Zoning Board to Discuss Union Catholic Resolution

Just when you thought the legal fight over renovated athletic fields couldn’t get any more complicated, a 180-page resolution is on the table at a special meeting of the Scotch Plains Zoning Board of Adjustment on Wednesday night.

The resolution, which is likely to be passed, will be the zoning board’s formal response to appeals filed with the board in the spring of 2010 by Union Catholic and nearby residents. The appeals requested that the board determine whether three, 80-foot-tall stadium-style lights and an electronic scoreboard proposed by the school constitute “structures” and would therefore need variances to be built.

The resolution reiterates the board’s June 2 oral finding that variances are required. According to zoning board secretary Barbara Horev, the poles on which the lights would be mounted violate a 35-foot height limitation for structures and the scoreboard is proposed to be built within a 100-foot setback along the school’s northern property line. For those reasons, the variances are necessary and can only be approved by the zoning board.

Bill Butler, the attorney representing Union Catholic, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that the school plans to apply for the variances.  

The lights and scoreboard are the finishing touches to a larger renovation of Union Catholic’s athletic fields, a project that began in 2009. So far, the school:

• Replaced a portion of its grass fields with turf to accommodate soccer, lacrosse, baseball and softball;
• Renovated the existing baseball and softball fields;
• Installed dugouts and permanent bleachers along the first- and third-baselines of the baseball field;
• And rubberized an asphalt running track that traces a triangular outline around the fields, which are located in the northwest corner of the school’s 20-acre property on Martine Avenue.

However, after Union Catholic started playing baseball games on its new field in April 2010, nearby residents complained that far more foul balls are flying into their yards than before the renovation, threatening both life and property. Those affected live along Black Birch Road and Dutch Lane, which abut the baseball field’s first- and third-baselines. Those residents have also argued that the dugouts and bleachers, constructed within 15 feet of their backyards, violate the township’s 100-foot setback requirement.

In May 2010, the school applied to the Planning Board to construct the stadium-style lights and scoreboard. Before filing the application, the school had instructed contractors to install stanchions along the first- and third-baselines, a violation of the construction permit. After being notified of the school’s Planning Board application, residents of Black Birch Road and Dutch Lane filed appeals to the zoning board, arguing that the proposed lights and scoreboard require additional permission from the zoning board to be constructed. Butler, the Union Catholic attorney, filed a subsequent appeal, also asking the board to define “structure.” 

In addition, Rajul and Sachin Shah, of 4 Dutch Lane, have filed two lawsuits. The first, filed in July 2010, was brought against Union Catholic, the township, and the Scotch Plains Planning Board. The second, filed in June 2011, named the school as the sole defendant.

The first suit was dismissed in Aug. 2010 by the Union County Superior Court and is on appeal before the Appellate Division. The second suit resulted in two restraining orders against the school.

The initial restraining order, issued June 8, prohibited all games and practices on the field. The , permits Union Catholic to hold batting practice inside an enclosed bullpen on the first-baseline, and to conduct infield ground-ball practice. However, it still bars the school from holding or permitting games and full practices – activities that could send more balls into nearby yards, according to the court.

Wednesday’s hearing on the structure resolution was originally scheduled for July 14 but was tabled due to other routine business. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building courtroom.

For Patch’s three-part series on the legal fight between Union Catholic and its neighbors, . For an editor’s note regarding our coverage of Union Catholic, .