The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 22

FRIDAY, JULY 25. 1997 PM SO THE RECORD L-3 1 1 illegal aliens arrested in Oakland raid. Home had 'wall-to-wall' beds, 23 occupants The raid came nearly a week after immigration authorities arrested 14 illegal immigrants in Cliffside Park. The immigrants 11 Koreans, three Salvadorans r- were arrested during a raid where they 1 1 lL a i -i wornea, me raiisaaium nesiauram. most or tne immigrants were taken to the immigration detention center in Elizabeth pending deportation hearings.

New Jersey has seen immigration raids soar over the past year, after President Clinton promised to crack down on illegal immigration. Since October the beginning of fiscal year 1997 immigration authorities in New Jersey have arrested about 750 immigrants in workplace raids, about double the total by the same point By PAUL ROGERS Staff Writer OAKLAND Immigration authorities raided a borough home Thursday, arresting 11 illegal Asian immigrants who had been living in the house with a dozen other people, officials said. The immigrants nine men and two women ranging in age from 16 to 42 were arrested by Immigration and Naturalization Service officers and taken to INS offices in Newark for questioning, said Lynn Durko, an INS spokeswoman. The immigrants were to be kept overnight as the interviews continued, she said. INS officers, with help from the Oakland police, raided the blue, two-story home at 49 W.

Oakland Ave. at 8:30 a.m., police said. The alleged illegal immigrants did not resist arrest. Borough officials had discovered the overcrowding when, acting on a tip, Build- Then he went inside, he said, and found "wall-to-wall beds," and later told the leaseholder the overcrowding had to stop. Russo said his son, who is an attorney, was in the process of trying to evict the tenants.

Knapp said borough ordinances allow up to five unrelated, people to live in a single dwelling and that the property owner had been issued a summons for overcrowding. Mary Dahlen, who lives across the street from the home, said the immigrants had been living there for less than a year and had not disrupted the neighborhood. Another neighbor said the property has been overgrown with weeds and trees for years and that many groups of people have lived there, including students from nearby Ramapo College. didn't understand what they were saying in Chinese," Knapp said. They had been sharing the cramped house with 12 other immigrants, all of them legal and many of them Chinese, Durko said.

Once the investigation is completed, the immigrants who were arrested can opt for a hearing before a federal immigration judge or voluntarily return to their native countries, she said. The house they were living in is owned by Russo Ferraro Realty Inc. of Ridge-wood. Nick Russo, an owner, said he rented the house to what he thought were four or five people. While visiting earlier this month, he said, he saw vans in front of the house' picking up many more men for work.

ing Inspector Joe Montemarano visited the home two weeks ago and found 23 people living there. Bunk beds were in virtually every corner of the house, including the dining room, said Oakland police Capt. Robert Knapp. "They didn't have telephones, televisions, nothing," Knapp said. "These people leave for work at 10 in the morning and come back at 11 p.m.

or midnight." It was unclear Thursday where the immigrants worked and what had brought them to Oakland, a borough of 12,000 people in northwest Bergen County that is 96 percent white. Of the 11 immigrants, nine are from China, one from Nepal, and one from Indonesia, Durko said. "They didn't speak English, and I fiscal 1996. About 150,000 illegal immigrants are thought to live in New Jersey. Staff Writer Elizbeth Llorente contributed to this article.

NO NEED TO GO INTO MANHATTAN ParaoMS wm on Zoning board set to televise its meetings Wayne panel resisted for years By LESLIE HAGGIN Staff Writer WAYNE Pressure from residents wanting to know what's being built in their neighborhoods has swayed the Board of Adjustment to allow television cameras into its zoning meetings. The board has decided to televise meetings that spark public interest. But it will continue barring minor applications from appearing on local cable Channel 20. Under the zoning board's guidelines, applications for "use" variances exceptions to zoning regulations, such as allowing a business amid residential housing will be shown. "Hardship" variances, in which applicants are seeking relief from size or other building regulations, will not be shown.

