Tom Nobile

Staff Writer, @TomNobile

MAHWAH — The township has denied a Native American tribe's application to hold religious and cultural gatherings on tribal land and reinstated court summonses accusing it of building tepees without permission.

Township Engineer Mike Kelly said in a letter that the Ramapough Lenape Nation's 13-acre property off Halifax Road is being used as a place of public assembly and as a campground with tepees, tents, a canvas cabin and "a structure consisting of lumber with roof, floor and cabinets."

However, the only permitted uses at the site, which is listed as a conservation zone, are public open space, agricultural uses, single-family homes and municipal facilities, Kelly’s letter said.

As a result, Kelly denied the zoning permit application.

Kelly also recommended that the summonses be reinstated because the tribe failed to submit necessary land use applications.

The summonses are identical to those issued against the Ramapoughs in January, after the tribe allegedly failed to obtain zoning permits for building tepees and using its property as a campground and prayer space. The tribe was also accused of moving soil without a permit.

Local officials had agreed to adjourn the court date for 60 days so Ramapough leaders could submit a zoning and site plan application, according to Kelly.

Thomas Williams, an attorney for the Ramapoughs, said the tribe will apply for a use variance in the next few weeks.

In November, the township discovered a small group of tents and tepees on a plot of land the tribe owns along the Ramapo River. The tribe had built them in protest of an oil pipeline that is expected to run through Northern New Jersey, including Mahwah, and also to show solidarity with Native Americans in North Dakota challenging a similar project through the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

MAHWAH: Missing logs from Ramapough Lenape longhouse spur hate crime probe

The tribe has used the site to celebrate the solstices and host large gatherings that have aggravated the township and neighbors.

Williams said the Ramapough’s rights of assembly are protected under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law protecting individuals, houses of worship and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning laws.

Ramapough leaders have accused the township of abridging their right to peaceful assembly.

Mayor Bill Laforet said the township is simply following the letter of the law for zoning approvals.

“We are treating this as we would with any resident in the township, and no different,” he said.

The property is classified as a flood zone by the state and restricted against certain developments. Inspectors from the state Department of Environmental Protection in January determined that the tepees would not exacerbate flooding.

The Ramapoughs have about 3,700 members locally and an additional 1,200 nationally.

Email: nobile@northjersey.com