With park and eruv law rollback, could Mahwah be ready to settle state suit?

MAHWAH — Where will the eruv controversy — which has played out through municipal regulations and reversals, through litigation and active, often heated community dialogue — lead in the opening months of the New Year?

The short answer is: No one really knows, and if they do, they aren't saying. 

But according to one legal expert, recent moves to walk back two controversial ordinances that a state lawsuit alleges discriminate against Orthodox Jews could mark a turning point in the dispute, which has inflamed tensions in this community for months.

“I would be concerned about whether or not I was violating the law,” said Seton Hall University law professor Charles Sullivan, who thinks the town may be looking to settle the litigation. “It seems to me that the state has a pretty strong case.”

DISAVOWAL:Mahwah walks back controversial eruv and parks bans

EXPENSES:Mahwah Council approves $175,000 for eruv legal costs

LITIGATION:State sues Mahwah over alleged discrimination against Orthodox Jews

NJ ERUV:Timeline of the Mahwah eruv controversy

For months, township officials have fought back against first a New York Orthodox Jewish group that built an eruv in town and then the state Attorney General's Office, which claims actions taken by the town in recent months violate the civil rights of Orthodox Jews.

In June, the council adopted a ban on non-state residents from using township parks, after numerous residents complained to local officials about overcrowding, particularly by large groups of Orthodox Jewish children who arrived on buses. A town-wide outcry ensued the next month, when residents learned that the New York group used PVC pipes to establish an eruv — a religious boundary that allows Orthodox Jews to carry objects outside the home — on utility poles.

Town meetings regularly turned rowdy, with hundreds advocating for the eruv’s removal. Residents spoke of fears that communities of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews from Rockland County would try to expand across the state line, potentially triggering a population explosion that they said could lead to issues with the school system, high-density housing and overcrowding. (The group that built the eruv has dismissed these concerns as unfounded.)

Local leaders have argued that the eruv was constructed without consent and violates local zoning law prohibiting signs on utility poles.

But the eruv group has disputed this, and in late July, the council sought to beef up its sign regulations by expanding the list of objects not allowed on utility poles to include devices and "other matter." That ordinance was introduced but not adopted.

The eruv group, the Bergen Rockland Eruv Association, filed a federal suit in August after township officials threatened to issue summonses if they did not take down the boundary. In October, the state Attorney General's Office filed its own nine-count civil rights lawsuit against the town. 

At the time, council members derided the state's suit as a "political stunt" and vowed to fight it.

But earlier this month, the council did an about-face. It voted to disavow the amended sign ordinance, and on Thursday, members are expected to rescind the parks ban.

The once-vocal council has become nearly silent. Members have refused to say why they have reversed course, citing only a “legal strategy” recommended in private discussions with their attorneys.

EDITORIAL:Mahwah can erase eruv policy, but not words spoken

LAWSUIT:Upper Saddle River sign ordinance targeted eruv, Orthodox Jewish group alleges

MONTVALE:Town sued for blocking eruv expansion

VANDALISM ALLEGED:Upper Saddle River man arrested in eruv tampering

Mayor Bill Laforet, who has been at odds with the council, has claimed that legal counsel advised the governing body to roll back the ordinances or face potential prosecution from the state.

Council President Robert Hermansen, in turn, has criticized the mayor for publicly disclosing privileged information from the town's legal counsel. Hermansen declined to comment on the litigation.     

Township Attorney Brian Chewcaskie did not return calls. 

The state has been reserved, as well, not revealing whether the council's actions are enough to make the suit go away.

Reached for comment, a state Attorney General's Office spokesperson would not discuss the litigation, instead issuing a statement from Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino: “This office has zero tolerance for towns that seek to close off their borders to families based on their religious beliefs, and is committed to making every effort to put an end to such discriminatory practices wherever they arise.”

New administration

The council's actions come at a potentially difficult point for the town.

During the gubernatorial campaign, Gov.-elect Phil Murphy condemned Mahwah's opposition to the eruv, chiding residents for creating an “overarching perception of anti-Semitism and discrimination."

On Dec. 12, Murphy nominated Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal to succeed Porrino as attorney general. In July, Grewal ordered the Mahwah Police Department not to enforce the parks ban, which he said could lead to profiling.

On the same day Grewal was nominated, the council met for three hours with its attorneys. Two days later, the council began walking back the ordinances.

“I can’t imagine that a new administration would back away from this suit,” said Sullivan, the law professor.

Meanwhile, the decision to roll back the ordinances was welcome news for the Bergen Rockland Eruv Association. Like Sullivan, Yehudah Buchweitz, an attorney representing the group, interprets the township’s move as a willingness to reach an agreement.

"I don’t think they had much of a choice," said Buchweitz.

Buchweitz said the two sides have been talking, though they haven't come to any resolution yet. He said his group is open to an agreement — on one condition.

“We’re happy to settle if it means that the eruv stays,” he said.

Email: nobile@northjersey.com