The compromise comes after residents and some local politicians urged the board to allow Channel 20 to show the zoning meetings. Board Chairman John Hall, who will have much to say about how the compromise will be put into action, could not be reached Thursday. But board member Tom Va-trano noted: "We've been pressured to go on television. It's a good compromise." For years, the board has resisted joining Wayne's council, school board, and planning board in allowing its meetings to be shown on Channel 20. Board of Adjustment members argued that showing their sessions would frighten residents and other "little guys" applying for deck expansions and other minor projects.

But residents protested that the policy kept them from knowing what was going on. To keep abreast, residents had to read the local papers, which may not cover all items, or ask for typed meeting transcripts. Vatrano said the compromise still protects the average camera-shy resident. But it also makes it easier for residents to learn about big zoning applications that could We've been pressured to go on television It's a good compromise. Tom Vatrano Wayne zoning board member affect their neighborhood.

"We're going to take care of everyone," h0 declared. The compromise may be put ticf -the test as early as Aug. 4. On that evening, the board continues hear-, ings on an application for a use variance that would allow a funer- -al parlor to open on Parish Drive, At least 25 families living in the neighborhood are fighting the. project.

But before residents can tune in, officials need to iron out logistics, such as what to do if the board has both types of variances before it. The board could wait until the end of its meeting to rule on use variances, said Zoning Officer Jack Ellicot, who is in charge of putting together meeting agendas. Ellicot said it was up to Hall, the board president, to tell him how to arrange for televising the hearings. Vatrano suggested it would be easier if use-variance applications were heard at a separate That way, people would know when cameras would be on. Timothy Collins, station manager for Channel 20, agreed.

"It would make more sense. If you have both variances, how do I advertise the meeting? 'It will-start at approximately 8:30 p.m.?'" Collins said. "It would make for better scheduling if use variances could be done on their own meeting night." Collins added that Hall has not contacted him about the issue. VI am completely willing, prepared, and able to cablecast their meetings," Collins said. "I'm just waiting for direction." ih i virtus Zi STAFF PHOTOS BY MEL EVANS STAFF Margot Moll checking out the trailer for "Mrs.

Brown," which opens next Friday at the Paramus Picture Show on Route 4. Godard's new-wave classic "Contempt." By LESLIE BR0DY Staff Writer Workers have put new oming to a theater near you: those art-house flicks you once had to go to New seats, fixed the carpets, and installed the requisite cappuccino machine. Many other theaters in Bergen and Passaic counties show occasional offbeat or independent films, but this would be the only one to specialize in them, Moll said. The other art house nearby, The Screening Zone in Montclair, celebrated its first anniversary last weekend. Moll, a Paramus native, said she was surprised that this market had not been tapped before because Bergen County is an educated and affluent area.

The first movie will be "When the Cat's Away," a French romantic comedy with English subtitles. It will be shown tonight at 7:30 and 9:30 and will run through July 31. On Aug. 1, the film "Mrs. Brown" will open.

It is about the private life of Britain's Queen Victoria. Tickets for all movies are $7.50 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and children. On Wednesdays, all tickets will be $4. For information, call (201) 845-6112. York City to see.

What's being billed as Bergen County's only theater for first-run independent, fine art films is set to open today on Route 4 west in Paramus. The Paramus Picture Show will be in the spot known for 20 years as Cinema 35, a discount movie house that sold tickets for $3. Margot Moll, the general manager for Cinema 35 and its new incarnation, said the change was inspired by the surging popularity of independent films. Such sophisticated movies as 'The English Patient," "Secrets Lies," and "Shine" swept the last Oscars. An art film "sounds like something exotic and highbrow or something people wouldn't enjoy, but people don't understand it's a lot more familiar than they think," Moll said.

