Mahwah approves settlement over eruv litigation

MAHWAH — The Township Council approved an eleventh-hour settlement Tuesday night to resolve litigation with a New York Orthodox Jewish group that filed suit when the township threatened to remove an eruv built through town last year.

The terms of the settlement will remain confidential pending approval from the Bergen Rockland Eruv Association, said Township Attorney Brian Chewcaskie. The group had sued to protect the eruv it raised over the summer by attaching white PVC pipes to local utility poles.

Members of the Township Council took a 5-2 vote in favor of settling after nearly two hours of private discussions with legal counsel. Council members Janet Ariemma and James Wysocki voted no.

Before the vote, residents who attended Tuesday night pressed the council to fight the eruv in U.S. District Court and the Supreme Court, if necessary.

"I know the judge and the New Jersey attorney general are trying to force you to resolve this matter immediately. Do not bow to their attempts to coerce action," said resident Ralph Fusco. "You have an army of people ready to support you."

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Council President Robert Hermansen said the resolution approved Tuesday was the best option for the township.

"We're trying to do the right thing," he said in a speech just before the vote. "This is a good town with good people, and we're making this decision for good people."

Local officials had a deadline to authorize a settlement before Wednesday, when U.S. District Court sought a response to the eruv litigation. Had the township filed an answer in court, the settlement would have been null and void, Chewcaskie said.

If approved by the eruv association, the settlement will end a six-month legal saga that began in the summer with sightings of trucks posting the PVC pipes on utility poles.

Pictures and video of the construction work circulated on social media, pressuring local officials to issue a response. Many claimed to be unaware of the project, while eruv leaders coordinated with Orange & Rockland Utilities — which owns the poles — and local police.

An eruv is a symbolic perimeter within which Orthodox Jews can perform tasks they otherwise could not on the Sabbath, such as pushing strollers and carrying keys.

Eruv leaders have said it's needed to help Orthodox families in Rockland County, where there is already an eruv, fully practice their religion.

But hundreds of Mahwah residents filled town meetings to protest the eruv’s expansion, which they feared signaled the first step toward communities of Orthodox Jews from Rockland County moving into New Jersey. Residents expressed concern that this could lead to issues with the school system, high-density housing and overcrowding, as has been seen in Lakewood. Others, including U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Josh Gottheimer and Gov. Phil Murphy, have condemned the opposition to the eruv, calling it anti-Semitic.

Mahwah soon joined Upper Saddle River and Montvale in demanding the eruv’s removal, each citing zoning regulations that prohibit signs on utility poles.

Mayor Bill Laforet, who has been criticized for his response, initially wavered over whether to support the eruv's removal.

In August, he cautioned against issuing summonses to the eruv association, saying it might thrust the township into a costly legal fight. The council unanimously voted in support of the summonses, however, to applause from hundreds of residents. Attorneys for the eruv association filed a lawsuit the next day.

The eruv association hired a Manhattan legal firm, which worked pro bono, to file the federal suit against Mahwah, accusing the township of anti-Semitism and violating the group’s civil rights. The suit alleged that the eruv association obtained the proper licenses from Orange & Rockland to install the PVC pipes, and that township officials interfered after succumbing to a campaign of fear, xenophobia and religious animus.

Mahwah's council took the position that the eruv was illegally built and required municipal consent.

Suits against Upper Saddle River and Montvale soon followed.

Earlier this month, a U.S. District Court judge criticized Upper Saddle River's arguments for blocking the eruv, casting into doubt Mahwah's chances of success at trial. Judge John Michael Vazquez said the eruv association appeared to have sought proper authority when it signed a contract with Orange & Rockland. He also questioned whether Upper Saddle River had enforced its utility pole ordinance consistently, noting several violations the town was not aware of, from lost-pet signs to mailboxes hanging on utility poles.

Attorneys for the eruv association had noted similar discrepancies in Mahwah's argument in court filings.

Vazquez, who is also the judge for Mahwah's and Montvale's lawsuits, advised that each town settle out of court.

Officials in Upper Saddle River and Montvale have said they are in negotiation with the eruv association.

Mahwah is also facing a lawsuit from the state Attorney General's Office for ordinances that allegedly discriminated against Orthodox Jews from New York. One law banned non-state residents from visiting the town's parks, and another, which was introduced but not adopted, would have taken greater steps to outlaw the eruv from being built on township utility poles. The suit, filed in October, threatened to strip the township of $3.4 million in Green Acres funding.

The council has since walked back both ordinances.

The Montvale Borough Council voted Tuesday to table a proposed settlement agreement with the eruv association and will continue negotiations with the group through Feb. 13 — a deadline Mayor Mike Ghassali said Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz agreed to during a phone call the governing body made to him during closed session.

The council was considering a route for the eruv that would traverse parts of Chestnut Ridge Road, Upper Saddle River Road, Fox Hill Road, Lark Lane and Wren Way in the town. But several residents who attended the meeting have advocated for an alternative path for the eruv that would run through their backyards on Bradley Lane near the New York border and pass through less land in the town. The council was also in favor of this proposal, and it is one the association would find acceptable, Ghassali said, but the borough has not received permission from all homeowners needed to make the proposed path work.

Governing body members said they will need the residents’ help to contact and convince some of their neighbors of the plan. A vote will take place on Feb. 13 with “100 percent certainty,” Ghassali said.

Staff Writer Sarah Nolan contributed to this article.