Gillespie: Litigation result of outdated law
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

Pat Gillespie

OLD BRIDGE - Approximately $156,000 has been spent on litigation involving one township developer, with no end in sight.

Township Business Administrator Michael Jacobs reported the expenditures last week in an official communication to the Township Council.

Council President Pat Gillespie, who is championing the repeal of the township's general development plan ordinance, said the case with developer John J. Brunetti exemplifies his reasoning.

"This is further evidence … now we're going through four years of litigation at a significant cost to taxpayers," Gillespie said.

In 1986, the Old Bridge Planning Board approved a general development plan submitted by Brunetti. The plan was for 1,734 residential units, along with commercial development near Route 9, called the Oaks at Glenwood. Due to economic conditions, Brunetti waited to carry out the project.

In 2003, the board denied Brunetti's application to build the homes, prompting the developer to appeal that decision in Superior Court. A judge ordered the board to approve the application in 2005, but said it could impose reasonable conditions.

The numerous conditions set by the board included a 20-acre allotment of land as a future school site, the construction and extension of area roads, and land for a firehouse. It was also stipulated that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had to deem the land acceptable to build on because of wetlands issues. It was determined that Brunetti was required to build a bridge over the wetlands portion of the site.

Carrying out the originally proposed 600,000 square feet of commercial development was also a requirement set by the board, along with a reduced number of residential units, and the satisfaction of some of the township's affordable housing obligations. The scaled-down plan is now slated to include 1,384 units.

Brunetti balked at the conditions, saying its 1986 GDP should be honored, but members of the Planning Board argued that they had no part in that approval. The matter wound up back in court, and Gillespie said the developer is now trying to avoid fulfilling the commercial portion of the construction, among other obligations.

"I don't see how we have a choice," Gillespie said. "We are going to have to defend ourselves."

Of the $156,000, Gillespie said, $149,000 was spent on legal fees, with the remainder going toward planning and other court-related matters. Township Attorney Jerome Convery and former Planning Board attorney Tom Norman are representing the township, while Michael Fitzgerald of Manasquan is representing Brunetti.

The court adopted a special master for the matter in order to try to resolve the dispute without dragging it on in the court.

According to Gillespie, the affordable housing aspect of the project has become a non-issue.

"We've actually got a surplus number of affordable units," Gillespie said. "We've been very progressive on that."

The Brunetti case is only one of three faced by the township involving developers. Michael Alfieri and his Metropark South development went to court a year ago, while Atlantic Realty's Woodhaven Village project is on the brink of going into litigation, according to Gillespie.

The town's existing GDP ordinance allows for extended vesting period rights for developers, which offer a form of protection against changes in zoning laws as a project moves along in phases.