I agree with YOU FOLKS that:NO MALL in Mahwah is DAMN GOOD THING! I think those that "Want the MALL" should MOVE BACK TO Paramus NJ! Otherwise Mahwah should be "Open Space Town"! NOT SHOPPING MALL TOWN!

ONLY Reason that they want to build that damn SHOPPING MALL! Is the Property Location: Near the State LINE(New York State) to get all those New YORKERS $$!

I did not realize they were building a dam too. Perhaps that will help with flooding. I also am not from Paramus so if (hypothetically speaking) I would like the mall to be built where should I move? Since I can not move BACK to Paramus. Also if we are going to send people to live in a place because of their opinions could we also expand that. I would like to send all people with Potty Mouths to Lodi and those who YELL WHEN TYPING to charm school in Hoboken. Those who do both can be shipped to Pennsylvania.

You know Gottardo, I'm sick of your attitude of disrespecting our elected officials and sounding like your making them out to be criminals and unconcerned about this town. They did everything legally within their job responsibilities. Just because you and others don't like the actions should not be a condemnation of those people. Like I've said before, they had every right to make the decisions they did without YOUR input.

what we have suggested "could happen" will happen. traffic, crime and pollution (noise, air, water) will absolutely occur. Mahwah will absolutely need several new full-time police officers. and if built persons opposed to this mall will continue to love their kids and laugh and take vacations at the ocean etc., but we will also be deeply saddened that our town chose to become the new Paramus. remember, Garden State Plaza was initially proposed as something quite comparable to Mahwah's coming mall (it tripled in size); once it was built, the cavalcade of retail development there was relentless! Crossroads has enough property to dwarf Garden State.

Gottardo, that is just simply pure fantasy on your part. That's your problem, you assume what has happened in Paramus is what will happen here. Why in the world do you have that feeling? Is Ramsey a Paramus now in your opinion? They have much more retail development then Mahwah has, even after this center is built.

so 30 to 50 people, plus 150 more people (if you make a lot of phone calls) will be "deeply saddened"

I can live with that.

Sandy, if you do your homework about Pilot "all of what they said hasn't happen is because "they" got it changed not to put in a hotel where drugs, prostitution etc would be. "They helped change Pilot for the better. If it wasn't for the Pilot Group there would be a hotel on site right near the high school.

mahwah resident you are so full of baloney
mahwah h.s. is surrounded by hotels
Comfort suites,Hampton suites,Homestead suites
all within walking distance
oh I get it if it has the word "suites" its a safe place

If that's all you got, then yes, the stop the mall movement is indeed dead.

No Gottardo it's we who have trouble taking you seriously when in one post you say our lives will go on fat and happy as usual after the center is built, and in another, you say we are going down the tubes when it becomes mall centric like Paramus. Which scenario is it?

Our "facts" are the fact that you don't have any facts to base your wild assumptions on. Previous projects went through the exact same whining about the exact same things and it's annoying because these projects are merely slowed down and made more costly by people (who do not have a valid, legitimate reason, only their own personal agendas) opposing these personal property projects. Be honest, your problems with this is merely political, you and CSMM (as revealed above in the story) have absolutely nothing against a mall, do you? You both just feel taken advantage of (falsely IMO), right?

>> Our "facts" are the fact that you don't have any facts to base your wild assumptions on. <<

Good - so everyone agrees that the projectiions of future benefits, or of likely impacts, are just THAT - projections, not facts. You don't have any, JP, neither do the opponents.

Only difference - you give more weight to the projections of the benefits, others are more concerned about the potential impacts. As a result, people have a different outlook - that doesn't make either side incompetent, dishonest,... (try as you might)

Resident, if you're talking about the truckers not having a place to sleep there, well maybe you'd understand that the truckers... are just staying in the Super 8 motel or other hotels in the area just a short walk down 17 or sleeping in their trucks. You make it sound like truckers are either all deviants or criminals. Then again, you're good at showing us your bigotry all the time.

when the hotel "suites" next to the truckstop is slow they discount the rooms to the truckers next door..........head for the hills!!!!

