Mahwah homeowners, taxpayers and residents,
An illegal public campsite has been operating at 95 Halifax Road in Mahwah for the past year. The RLN (Ramapough Lenape Nation) who were deeded the use of this land, have been inviting large groups to visit to their campsite, stay and live there. In violation of zoning and DEP regulations, the RLN has installed cabins, tents, teepees, and porto-johns on this land that is in a floodway of the Ramapo River and was formerly a US Fish & Wildlife natural habitat project. They have destroyed the natural habitat and riparian zone by clearing the land for buildings and for this campsite.
This campsite exists in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Mahwah, and in an area where zoning laws only permit single family home usage, not campsites or general assembly. There are legitimate health and safety concerns with this non-permitted use.
On May 25, 2017, one of the men who had been living at the campground for the past year, was arrested for vandalizing our community with a gun. http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/crime/2017/0...
And on June 8, 2017, RLN Chief Dwayne Perry was charged with criminal mischief after an investigation into the vandalism incident. http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/mahwa...
This highlights other safety issues related to a non-permitted campground in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Please support your fellow Mahwah residents and homeowners by signing the attached petition requesting the town continue to enforce our zoning laws in Mahwah.
Updates
June 11, 2017
I have submitted a formal request for a meeting with the township planning department to review the current zoning violations at 95 Halifax Road. My focus remains on ensuring that our local officials provide a written response regarding the enforcement of these health and safety regulations.
June 11, 2017
The growth in support for this petition has gained the attention of local government officials who are now requesting a formal briefing. I am currently assembling a dossier of zoning violations and safety reports to present during our upcoming meeting with the township council.
Reached 100 supporters
June 11, 2017
27 Comments
“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.” That’s what the RLN has been doing, and unfortunately too many people have been taken in. This has nothing to do with the first amendment. It has nothing to do with protesting the Pipeline. The fact is the only victims here are the homeowners who have had their private community taken over by a group of individuals who have no regard for the law, the environment, their neighbors or doing what is right. We hope the town and courts will restore what it right and remove these lawbreakers from our midst.
Interesting that a group that wants our government to intercede to stop a pipeline would so blatantly ignore our government when it suits them. It's difficult to ignore the irony.
This situation is unacceptable and has reached a point where mutual understanding and compromise does not work,especially if the residents feel threatened for their safety and for the natural environment. The town must enforce existing laws to ensure the safety of the town residents. The area is also frequented by Ramapo college students, hikers and joggers from nearby areas. This abuse of the the land affects everyone. The town need to enforce the zoning laws.
This is unacceptable in Bergen County. The RLN need to be removed lawfully since their lack of sanitary facilities are contaminating the river in addition to being dangerous to the community
This appears to be a transient campground that, for the safety of all, does not belong in a single family zoned neighborhood or on known flood hazard land that was meant to be open wetlands for wildlife.
Please make this mess to stop!!! We must continue to enforce zoning laws in our neighborhoods. Otherwise we will need to find a different place.
As indians these people should respect the natural habitat and riparian zone and not clear the land for buildings on this site.
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Mahwah homeowners, taxpayers and residents,
An illegal public campsite has been operating at 95 Halifax Road in Mahwah for the past year. The RLN (Ramapough Lenape Nation) who were deeded the use of this land, have been inviting large groups to visit to their campsite, stay and live there. In violation of zoning and DEP regulations, the RLN has installed cabins, tents, teepees, and porto-johns on this land that is in a floodway of the Ramapo River and was formerly a US Fish & Wildlife natural habitat project. They have destroyed the natural habitat and riparian zone by clearing the land for buildings and for this campsite.
This campsite exists in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Mahwah, and in an area where zoning laws only permit single family home usage, not campsites or general assembly. There are legitimate health and safety concerns with this non-permitted use.
On May 25, 2017, one of the men who had been living at the campground for the past year, was arrested for vandalizing our community with a gun. http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/crime/2017/0...
And on June 8, 2017, RLN Chief Dwayne Perry was charged with criminal mischief after an investigation into the vandalism incident. http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/mahwa...
This highlights other safety issues related to a non-permitted campground in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Please support your fellow Mahwah residents and homeowners by signing the attached petition requesting the town continue to enforce our zoning laws in Mahwah.
Updates
June 11, 2017
I have submitted a formal request for a meeting with the township planning department to review the current zoning violations at 95 Halifax Road. My focus remains on ensuring that our local officials provide a written response regarding the enforcement of these health and safety regulations.
June 11, 2017
The growth in support for this petition has gained the attention of local government officials who are now requesting a formal briefing. I am currently assembling a dossier of zoning violations and safety reports to present during our upcoming meeting with the township council.
Reached 100 supporters
June 11, 2017
27 Comments
Zoning laws apply to all. The vast majority of the land is a Floodway of the Ramapo River (the river does flow through it during floods). To operate an unsanitary transient campground there is not just a safety concern it is harmful to the land and water.
“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.” That’s what the RLN has been doing, and unfortunately too many people have been taken in. This has nothing to do with the first amendment. It has nothing to do with protesting the Pipeline. The fact is the only victims here are the homeowners who have had their private community taken over by a group of individuals who have no regard for the law, the environment, their neighbors or doing what is right. We hope the town and courts will restore what it right and remove these lawbreakers from our midst.
Interesting that a group that wants our government to intercede to stop a pipeline would so blatantly ignore our government when it suits them. It's difficult to ignore the irony.
This situation is unacceptable and has reached a point where mutual understanding and compromise does not work,especially if the residents feel threatened for their safety and for the natural environment. The town must enforce existing laws to ensure the safety of the town residents. The area is also frequented by Ramapo college students, hikers and joggers from nearby areas. This abuse of the the land affects everyone. The town need to enforce the zoning laws.
This is unacceptable in Bergen County. The RLN need to be removed lawfully since their lack of sanitary facilities are contaminating the river in addition to being dangerous to the community
This appears to be a transient campground that, for the safety of all, does not belong in a single family zoned neighborhood or on known flood hazard land that was meant to be open wetlands for wildlife.
Please make this mess to stop!!! We must continue to enforce zoning laws in our neighborhoods. Otherwise we will need to find a different place.
As indians these people should respect the natural habitat and riparian zone and not clear the land for buildings on this site.
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Zoning laws apply to all. The vast majority of the land is a Floodway of the Ramapo River (the river does flow through it during floods). To operate an unsanitary transient campground there is not just a safety concern it is harmful to the land and water.