Sparta garbage petitioners spark questions

December 12, 2007

By STEPHEN J. NOVAK

SPARTA — Petitioners with "No on garbage" clipboards have been standing outside Sparta businesses since Friday, six days after the township approved an ordinance establishing a mandatory garbage utility for its 6,500 homes.

The petition looks to establish residents' ability to "opt out" of the $230-per-year flat utility rate. Township officials, however, have said overturning the ordinance could result simply in residents paying for the service through general taxes.

The petitioners in Sparta have until Dec. 26 to turn in the signatures of 578 registered Sparta voters who want to see the ordinance go to a public referendum.

The garbage service, scheduled to begin in January, was approved by the Sparta Township Council in a split vote on Dec. 1.

But just the act of petitioning can lead to its own questions.

Jesse Wolosky, organizer of the petition drive and an outspoken critic of the Township Council's decision, said he has recruited a number of people to solicit signatures, but he also had to deal with a few business owners who asked the petitioners to leave their premises. At least one business owner called the Sparta Township police to complain about them, Wolosky said, though the call was not confirmed by police on Tuesday.

"I guess there are people on both sides of the fence," he said. "But petitioning is our civil right."

The Sparta Township Police Department is aware of the potential for complaints: an e-mail recently was sent through the department citing legal precedents and describing how to handle such calls, said Sgt. Ron Casteel, the department's public information officer.

As a part of the message, police were alerted to a 1980 Supreme Court ruling that affirms residents' rights to petition on commercial property.

"People have a right to petition outside of a business as long as they don't interfere with its operation," Casteel said.

In the 1980 case, high school students seeking signatures opposing a United Nations resolution were forced to leave a California shopping center. A lower court had ruled that the students were not entitled "to exercise their asserted rights on the shopping center property," but the decision was overturned by the California Supreme Court and affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.

"There is nothing to suggest that preventing (the center's owners) from prohibiting this sort of activity will unreasonably impair the value or use of their property as a shopping center," Justice William Rehnquist said in the decision.

Though Casteel was not able to confirm Tuesday if any complaints about petitioners were received by the Sparta Police Department over the weekend, the officers are prepared to handle the situation should one arise.

"If someone calls with a concern, we certainly will respond," Casteel said. "The officer has to assess the situation ... it's very fact-sensitive."

Wolosky did not return a voicemail message Tuesday asking how many people have signed the petition, but he said previously that his group is "very strict" about making sure that only registered voters sign.

If the petition is successful, the ordinance will be rescinded at least temporarily pending a referendum. The contract with Succasunna-based Blue Diamond Disposal will stand, but alternative funding will have to be found in the absence of an ordinance, township officials have said. In that case, payment for the service likely will come out of the township's general treasury, which is funded through property taxes.

That funding method, which had been discussed by the council, was decried by residents in meetings leading up to the decision.

Sparta's is not the only political petition occurring in the county: In Hardyston, signatures are being collected to recall the school board president. That petition is circulated mostly door-to-door rather than outside businesses.