Resident ought to pay a visit to that Pilot site, it's really nice. Even Mayor Bill says that. People have irrational fears about many things in this town. It's a shame, I feel bad for them.

JP, the Pilot site turned nice AFTER residents fought the original plans, so that we ended up with the exit to Ridge Road closed off, a tall fence installed, truck parking spots reduced drastically, overnight quarters eliminated, entertainment center eliminated...

The Pilot site is the prime example why we can NOT leave it up to a few elected/appointed souls when major stakes are at risk.

So you can NOT allege she's just about "not in MY backyard". She is pursuing what she feels is best for the township NOT her neighborhood...
The farther someone is removed the more credible!

Or the more questionable.

this one is just f---ing hysterical!!! i think Sue Chin is 'on the record' as originally having been more for the mall than against it, but like 52% of Mahwah she ultimately decided it was a bad idea. Susan is the type of person that volunteers for what she believes in. yes, she is determined (that annoys some folks), but she is also quite darling. Sue laughs very easily, is quick witted and has one of the most organized efficient minds i've ever met. i'm personally very grateful for Susan Chin and consider her a good friend. Now, i don't know how many people will jump on your "time for more searches" suggestion JP, but my hunch is you'll have to go that one alone... who knows, maybe you'll discover that Sue Chin dropped the twin towers.

also: i don't remember anyone ever caring much where you live JP; delusion often accompanies paranoia.

they did get Pilot to change the name from a truckstop to a "travel center" and the hotel to "suites"

I realize it's hard to remember what happened 5 years ago - but Pilot submitted 3 plans over 4 years before an acceptable one finally was approve. Here an abbreviated history. (I'm not asking you to agree with my opinion -- but I very much favor the ultimate outcome over Pilot's original 2 plans that were turned down)

"Jan. 24, 2007: After 23 hearings, the Board of Adjustment rejects Pilot's bid to build a 5,700-square-foot convenience center with showers, a game room and 27 fueling pumps.

Sept. 12, 2007: Hearings begin on a new application before the Planning Board to build a convenience store without showers and some of the other truck stop amenities. It would include one less diesel fuel pump, no overnight parking, a fence cutting off access to Ridge Road and the original 45 tractor-trailer parking spots would be reduced to 10.

June 2008: Pilot submits another application to the Board of Adjustment, this time for a service station — rather than a truck stop or travel center. It now needs a variance to operate within 500 feet of a school.

Nov. 26, 2009: The Board of Adjustment approves Pilot's application, with conditions, including the closing the Ridge Road entrance, prohibiting the sale of adult magazines and eliminating overnight parking.

Pilot agreed to remove trucker-friendly amenities, such as showers, a truck washing station and a motel, and to reduce the number of truck parking spots from 80 to eight."

They did get Pilot to change it from:

- 80 parkings spots
- 5,700 sq ft center/motel
- showers
- game room
- truck washing station
- ... (those are just ones I remember)

to

- 8 parking spots
- and NONE of the other things.

I very much appreciate the time and efforts of those residents who achieved this ultimate outcome.

it did not work out for me because I had 2 spots rented at the property for about 25 years but.....you did not get rid of the Pilot
and I predict you will not get rid of the mall
if you guys want to stay on their case so that it's a good mall
I have no problem

"you did not get rid of the Pilot"

And where did I say I wanted to? I'm a customer!

Andy, the original intent of the stop Pilot group was just that, STOP PILOT. Since they ultimately couldn't get their way the normal course of action went into effect and that was modifications to meet the town planners requirements, but that was not the group's original intent. They meant to squash the project, so don't make it out like they should get credit for a job well done. It would have been done long before that without them, and just as safe and proper.

Sorry Sandy I was not a member of the Pilot Group you are referring to. But I do think they changed it for the better. Thanks I did raise my kids right. I teach them not to bully like alot of the people do on the Mahwah Patch. Also I don't really understand your assumption of "scare tactics".??

It's not lost on me Kevin, it's just plain wrong to attempt to totally stop the project in the beginning when their motive for doing so is someone's total fantasy about the town going down the tube. It's not reality. We've seen this on every other project. This one is NO different.

