EDISON — The township will allow the Indian Business Association (IBA) to hold its India Day Parade each year for nearly the next decade.
Officials had already granted a seven-year permit to the nonprofit last year. A three-year extension was approved at the April 8 Township Council meeting.
The issue has been controversial in recent years, as the IBA and the Oak Tree Business Association have competed for the right to hold the parade and have engaged in litigation over the issue.
The township last year granted a sevenyear non-exclusive, conditional permit to the IBA, which had claimed in litigation that it was unreasonably denied a permit to host the parade in a prior year.
During the April 8 meeting, Councilman Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad suggested the council to go a step further and grant a five-year extension instead of three. The suggestion drew a mix of reactions from the rest of the council.
Prasad said the extension would allow the IBA to do some longer-term planning and bring greater investment to the event.
“I think those reasons are quite appropriate [for the extension],” he said, acknowledging that the extension was not discussed with the council.
“That’s a significant change,” Council President Robert Diehl said.
Councilman Alvaro Gomez and Diehl pointed out that the IBA was satisfied with the three-year extension.
“I’m just a little bit uncomfortable going on the fly, making the change,” Gomez said, adding that he would like to get the input from the township attorney.
Township Attorney William Northgrave reiterated that the IBA requested a three-year extension.
“They came to the administration and said this is what they’ll need to get the investment, if you will — not just economic — but investment from the community to make this a successful event going forward,” Northgrave said. “It seemed reasonable.”
However, the attorney said it was worth considering a five-year extension if there was support for it.
“I agree with Councilman Gomez in that if the group asked for three … we keep it at three. We could extend it at another time,” Diehl said.
“I’m not as comfortable doing this, as Councilman Gomez says, doing things ‘on the fly,’ ” Diehl added.
He said Prasad’s suggestion caught him off guard, and that with all the “back and forth” the township has had with the IBA, he was happy to remain with the three-year extension.
Prasad’s suggestion didn’t gain enough support to change the resolution, although three council members did vote “yes.”
“I agree with Councilman Prasad’s reasons for doing this,” said Gomez, who voted against it, explaining that he didn’t feel comfortable with changing the agreed-upon term.
The council then approved the three-year extension.