Boro sued for putting biz into Nat. Lead zone Attorney says property does not meet criteria for redevelopment BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer A local business owner whose property has been added to the National Lead redevelopment zone has taken legal action against Sayreville. The Borough Council added 56 acres of properties adjacent to the 400-plus-acre National Lead site in May. The former factory site, located along the Raritan River near Routes 9 and 35 and the Garden State Parkway, is the focus of four redevelopment proposals now being reviewed by the borough. The largest lot added to the redevelopment zone is the abandoned Amboy Cinemas property, which was closed due to structural issues. The added acreage also includes the site of Beacon Metal Co. Inc., a scrap metal recycling company that has operated at 73 Main St. since 1971. A representative of Beacon Metal questioned its inclusion, since it is a thriving company that wishes to remain in its location. Economy Auto and the nightclub next door were also included in the waterfront redevelopment plan as part of the 56-acre addition. Economy Auto owner Allen Vrabel, who leases out the space where Showgirls operates, responded by filing a lawsuit against the council, the Planning Board and the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA) in state Superior Court last month. Economy Auto, which is located in Victory Plaza, does not meet the criteria to be considered "in need of redevelopment," according to the Vrabels' attorney, James F. Clarkin III. "In finding that [the] plaintiffs' business properties meet the criteria to be considered in need of redevelopment, defendants, Borough of Sayreville, Sayreville Planning Board, and [the] Sayreville mayor and council, acted in an arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious manner," Clarkin wrote in the lawsuit. The governing body, which adopted the waterfront redevelopment plan in 1999, approved a resolution May 14 that designated the additional lots for inclusion in the redevelopment plan on the basis of the Planning Board's recommendation. The Planning Board recommended the additional properties after SERA proposed that they be included. John Leoncavallo, the Planning Board's architect and planner, prepared a report in February concluding that the acreage met the criteria for being "in need of redevelopment." Clarkin voiced his clients' opposition to being included in the plan on two occasions, at a Planning Board meeting in January and at a council meeting in March, according to the lawsuit. The borough failed to notify the business owners of a Planning Board meeting and a council meeting, in April and May respectively, when the governing body amended the plan to include the additional properties in the plan, Clarkin stated in the complaint. "The amendment does not individually analyze any of the business properties owned by the plaintiffs," Clarkin wrote, "and no specific findings are included in the amendment [as to] whether any of [the] plaintiffs' business properties meet any criteria to be in need of redevelopment." Clarkin said he identified several inconsistencies in the amendment in regard to the designation of properties owned by his clients as "vacant land" when they are fully developed lots. Leoncavallo corrected the descriptions of certain lots and the Planning Board again made the recommendation at its April 18 meeting. Clarkin claims the borough failed to inform him and his clients of that meeting. "The failure of the defendants to advise plaintiff's representatives of the Sayreville Planning Board meeting of April 18, 2007, and the meeting of the Sayreville mayor and council on May 14, 2007, stops defendants from including plaintiffs' business properties in the redevelopment plan," the lawsuit states. Clarkin is asking that the resolution adding these properties to the plan be invalidated, and for the borough to be prohibited from redeveloping his clients' business properties. He also seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as other costs, for his clients. Republican Mayor Kennedy O'Brien did not execute the all-Democratic council's resolution that places the additional properties in the redevelopment plan. O'Brien has voiced opposition to the measure publicly, saying it "smells of a political land grab." A municipality is permitted to designate privately owned property as being "in need of redevelopment" if the designation is consistent with the state's smart growth planning principals, according to Clarkin, but he said eminent domain would not be permitted. "The exercise of eminent domain for the sole reason that the designation of a property is consistent with smart growth planning principles violates the New Jersey State Constitution," Clarkin said. Council members have said they have no intention of using eminent domain to acquire the properties and that the additional acres are being included to make the overall land area more appealing as the borough seeks to usher in a large-scale redevelopment project. Council President Thomas Pollando has said that that the addition of the 56 acres will allow the municipality to move forward with redevelopment sooner than if they waited for the cleanup of National Lead with the original site. Vrabel told the Suburban that Economy Auto has been an active family business for over 50 years. "We don't want to be in the redevelopment plan," Vrabel said. "My tenant filed suit against them [too]," Vrabel added. Vrabel said the borough has excluded him from meetings relevant to the redevelopment process, which he has expressed opposition to at the public meetings he did attend. "I have young children [and this business] is a paying ratable," Vrabel added. "Our property does not fit their criteria to be included in the redevelopment plan."