The agency, which has jurisdiction over parts of 14 towns in the Meadowlands region, has occasionally made zoning decisions that have been unpopular with local residents and the elected leadership.
Although the language of the resolution does not mention any specific zoning applications, local officials say the ruling grew out of the controversy surrounding the NJMC's approval last year of an occupancy permit for Damascus Bakery.
The bakery wanted to move its headquarters from Brooklyn to Secaucus, but residents protested, saying they didn't want a wholesale baking operation near homes and an elementary school. And in February of this year, Mayor Dennis Elwell argued that the bakery's planned flour silos posed a safety hazard because flour is combustible and could lead to an explosion in the middle of a residential community.
In general, local leaders want more input into NJMC decisions.
"We've been pushing to get something like this [resolution] passed for a while," said Secaucus Town Councilman and NJMC Commissioner Michael Gonnelli, who introduced the resolution at the Oct. 21 NJMC meeting. Elwell spoke in favor of the resolution.
No hearing held last year
The resolution states, "The NJMC staff has reviewed existing NJMC performance standards and determined that a special exception procedure may be appropriate in certain instances to provide an opportunity for public comment on applications that would utilize hazardous materials, liquids, and chemicals in quantities in excess of certain threshold levels."
The seven NJMC commissioners approved the resolution unanimously.
The dispute surrounding Damascus Bakery dates back to May 2007, when the NJMC approved a zoning certificate for the pita bread business to move to 10 Enterprise Avenue in Secaucus. No public hearings were held prior to the approval.
Local residents - who only learned of the bakery's planned move after the NJMC granted approval - were angered to discover that an industrial business would be located 50 feet from the nearest home and 500 feet from Clarendon Elementary School. Neighbors were specifically concerned about the prospect of delivery trucks and increased traffic and noise.
Residents at various Town Council meetings complained that the NJMC should have held a public hearing in Secaucus regarding the Damascus application before approving the zoning application.
'All we were asking for'
The controversy surrounding Damascus Bakery has also had political ramifications in Secaucus. Because Gonnelli sits on the NJMC board, Elwell has - according to Gonnelli - periodically used the agency as a weapon in his political rivalry with the town councilman.
Recently, however, Elwell has toned down his criticisms of the NJMC and has been more conciliatory in his public statements about the agency. At the Oct. 14 Town Council meeting, the mayor referred to correspondences he has had with NJMC Executive Director Robert Ceberio and said he would have a "positive development" to report at the next council meeting.
"I had some conversations with Mr. Ceberio back in June or July," Elwell said last week. "And I just tried to make the point that, with all the impacts and potential impacts that Damascus Bakery could have, the local community really should have had the chance to be heard. He said the Meadowlands Commission was going by its regulations and I had asked that they take a look at them, because this will not be the last time we will face this kind of an issue."
Elwell expects the new NJMC regulation to improve the town's relationship with the agency.
"The encouraging part about the adoption of this resolution is that the Meadowlands Commission agreed with us and agreed with the safety issues that we raised," Elwell stated. "So I think that's positive because we'll now get to view things before they are approved - and that's all we were asking for."
Damascus lawsuits
It is not clear what impact, if any, the new rule will have on a lawsuit Secaucus filed last year to overturn the NJMC's zoning approval of Damascus. Last week, Elwell, Gonnelli, and the NJMC all declined to discuss the status of the town's lawsuit or whether Secaucus is likely to drop the complaint in light of this development.
The case is currently before a state appellate court.
Meanwhile, the bakery's co-owners, brothers Edward and David Mafoud, are pressing forward with a lawsuit against Secaucus. The men allege that the town purposely, and without cause, delayed approving local occupancy permits, causing the business to lose money. The town denies these allegations.
The Mafouds also are reportedly seeking another space outside of Secaucus for the bakery.
Comments on this story can be sent to awright@hudsonreporter.com.
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