North Brunswick zoning case to be heard outside Middlesex County
Home News Tribune Online 01/26/07
By CARMEN CUSIDO
STAFF WRITER
ccusido@thnt.com
NORTH BRUNSWICK — A lawsuit that names the Township Council and the Planning Board as defendants in a case involving the rezoning of the Pulda farm will be reinstated and must be heard outside of Middlesex County, according to a state appellate ruling Thursday.

The judges found that a trial court did not have sufficient evidence to approve a purported settlement between developer Jack Morris and a group of township residents allied against high-density development of the 70-acre property.

The nonprofit group filed a lawsuit in 2004 because they were opposed to the rezoning of the farm property for the construction of a planned adult community. It was originally designated for low-density residential and recreational uses.

"There appears . . . that there was a dispute both over the terms of a settlement and whether (the residents') counsel had authority to settle," the judges wrote. "Here, the record is not sufficient to support a conclusion that the case was settled."

The nonprofit North Brunswick Residents Against High Density Housing were appealing a March 2006 trial court decision dismissing its complaint with prejudice and enforcing a settlement. The appellate ruling noted the residents' attorney repeatedly told the lower-court judge she was awaiting approval of the proposed settlement from her client.

"Thus, genuine issues of fact are in dispute that cannot be determined from the parties' certifications," the ruling stated.

The judges also ruled Thursday that, even though there are no allegations that Doug Wolfson, the attorney for Morris and his Piscataway-based company Edgewood Properties, acted improperly, the case should be transferred to another county because Wolfson is a former Superior Court judge who had been assigned to Middlesex County.

"We are mindful of plaintiff's concerns that the hearing not be held before a judge with whom Wolfson previously served," the judges wrote.

In August 2004, the township rezoned the property, located between Route 130, Old Georges Road and Farrington Lake. The zoning for single-family homes was changed to allow a planned adult community.

The complaint, filed two years ago, contended the rezoning ordinance did not comply with normal procedures for adopting zoning ordinances.