If they had a valid reason, such as they are taking my house down to build this (like what happened with 287), I could sympathize, but imaginary traffic, no way.

Only imaginary shoppers using imaginary cars would create imaginary traffic.
Unfortunately for your argument, the developer counts on real shoppers using real cars on real roads - which is real traffic (as testified by the developer's traffic expert).

Some people are worried what impact this additional real traffic might have - and what cost the township might incur down the road when these impacts will need to be addressed. Whether one shares that worry or not, there is nothing ill-motivated about that concern.

And so they feel that their hunch about traffic being impossible and an overblown comment about an additional 20,000 cars everyday is a valid reason to just stop everything? It is called the "Committee to STOP the Mahwah Mall" you know Andy, not "Help Build the Mahwah Mall" as best as it can be. If they are onboard to make the mall as best as possible now, then disband the official CSMM group, take the website down, and drop their lawsuit.

You mean me? The whole Stop Mall group is who uses Tea Party tactics to (try and) get their way.

Oh ok, sorry Sandy.

OK G, if you're serious about your feelings, stop all the Stop Mall banter, get Susan to disband the group, drop the lawsuit and get in line, come together with us and help SUPPORT this mall so that it can be as upscale as possible for this town within the boundaries of the financials of the developer and town. Put your "desire" for no cheap malls and fast food where your mouth is, get involved again (as you claim certain people did with Pilot) and help get this thing get built.

I'll give you a fact. If they don't build the mall I could care less. If they build the mall...it will drive you crazy.

JP, you harmless clown, where do you think we've been all these months???
Where have you been other than on patch?
Who is "us" in your phrase 'come together with us' ??? i can name all the people i've been aligned with JP and none of them would be angered or offended that i publicly shared their names as my personal allies... i don't have an atom of curiousity who you are, but i want you to give me the names of 'your people' that i would be (quote) 'joining'... you know JP, the names of those people you've been working closely with on this pro-mall project... or is that a secret too?

There is an ordinance out there that was scripted by the developers; it is called 1684 and it is a perilous piece of shit. i will continue to help in any way i can to get that garbage ordinance out of Mahwah's existence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And so you see above the typical hatred of a typical anti-mall zealot who thinks he can do a better job then anyone else can running this town. Where do I think you've been all these months? Wasting my time!

You can all soak in your hatred for the other half of us Gottardo. Don't do it at the mall though.

Then a visit across the parking lot to Lowe's. Awesome!

They're not so caring, several of us have shown you throughout this whole controversy over the last year how they (you) want things their way or no way. They could care less what I (we) want. They are essentially thugs and tea party tactic individuals who oppose much of the construction in this town due to politics and bigotry. Do you think the supporters of this center don't care about this town? We want that underused, running down site to get on the tax rolls and have it CONTRIBUTE to the growth of this town and not have it stagnate any longer. You may not think this is caring for the town, but i assure you it is, and once you come to terms with this Gottardo, maybe you'll get how it's better for the town overall to have it then not having it. As to names, I can't possibly name the over two thousand people who voted and the thousands of others who didn't vote who are FOR this center being built.

Consistent with the Master Plan? May I remind you that the Master Plan zoning was changed (legally) to allow the new center. It's already consistent with the plan when the details were submitted. You are suing for justice? You're not suing for justice, don't be cute, that's a real joke. You're suing because you can't stand to be shut up and shutdown, and shown to be losers, and you think a lawsuit is going to win your argument.

But only if renamed as the Kolob mall.

Yeah, now it is. Wasn't in May, June, July, or August of 2011. Strange.

We should all take that slur as YOUR (nasty) opinion and not anywhere close to fact. Mayor DaPuzzo was absolutely doing the right thing for Mahwah when he allowed that rezoning. If Mayor Bill doesn't step up for the mall in Mahwah, he will lose my vote in November to John. Your turn G...

BTW Gottardo, maybe you should examine a map of Mahwah and Bergen County to see exactly where the borderline is for the "parklands". The Sheraton site isn't Bergen County Parkland. Never was, never will be. There was a huge Ford plant there. Remember that Gottardo? You were here then right. I was.