Politics & Government

Clark Neighbors Appeal Miele's Townhome Decision

The months-long saga appeared to be over when the board granted approval for 39 townhomes on the former greenhouse property in March. Now, objectors are taking formal action.

The battle over what will become of the Miele's Greenhouse property may not be over yet.

Though the Sangiuliano Group's proposal to build 39 townhomes on the five-acre property was approved by the Clark Planning Board in March (after months of meetings, acrimony and objections from residents), a group of objectors are now appealing the board's decision. 

Robert Appleyard, Manny Disporto, Marianne Disporto, David Esteves, Carmen Esteves, Robert G. Hampson, Joyce Keller, Peter Keller and Susan
Schreiner are listed as plaintiffs in the appeal filed after the decision; all live within 200 feet of Miele's.

Find out what's happening in Clark-Garwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Their appeal describes the board's decision as "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable and alleges:

-violations of COAH requirements
-spot zoning
-improper waiving of a required Environmental Impact Statement
-that the applicant's engineer was never sworn in
-that the applicant's engineer did not conduct a capacity analysis for the intersection adjacent to the project
-failure of the Developer to acknowledge, reference and address various other bulk variances and design waivers
-inadequate site plans
-no testimony as to the design of the proposed multi-family housing units via a licensed architect
-failure of the Township Planner to attend the public hearing and be available for cross examination is a violation of due process
-the Township's closed door discussions with the Applicant/Developer as to waiving of the mandatory set-aside requirement is inconsistent with the Open Public Meetings Act and violates fundamental standards of due process
-the Board in granting the approval in questions failed to provide for
adequate drainage, landscaping, safe and efficient pedestrian and vehicular circulations and other design standards required by its ordinances and the MLUL.

Find out what's happening in Clark-Garwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Read the full appeal in our gallery.

For his part, developer George Sangiuliano told Patch, "We're very optimistic about project 20 units sold on paper right now, and we’re just waiting for appeal to be concluded so we can begin."

An attorney for the plaintiffs could not be reached for comment.


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