Who Should Plow Coppola Court?

A private cul de sac off Pine Brook Road in the township is at the center of a dispute between the town and the road's owner over who should plow the street.

Coppola Court has six houses, a working alpaca farm and another piece of undeveloped property on it.

Russ Pisano, 70, who owns the road, has lived in one of the houses with his wife, Angela, for about 27 years.

A few years ago, they obtained the rights to the road for $1, so they could subdivide their lot to build a home for their daughter, they said.

When they went for the subdivision, the town told Pisano—as it did when they bought the property almost three decades ago—it doesn't plow private roads and it was written into a developer's agreement that he would maintain the road.

Pisano said he was all right with that until he learned the town does plow other private roads in the municipality. He filed a lawsuit when the town wouldn't work with him and a Superior Court judge said he and the town should continue to hash out the issue.

Pisano and township attorney Martin Murphy have said they don't know if the other private roads have developer agreements outlining who will take care of them, but that Pisano does have a developer's agreement saying he will be responsible for the road.

Murphy said it's outlined in the agreement, and the issue is as simple as that.

Some Township Committee members, discussing the issue at their last meeting, said they open to having the town plow the road while others worried going against the developer's agreement would set a bad a precedent. Pisano said there is no comparable situation in town.

The road is not up to the town's standards for public roads and Pisano said improving Coppola Court to that extent would be too costly. But Pisano said he plans to make some improvements to the road if the town agrees to plow it.

Garbage trucks, mail delivery trucks, landscapers and emergency medical crews all have to use the street, so it gets traffic, Pisano said. The properties on the road pay a total of more than $100,000 in property taxes, he said.

The road dates back 200 years and a well, fireplace and horse hitching post from that time still exist on site, Pisano said. Coppola Court has been around longer and is in better condition than other private roads that receive plowing, he said.

Pisano said he sued over the principle.

"I didn't want to sue the town," he said at the last Township Committee meeting. "I love this town."

Coppola Court is named for Pisano's cousin, Gerard Coppola, who died on 9/11. He was an antenna engineer on the 101st floor of the north tower.