Two West Windsor residents have lost the latest round in their legal challenge against the township over its approval of a massive warehouse and distribution complex on the former American Cyanamid site.
The project, named Bridge Point 8, calls for the construction of seven warehouses totaling more than 5.5 million square feet on the 653-acre tract at Clarksville and Quakerbridge Roads. The West Windsor Planning Board approved the development in June 2022.
Residents Justino Gonzalez and Stacey Joy — later identified in appellate filings as Stacey J. Fox — sued the township, the Planning Board, developer Bridge Development Partners through its subsidiary Bridge Point West Windsor LLC, and landowner Atlantic Realty Development Corp. through its subsidiary Clarksville Center LLC. The case was initially filed in Superior Court, where Judge Robert T. Lougy presided.
The residents’ complaint challenged a 2020 ordinance adopted by Township Council that rezoned the property for warehousing and distribution uses.
They alleged the township failed to give required notice to neighbors, engaged in improper “spot zoning,” and agreed to a quid pro quo with the developer that did not include affordable housing obligations.
The lawsuit sought to overturn the ordinance and invalidate the Planning Board’s approval. The plaintiffs were represented by attorney Robert F. Simon of Herold Law.
The New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division recently upheld the lower court’s decision to dismiss the case. In an unpublished opinion, the panel ruled that five of the plaintiffs’ eight claims were time-barred by the 45-day deadline to file suit.
The court also found the residents lacked standing to challenge the ordinance and failed to establish that they were entitled to personal notice of the 2020 rezoning hearing.
“On this record, plaintiffs do not clearly identify an unlawful exchange or favor,” the appellate judges wrote, rejecting the claim of an alleged quid pro quo.
They also agreed with the Planning Board that the project did not require zoning variances because it was permitted under the township’s planned commercial development zone.
The panel of Judges Morris Smith, Mark K. Chase and Christine M. Vanek concluded that none of the claims survived judicial scrutiny.
“We are pleased that the Appellate Division agreed with us and with the trial court that the challenges brought in the lawsuit against the township’s ordinance and planning board’s approval of the project did not survive judicial scrutiny,” Martina Baillie, counsel for the township and its Planning Board, said in a statement to Law360.com.
Clarksville Center LLC owns the Howard Hughes tract, a 539-acre portion of the 645-acre site where Bridge Development Partners plans to build the warehouses along with stormwater management systems and retail and commercial areas.
The township had reached a settlement agreement with Atlantic Realty in 2020 to resolve earlier litigation over zoning of the site.
Former owner Howard Hughes Corp. had proposed a mixed-use project with retail, office space and up to 2,000 residential units, but residents and officials opposed adding housing because of its potential impact on schools and municipal services.
Mayor Hemant Marathe has said the warehouse development would generate about $15 million in annual tax revenue without adding to the township’s infrastructure costs.
The Bridge Point 8 project calls for seven warehouses totaling more than 5.5 million square feet.,
