right to worship, even though I am an environmentalist at heart.”
Now, the Edison Wetlands Association is researching whether the second vote was illegal.
“The way this was done raises a lot of legal and ethical questions,” said Robert Spiegel, the environmental group’s president. “They have been trying for many years to build on this property. Now, they’re playing the religion card.”
The council’s vote merely allowed the issue to move to the state. The DEP has the final say. Barcan said a hearing date hasn’t been set.