Harmony planners to appeal court ruling
Ruling grants conditional approval for Riverwalk proposal despite township's concerns.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
By SARA K. SATULLO
The Express-Times
HARMONY TWP. | The township planning board voted Wednesday night to
appeal a state Superior Court ruling that grants conditional preliminary
approval to a contentious 315-home development proposal.
The Riverwalk housing development
proposal was rejected unanimously by the planning board in December 2004 based
on concerns about possible sinkhole formations stemming from the proposed
on-site sewage treatment plant.
Then in April 2005, developer Centex Homes and landowner Dowel
Associates sued the township. A judge issued a written ruling at the end of last
month.
The decision requires the township to grant the approval so
developers can apply for a wastewater treatment permit from the state
Department of Environmental Protection, said Kevin Benbrook, the township's
attorney on the case. The DEP has expertise dealing with these types of issues,
he said.
"The judge concurred our concerns had merit and the
court-appointed geologist agreed as well," Benbrook said after the
meeting. "She specifically stated in her ruling that it was in no way
suggesting the project was feasible or permitable."
The developer's suit alleged that the planning board's rejection
of the proposal violates a 1990 settlement that made the town rezone the
185-acre site for the 315 units, 36 of which would fulfill state low and
moderate income housing requirements. The 1990 settlement resulted out of
Dowel's 1988 lawsuit filed under the provisions of the state Supreme Court's
The township has begun fulfilling the affordable housing
requirements on its own because of the uncertainty surrounding Riverwalk, Benbrook said. Also at Wednesday night's meeting
the board held a public hearing on an interim affordable housing plan it
recently submitted to the state.
The plan pushes the Riverwalk
development into a new round of Council on Affordable Housing rules and new
obligations that are currently uncertain.
Jordan Guenther, a representative for Dowel, said in the hearing
that Dowel strongly objected to being removed from the plan. After the meeting,
Benbrook clarified the developer is not removed, the township is just no longer
depending upon Dowel to fulfill requirements.
"The project now has preliminary site approval. The judge has
ruled this board's denial was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable,"
Guenther said in the hearing.
Afterward, Benbrook said that is the legal ruling and the township
will comply with the court's ruling while appealing.
Reporter Sara K. Satullo can
be reached at 908-475-2174 or by e-mail at ssatullo@express-times.com.
© 2007 The Express Times