Politics & Government

'Clark Neighbors' Lose Miele's Townhome Appeal

The Sangiuliano Group can now move forward with its proposal to build 39 townhomes on the 5-acre property.

The battle over what will become of the former Miele's Greenhouse property in Clark may have finally come to an end: though appealed by a group of objectors, a Superior Court judge has upheld the Clark Planning Board's approval of the Sangiuliano Group's proposal to build 39 townhomes on the five-acre property.

The project, named Stone Hill Village., was approved by the Planning Board in March 2012 (after months of meetings, acrimony and objections from residents), and was appealed by the 'Clark Neighbors,' the most outspoken and formalized of the nearby residents opposed to the project. Robert Appleyard, Manny Disporto, Marianne Disporto, David Esteves, Carmen Esteves, Robert G. Hampson, Joyce Keller, Peter Keller and Susan Schreiner were listed as plaintiffs in the appeal; all live within 200 feet of the property.

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

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-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.

Judge Karen Cassidy ruled that "plaintiffs' complaint is dismissed with prejudice for failure to demonstrate that the Township of Clark Planning Board's approval of the defendant, Sanguiliano Group's, application for final site plan approval of a townhouse project known as Stone Hill Village was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable." 

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

"In the two years of this struggle, we feel that we presented a strong, professional and united opposition," Marianne Disporto told Patch. "We believe the town will watch and monitor the development more closely because of this. We will continue to monitor the demolition and building of this project. Environmental issues still exist and we are closely monitoring that situation, particularly the glass greenhouse that has asbestos walls and tables."

Demolition of the buildings on the Miele's property is scheduled to continue this week. 


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