The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 97

I Dili i1 EDUCATION North Jersey's scholar of the week. 5 DEATH NOTICESOBITUARIES L-6, 7 tit itWw ji- i Us- at wasou Split's end turns out successful -y- -ml i HtnJ r-7 TV room dream turns into long legal fight Westwood family nears deal on 'orphan' lot By CATHERINE H0LAHAN STAFF WRITER WESTWOOD For nearly two decades, Anne Cowell fought for a family room. When she paid the borough for a small lot next to her Westwood Boulevard home in 1986, her plan was simply to use the space to add a room where she, her husband, and son could watch television and relax. But Cowell's plans were delayed for 17 years thanks to 80-year-old zoning laws and a neighbor she didn't know existed. She eventually found herself the target of a lawsuit by Municipal Securities of New Jersey a company that owned land 25 feet away and claimed it had a right to her new side yard.

"I was horrified, absolutely horrified, because we had no idea" of the Paramus company's claim to the land, she said. "We had no idea until we were about to build an extension." Now, on Tuesday, she could finally get the legal go-ahead to extend her home. The borough, which was also sued by Municipal Securities, is scheduled to resolve the litigation Tuesday in an agreement that would allow Cowell undisputed rights to the land she has held a deed for since 1986. Under the deal, the company gives up its claim to three small lots in Westwood and abandons its fight against Cowell. It will also pay the borough $30,100.

In exchange, Westwood will give the company a single regular-sized lot large enough for a house. What Cowell describes as an endless and confusing fight stems from a muddle of property title See ZONING Page L-2 Rochelle Park seeks tougher rules for mall Attorney says zoning board, not planners, should preside By MERRY FIRSCHEIN STAFF WRITER PARAMUS The attorney hired by Rochelle Park to oppose the expansion of the Garden State Plaza is questioning whether the Paramus Planning Board even has the right to hear the application. In statements before the board Thursday and in a subsequent interview, attorney Richard Contant made clear that he believes the borough's zoning board, which can present a higher hurdle to developers, should handle the application. While questioning a mall official Thursday, Contant said that by seeking to build a 16-screen theater and additional retail and restaurant space, the mall is tiying to change a prior limit regarding the amount of floor space permitted on the property. That restriction was adopted by the Planning Board in 1992, the last time there was a major expansion of the site, and Contant says revisiting the issue would essentially change the limits of a zone, meaning the application should go to the zoning board.

John Goodwin, vice president in charge of de-See EXPANSION Page L-2 By BRIAN ABERBACK STAFF WRITER The graduation ceremonies in the Ramapo-Indian Hills Regional High School District this month were a milestone for the three-town school system. But most students and parents would have had to think tor a minute about why. That's a good thing, many in the district say. Four years ago, the students in the classes of 2003 at Ramapo High in Franklin Lakes and Indian Hills High in neighboring Oakland were the first to enter the district after the school board abolished a controversial policy known as the "Franklin Lakes split" The policy determined which of the two high schools students from Franklin Lakes could attend. It created a suburban soap opera in Northwest Bergen County, replete with feelings of bitterness and resentment and accusations of class elitism.

Under the policy, students from the more affluent east side of well-to-do Franklin Lakes went to Ramapo. Students on the west side had to go to Indian Hills, regarded as a fine school but not quite the equal of Ramapo in some respects. The policy left some residents of Franklin Lakes feeling like second-class citizens in their own town. In 1999, after years of debate, the 27-year-old split was abolished, giving all students from Franklin Lakes a choice between the two schools. The move, critics said, could mean the end of Indian Hills.

But instead, Indian Hills is still going strong. And the demise of the split appears to have eased the tension and acrimony that plagued the district for years. "Everything that we predicted not only came true, but better than we predicted," says Schools Superintendent Paul Saxton. "We feel the choice to end the split was the correct choice." At the time, it appeared to be a move fraught with peril. When Franklin Lakes residents called for an end to the split, many Oakland residents felt slighted, saying their well-off neighbors didn't want to be associated with a town with more of a working-class reputation.

All Oakland students attend Indian Hills. Students in Wyckoff, the district's third town, have always had a choice of which school to attend, and most choose Ramapo. Franklin Lakes residents rejected the claims of elitism, saying they simply wanted their children to stay together after eighth See SPLIT Page L-4 it CHRIS PEDOT ASTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Twins Danielle Rebecca Gilbert, left, and Sarah Nicole Gilbert flipping their tassles after graduating from Indian Hills High School. The graduating class was the first since the end of the "Franklin Lakes Split" Exodus worries prove groundless Number of students from Franklin Lakes attending Ramapo and Indian Hills high schools, by grade: Ramapo Indian Hills 1998-99 2002-03 Additional students: Ramapo 3 Indian Hills 1 88 Additional students: Ramapo 5 Indian Hills 8 68 61 72 70 I 74 62 ri 60 rj I J' 54 59 1.51 53 53 51 a a 1 11 Hi 9th 10th 41 12th 11th 9th 10th 11th 12th JERRY LUCIANI STAFF ARTIST Includes bedside and special education students Where Internet filters make economic sense Maywood train station back on the right track Placed on federal, state registers of historic places Some libraries, such as Ridge-wood's, already have Internet filters for children. But filters for adults are rare, and the professional library associations have Robert White, executive won't be adding Internet to the Bergen County Cooperative Library System's Cindy Czesak, head librarian III fmmtmm I t( It if 1 i It h.

I If i HL in Paterson and the current New Jersey "Librarian of the Year," will add filters to her computer system. A decision made public last week by the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a congressional ruling fought them, not only on principle but because even the best filtering software blocks legitimate sites that share key words with sex sites. Many North Jersey libraries receive federal aid, though it is usually passed through the state bureaucracy and is not easy to identify as of By SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER For the past year, dozens of volunteers have spent their weekends chipping away stucco and patching the leaky roof of May-wood's 131-year-old train station.

They are determined to preserve the landmark which has twice escaped the wrecking ball and survived years of neglect and vandalism and turn it into a museum. On Saturday, they took time off to celebrate what they hope will be the first of many milestones in the station's preservation the structure's entry into both the state and federal registers of historic places. This kind of a reminder is very important," Sen. Frank Lautenberg said, stand ing under the eaves of the tan and brown station as dozens gathered around. The station, he told the gathering, "is a part of our structure, it's a part of our history, and the recall is important" The Victorian-style station, which hasn't handled regular train traffic in more than 30 years, served as a commuter stop on the New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad for nearly 100 years.

It first opened in July 1872, wnen Maywood was still the Western Hackensack section of Midland Township. As the tiny village grew from its 13 original families to a borough of about 9,000, the station remained a central element, said Ed Kaminski, president of the society that See MAYWOOD Page L-2 ROD ALLEE that mandated Internet filters to block access to pornography in libraries mmmmm that receive federal money. The court decision was 6-3. Two of the justices who joined the majority indicated that it would be permissible if libraries disabled the filters at the request of adult patrons. federal origin.

Thus they have a choice: filter Internet content or forgo the aid. White and Czesak are basing their decision on economics, not CARMINE GALASS0STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Preservationist John Andreasen peering out window of old rail car at Maywood station. principles. See ALLEE Page L-2.