St. Mary & St. Mercurius Coptic Christian Church's quest to construct the first monolithic dome in New Jersey will wait until at least April, meaning it will take at least six zoning board meetings for the project to gain long-awaited approval.

At the March 1 meeting, public comments will be heard since opposing attorney Joseph B. Fiorenzo of the Hackensack-based law firm Sokol, Behot & Fiorenzo, representing residents of nearby Rutgers Court, will not be available due to a pre-planned family vacation. This means the April 5 meeting will feature cross-examination of planners by both Fiorenzo and Frank Cozzarelli, the attorney representing St. Mary & St. Mercurius.

“We were hoping it would be finished,” Fr. Youssef Halim said afterward. “We understand the concerns and we care that they have answers to their questions. They're our neighbors and we want them to be happy, too.”

Although residents of Academy Street, where the church resides, and Rutgers Court have expressed concerns since St. Mary & St. Mercurius first presented their plan for a youth center that would possess 96 parking spaces on three floors (two underground) inside the domed dwelling on Nov. 4, the project appeared close to receiving board approval entering Thursday's meeting – their fourth presentation in as many months.

Since December, public sentiment swelled in the church's favor: Just before midnight Thursday, 180 of the 192 people (93%) who took Patch's poll thought the project represented a positive change to Belleville's landscape considering there is not another monolithic dome in the northeast.

However, the meeting turned especially contentious, with both attorneys testily questioning the other side's tactics, prompting zoning board chairman Jerry DelGuercio to bang his gavel and admonish them, “In one minute, we're going to adjourn the case and you can come back in a month.”

The St. Mary & St. Mercurius presentation began with John Malek, an Upper Saddle River resident and five-year parishioner who oversees Bible study for 45-50 young adults aged 18 into their mid-20s every Friday night between 8-9 p.m., explaining the expansion project was necessary because it would help the church “grow and expand the way we should.”

In their current quarters, Malek explained that several children across numerous Bible study age groups are forced to sit on the floor. In the domed structure proposed, he said hosting bigger groups would be considerably easier.

“People don't want to come to sit on the floor,” Malek said. “It hinders our growth.”

After Fiorenzo cross-examined Malek, Cozzarelli called his cousin Robert, an architect who designed the first phase of the Belleville Public Library and Information Center's renovation, as a witness. As Robert Cozzarelli began reading from a prepared document, Fiorenzo grew incredulous and asked for a copy of the report, which Frank Cozzarelli defiantly refused.

Following a terse exchange between the attorneys, DelGuercio calmed things enough so that the meeting continued. Fiorenzo continued to press the board about Robert Cozzarelli's document, but was told he was not privy to that information.

When Robert Cozzarelli continued his testimony, he told the zoning board the project was “inherently beneficial to the community” and said they “can and should approve” the proposal.

However, when given the opportunity to cross-examine, Fiorenzo said he had “hours” worth of questions and the meeting adjourned after the board discussed whether to continue considering it was after 10 p.m. and meetings cannot run past 11 p.m.