| Farm's embattled owners accused
of running illegal business
(Note: The mayor, township attorney, etc., should consider whether their actions are actually intimidation, harassment and coercion.) December 20, 2002 By Kyle S. Thomas, Staff Writer 908-707-3155 The Courier News To submit a Letter to the Editor: cnletter@c-n.com PISCATAWAY, New Jersey - The two-year battle between the township and the owners of the Cornell Dairy Farm continues. But the latest rift has nothing to do with open space, development rights or how much the 75-acre farm is worth. This beef is about what's behind the silo. The township wants to know whether the owners are operating an illegal solid-waste transfer station, an allegation the Halper family, who co-owns the farm, strongly denies. "They are operating an illegal solid-waste business and they have never received any zoning approvals or use variances to run it in a residential area," Mayor Brian Wahler said Thursday. Over the past few weeks, Wahler said township officials received several complaints from residents about heavy truck traffic going to and from the farm hauling solid waste. Wahler said zoning officials are going to determine whether the Halpers have the proper permits and variances to run a solid-waste transfer station on the farm along Metlars Lane and South Washington Avenue. The Halpers have been engaged in a condemnation battle with the township since 1998 over the preservation of the dairy farm -- the largest tract of open space in this community of more than 50,000 residents. Earlier this month, a Superior Court judge gave the township power to condemn the farm. "It's very strange to see truckloads of solid waste going in and out and there is a huge pile of something behind the silo that keeps getting larger," said Council President Mark Hardenburg. "Truthfully, we don't know what they are doing, but we'd like to know what's going on as soon as possible." But Mark Halper, who quickly denied the township's allegations, insists his family is not running a solid-waste transfer station, and said the allegation is an attempt to kick dirt on his family's name. "This is disinformation that the township is releasing to attack my family's credibility," said Halper, an Edison resident and one of the farm's 16 owners. "We've been doing what we have been doing here for years and years and years, and all of a sudden they are coming up with this smear campaign." Halper said no solid waste or garbage comes into the farm, that the large mound behind the silo is wood mulch and the large trucks are dropping off empty roll carts (large trash bins). Cheryl Halper, owner of Cornell Disposal Co., which disposes of commercial waste at Central Jersey dumps, said that for the past 25 years, the company has stored trucks and roll-off carts at the farm and never used it as a transfer station. "I'm just parking my equipment here and they can come look," said Mrs. Halper, the widow of David Halper, who died in a car accident this past summer. "When they want to come in, they are more than welcome, because I'm running a completely legitimate business. "Ever since the condemnation thing, anything with the name Cornell or Halper name in Piscataway is on the blackball list, and with this they are trying to grab at something to dirty our name." Township Attorney Jim Clarkin said the township zoning officials will also investigate to determine if it's legal to store the trucks and roll off carts at the farm. "This is a very legitimate inquiry because a business like that is not a permitted use in the residential zone in which this property is located," Clarkin said. If the investigation determines that the Halpers are operating an illegal solid-waste transfer station, Clarkin said the zoning officer will issue a violation and the family will be fined appropriately. http://www.c-n.com/news/c-n/story/0,2111,655950,00.html
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