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Politics & Government

Zoning Board Plans Vote on Chatham Field Lights Dispute

Boro mulling jurisdiction over Chatham Township application.

Madison's Zoning Board of Adjustment on Monday night hoped to vote on whether or not it has jurisdiction over the Chatham Board of Education’s plan to install permanent lighting on Cougar Field.

That vote will now take place some time in December or January, further complicating the already difficult issue because the board chair, Joseph Glade, has already indicated he will step down on January 1 and there could be others as the administration changes from the Republican mayor, Mary-Anna Holden, to Democrat Bob Conley.

There are hours of testimony from board meetings in June, October and this month that any new member on the nine-member board will have to wade through in order to be able to vote.

The issue is jurisdiction and whether or not Madison zoning officer, Frank Russo, was right to deny an application in December, 2010 by the Chatham Board of Education to erect seven 600- and 70-foot high light poles on what is known as the Star 2 field.

Chatham BOE attorney Stuart Koenig maintains that Russo was confused and ruled on a previous application to light Main Cougar, the turf field that partly lies in Madison borough and abuts residential homes.

Koenig also maintains that since the Star 2 field lies solely in Chatham Township, rulings from the previous case are no longer relevant.

The Madison neighbors known as the Cougar Field Neighborhood Preservation Association (CFNPA) through attorney Rob Simon insist that since a portion of the 31-acre field off Shunpike Road lies in Madison, the application must be viewed on a “composite” basis with the idea that anything that occurs in the complex, be it lighting or parking improvements, has a potential impact on both municipalities.

Litigation between the BOE and the neighbors reached the superior court level and in November, 2008 Judge Hugh Dumont ordered that the two Chathams and Madison receive zoning board approvals in order to erect the lights.

Initially, Chatham BOE wanted to erect 85-foot high light stanchions at the turf field, a proposal which threw the matter into litigation after 2005.

In 2009, Chatham changed its proposal to lighting Star 2 with shorter poles and no light spillage, however, Peter Steck, a planner retained by the neighborhood association, said that lighting a field obviously indicated more intense usage of the field which could ultimately affect the Madison portion, too.

The appeal by both the Chatham BOE and the neighborhood association, the two opponents, of Russo’s denial will force the zoning board to make the decision as to whether or not it has the proper jurisdictional authority on the application.

That could in turn throw the application into another lengthy court process. No date has been set for a continuation of the hearing, but at the regular Dec. 8 zoning board meeting, a date will be chosen.

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