The bakery owners intended to present the public with information in order to get more support for their move, since some residents and public officials have opposed living near a bakery.
The meeting was supposed to be held at 6 p.m. at the 10 Enterprise Ave. site, and would last until approximately 8 p.m.
At 6:04, a Secaucus police car arrived on the scene to tell the Damascus representatives that they were to vacate the area. Another officer arrived at 6:11 p.m.
By 6:30 p.m., the refreshments had been packed away the bakery's truck had left, though people, residents, and Damascus employees stuck around to continue talking.
At 6:34 p.m., a police car drove by again to make sure that the group was being disbanded.
Officials later said that the bakery owners hadn't gotten the proper permits for the meeting on time.
Floor plans and free falafel
Bakery owner David Mafoud said last week that he only realized on Friday that he'd need forms to hold an outdoor event. Mafoud said he was well aware that the bakery had not met the town's permit codes to have the meeting.
"We made a promise to the people. We said we would be here to answer questions," said Mafoud. "What would it look like if we didn't come?"
Damascus had advertised the meeting for two weeks in a local newspaper.
At the meeting, floorplans were on display to be viewed by the public. They also handed out a public notice to stating their intentions.
One bone of contention for several residents was that they also handed out samples of their products, including bags of panini bread as well as pita and falafel.
Despite it being a hot-button issue, no town officials attended the meeting.
Some residents saw the meeting in a different light than Mafoud did.
One resident said that the bakery had held the meeting behind the back of the government. "If they're sneaking around like this now," the resident said, "what will it be like when they're here?"
When told that they would have to end the informal gathering, Mafoud said that the company "did not want to show any resistance."
"We don't want to come like a bunch of thugs," said Mafoud.
As people were exiting the grounds, some residents asked members of the community to sign a petition against the bakery.
With growing factions on either side of the argument about the bakery, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, a state agency that originally green-lighted the bakery in June, has remained relatively unscathed.
The NJMC oversees zoning for approximately 80 percent of Secaucus, taking it out of the hands of town officials. This does not always sit well with the town.
Last month, the Town Council voted to hire an attorney to fight the bakery's proposed move.
Why they're moving
One of the reasons that company is moving from its current Brooklyn location to the one on Enterprise Avenue is that the company needs to expand.
Currently, Damascus is running its factory with approximately 120 employees, but says that due to the larger size of the Enterprise Avenue location, it will be hiring well over 200 people.
This raised more concerns for residents, as topics of noise pollution, traffic and air quality were tossed among those at the meeting.
Mafoud also said that in terms of the sanitation of the factory, Damascus must gain the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal and local health codes.
For the residents, there is still a growing concern of rodents that the bakery may attract to the area, and the overall smell from the bakery itself.
The Mediterranean company largely makes pita bread.
Too close for comfort
At the last Secaucus Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Constantino Scerbio introduced a motion to prompt the school's attorney, Dennis A. Maycher, to gather information about the litigation currently underway between the town and the NJMC regarding the bakery.
If the town loses its appeal, the bakery will be within close proximity to Clarendon No. 4 Elementary School.
The motion was originally put forward by Scerbio during June's Board of Ed meeting, but it was not formally issued until their most recent meeting.
"We need to get facts," said Scerbio. "We can't go by just what we hear."
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