Neighbors of Cedar Grove church continue fight against expansion

Some Cedar Grove residents have pushed back in their latest efforts to curb a church expansion on Woodstone Drive.

ADAM ANIK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church campus includes three buildings, two on the east side of Woodstone Drive, and one on the west side.

Officials at St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church want to expand its parking lot and facility to meet growing demand. But neighbors opposed to the expansion say they fear what rock blasting, the removal of trees and the increase of traffic might do to the neighborhood. Last month, at least five people wrote to a state agency currently reviewing the plan.

Marie Mead said she hand delivered a letter to 44 units in her Highpoint neighborhood, which borders the church, urging residents to write comments to the state Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), which is reviewing a request to waive its own designation as wetlands. The opponents wrote in time for a public comment period, which ended on Dec. 20, 2013, she said.

"We wanted them to express in their own words what it would mean to them," she said.

The proposal was in front of the local zoning board of adjustment, but was designated by the NJDEP as environmentally sensitive in late 2012. The church has since applied to the NJDEP for a waiver. Mead said she hopes the NJDEP denies the construction permit and argued that the church should find a more reasonable place to expand.

Mead said some of the blasting proposed as part of the plan could damage her basement, which is tied into the First Mountain bedrock. She said water coming from the mountain fills up the parking lot and occasionally, the basement, a situation that could be worsened by removing trees and adding pavement.

"Where do they think this water is going to go? They talk about swales and digging but that necessitates blasting to put these drains in," she said. Also, she added, the amount of traffic would make Bradford Road even more treacherous for drivers.

Church attorney Michael Piromalli was not available for comment.

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Neighbors of Cedar Grove church continue fight against expansion