Mahwah to Ramapoughs: Remove tepees immediately

MAHWAH — The township is ramping up its efforts to force a Native American tribe to remove tepees from a conservation zone.

After township officials say multiple municipal court summonses were ignored, the town is turning to state Superior Court. In a complaint filed this week, the town is demanding that the Ramapough Lenape Nation “cease and desist all use of the property that is in violation of Mahwah’s current zoning ordinance" and immediately remove any prohibited structures. 

The Ramapoughs issued a statement Thursday defending their right to free speech and assembly in support of prayer and environmental education.

Chief Dwaine Perry said he does not consider the tepees "structures," and the tribe has no intention of removing them.

"They're denying people the right to assembly," he said. " We've been on this land for a quarter century and now it's an issue?"

But Mayor Bill Laforet said, "We're treating their actions as we would any other resident who violated our laws."

Township officials say the tribe's 14-acre property off Halifax Road is being used as a place of public assembly and as a campground, complete with tepees, tents and a canvas cabin, all of which violate local zoning law.

The tribe had built the tepees 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.

Though owned by the tribe, the only permitted uses on the property are public open space, agricultural uses, single-family homes and municipal facilities, according to township code.

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The township discovered the tepee enclave in November while responding to parking and noise complaints from the Polo Club, a neighboring development of million-dollar homes. The land – which hugs the Ramapo River and is deemed a flood hazard area by the state – was gifted to the tribe by the Polo Club’s developer in the mid-1990s.

The township issued two summonses in December accusing the tribe of failing to obtain zoning permits for the tepees and moving soil without a permit.

Township officials met with Ramapough leaders in January, agreeing to 60-day stay of the summonses so the tribe could submit zoning and site plan applications, on the condition that the tribe not erect additional structures.

But township officials say they have continued to build on the property. A picture on the Ramapoughs' Facebook page showed tribe members constructing a stage and yurt –rounded tent with a wooden roof – in late April.

A zoning application filed by the tribe in April was denied by the township’s engineer because it lacked a site plan application and other documents, the court filings stated. The tribe has yet to appeal the zoning denial, according to court documents.

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

Email: nobile@northjersey.com