Residents Overcrowd Parsippany Town Hall At Council Meeting

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Chaos ensued at Tuesday night's town council meeting after a surplus of residents filed into the town hall, causing the Parsippany Fire Marshall to shut it down.

The meeting, in which the council was meant to vote on the second reading of the ordinances for three more PILOT agreements, has since been rescheduled for Dec. 28, according to Leslie Miller, the Parsippany Deputy Clerk.

The time of the rescheduled meeting has not yet been decided, Miller told Patch. It will take place at 1 p.m. or 7 p.m., and the final decision will be posted on the township website.

Township Clerk Khaled Madin said that the new meeting will be held at the PAL building rather than at the town hall.

According to a video posted online from the council meeting, the crowd of Parsippany residents was chanting "Shame on you" after officials stated that the meeting would have to be rescheduled.

Parsippany citizens were also irritated by Council President Gragnani's decision to postpone the meeting's broad public comment period until after the council decides on the new PILOT ordinances' second reading.

Traditionally, the public comment session comes before the individual resolution phase of the meeting.

The decision to postpone public comments could have been related to the response from homeowners and school board officials who criticized the proposed PILOT programs before the council two weeks ago.

Read More: Parsippany Approves PILOT Projects Despite Public Backlash

Four town council members, Michael dePierro, Loretta Gragnani, Frank Neglia, and Paul Carifi, agree with the mayor on the proposed PILOT programs. Musella, the lone council member who voted no, had spent the last three meetings expressing worry about the township's use of PILOTs.

On the matter, Musella has continued to oppose his Republican colleagues and the mayor. He invited people to the town hall meeting last week, which several township residents attended.

Mayor James Barberio has maintained his position, saying that without the use of PILOTs, the continued blight of vacant or demolished office buildings will significantly add to the tax burden for residents.

"If we don't start doing things and working with them, get ready for round four of affordable housing. That's what they're getting ready for. How do I know that? They pretty much told me that, so decisions have to be made; we have to bring revenues in. We're going to generate revenue with these projects," Barberio said.