MAHWAH – Heeding advice from its attorneys, the Township Council voted Thursday night to walk back two controversial ordinances that are the subject of a civil rights lawsuit filed by the state Attorney General's Office.

The council introduced an ordinance Thursday that would do away with a ban on non-state residents in township parks and replace it with language that states Mahwah's parks and playgrounds may be used by “residents and non-residents alike.”

The council also approved a separate resolution disavowing a proposed law that would have prohibited the posting of devices or "other matter," such as the white PVC pipes used to denote a Jewish boundary known as an eruv, on utility poles. That ordinance was introduced but never adopted.

Both votes were unanimous. Councilman Steve Sbarra did not attend the meeting.

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The disputed ordinances initially drew support from hundreds who attended public meetings over the summer in protest of an eruv that was expanded from Rockland County into Mahwah and Upper Saddle River, sparking fears that ultra-Orthodox communities in New York State would spread into Bergen County. Residents had also complained of overcrowding at local parks, particularly by Orthodox Jews from New York.

But in a lawsuit filed in October, the state Attorney General's Office alleged the ordinances were discriminatory and aimed at addressing a feared "infiltration" of Mahwah by Orthodox Jews.

Council members have defended the laws as non-discriminatory.

On Thursday, Township Attorney Brian Chewcaskie said legal counsel had recommended the council reverse the ordinances as a “strategic move” while the township grapples with the state’s lawsuit.

Council members, under instruction from Chewcaskie, would not speak publicly about the ordinances or the litigation. Following the vote, however, Mayor Bill Laforet launched into a speech that criticized the ordinances as “ill-advised." He was quickly blocked from speaking by the council.

He continued his address to a small crowd outside council chambers after the meeting, alleging that the council could have faced prosecution if they did not roll back the ordinances.

"They are hiding from you that if they failed to do so, the Attorney General can come into Mahwah to press civil or criminal bias charges,” Laforet said. “For people who did a lot of shouting, and shouting down the past several months, they are strangely quiet about that.”

Council President Robert Hermansen said he would move to censure the mayor at the next meeting for ignoring legal advice not to comment.

Residents who attended Thursday's meeting were split on the council’s decision to reverse course.

Bergen County Freeholder Mary Amoroso, a Mahwah resident and former councilwoman, supported the changes.

“The signs at the entry points to our town say ‘welcome to Mahwah.' They don’t say ‘outsiders keep out,' Amoroso said.

Others believed the council should hold firm against the state’s lawsuit.

“Is it worth it for us to be potentially labeled as the town that gave up?” resident Jessica Lopiccolo said.

Chewcaskie said the council is treading carefully while involved in the state suit, but eventually will revisit the issue of overcrowding at local parks.

“In light of the fact that there is present litigation, the recommendation was not to consider any future ordinances from the period of August to the present. But that will not preclude consideration next year,” he said.

Hermansen on Thursday also announced that Sbarra will resign from his position at the end of the year for "personal reasons." The council will have 30 days to appoint a new member once the seat becomes vacant.

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