"Art is in right now." The Cinema 35, Fight over hospice remains unsettled General manager Margot Moll with an advertising salesman In the lobby of her theater, which will show Independent and foreign films. out saying, 'I'm bo glad. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see it Perhaps about a third of the features will be subtitled. Also high on the list will be Cannes Film Festival releases and revived classics, such as French director Jean-Luc near Route 17, could not compete with the multiplex theaters showing blockbusters nearby. But the occasional foreign-language film would win reluctant converts.

As Moll put it, "Sometimes someone would come in grumbling, 'I don't want to read but would come Education board may merge three jobs into two trative aide were hired to handle Middle School. having a superintendentprincipal premature because the hospice group is planning to challenge another decision by the board the rejection of a site plan for the hospice. Kole said the appeal may be re-filed once a Superior Court judge has reviewed the board's decision on the site plan. Morris Leo Greb, an attorney who previously represented homeowners near the proposed hospice, also attended Thursday's The case has also attracted the attention of the Community Health Law Project, a non-profit-group representing the New Jersey Hospice Organization. Lois Kricger, an attorney for the Community Heolth Law Project, said both groups have a stoke in how courts Interpret federal and state housing laws Intended to protect the disabled.

Steve Rother, en attorney for Clifton Hoxpire House, has accused Clifton of violating a federal fair housing law and a state land-ue taw by refining to allow the hnnpice In a neighborhood of sin-. gle-fnmily homes. By JULIE FIELDS Staff Writer HACKENSACK With a state judge calling the Clifton Board of Adjustment "recalcitrant," the stage was set Thursday for another round in the court fight over a proposed hospice on Mount Prospect Avenue. Attorneys for Clifton Hospice House the non-profit group attempting to open a 12-bcd home for the dying, and the Clifton zoning board conferred in Superior Court in hopes of reaching a settlement. No offers were made, and no agreement was reached.

"You're not going to settle this are you?" Superior Court Judge Martin J. Kolo asked John Pognr-elec, en attorney for the board. "No. I don't think so," Pogore-lec responded. "I think the city Is bound and determined there's not going to be a honnlce on this property, Kole added.

Kole did, however, dismUs the board's appeal of an earlier ruling by Superior Court Judge Jowph F. Scnnrsrella granting the honpice variance. Kole ssidtthe appeal Is By DOUG MOST Staff Writ DEMAREST Can two people do the work three have been doing? That's the question the Board of Education will look to answer now that Superintendent Paul Saxton has resigned to take the helm of the Ramapo-Indian Hills school district. Do ma rest has a principal for Its middle school, and one for its two elementary schools. Ssxton's departure has presented the possibility of a new arrangement.

"The question is whether we w.ant to change our structure to and one more principal," said board President Diane Holzberg. Dennis McDonald, the principal at Demarest Middle School, knows what it's like to serve in both jobs. In 1980, he filled the duul role for six months while the search that resulted in Saxton's hiring was conducted. "It was a lot of work, but It was double," McDonald said Thursday. "Back then we had two schools, now It's three.

There have been significant changes." McDonald, who has been with the district 30 years the first 10 as a teacher said It could be done todav, but only if an adminis "One person can't do all that," Holzhcrg said. "In my opinion, it's physically impossible. Districts who have done it put an administrative assistant in place and there's a cost to that." High administrative costs prompted officials to consider the change. "Small districts have hod to scrutinize every item on their budgets," Holzberg said. Even though Demarest has cut its administrative spending per pupil by more than $2,000 in the past three years, It still spends $1,311 per pupil, according to the state Department of Education.

some of the paperwork. If the board moves to hire a superintendentprincipal, it would eliminate one of the positions held by McDonald and elementary Principal George Petty, unless one of them got the newly created job. McDonald said if the board goes that way, he would apply for the dual position. Petty could not be reached for comment. Holzberg said that in making the decision, officials have to consider not only the economic ramifications, but the educational ones for the 600 students attending County Komi School, Luther Lee Emerson gchool, and Demarest.