Township says homeowner association owns David Court
David Weinstein
According to township officials, South Brunswick has maintained David Court, a private road off Quincy Circle in the Dayton Square condominium and townhouse development, free of charge for 20 years.
But that could come to an end soon.
Legal ownership of the road remains with David Court’s homeowner association – at least, that is what township officials believe at this point. Township officials have been researching possible agreements between the association and South Brunswick regarding who is responsible for the road.
"We’re finding new information each day," Township Manager Matthew Watkins said Wednesday morning.
Assistant Township Attorney Don Sears said Tuesday South Brunswick never accepted ownership of the road and therefore is not responsible for its maintenance. He said the township should begin charging the association for maintaining the road.
"The records are unclear, but we plowed the road at one point and something got lost in the shuffle, and we continued to plow and maintain the road," Mr. Sears said.
"We shouldn’t be. It’s a private road. Our ordinance says we have to charge for maintaining private roads."
Township Committee meeting minutes from the 1980s show several discussions on this issue, he said. At one point in the early 1980s, Mr. Sears said the township decided it would accept ownership of the road. But the dedication was never made official, he said.
South Brunswick has maintained the road after snow storms, when street lights burn out and for fire hydrant inspections since the early 1980s without charge, according to several township officials.
Now, as David Court’s homeowner association again looks to have ownership of the roadway transferred to the township, the Township Council seems disinclined to take it.
"I can see why the homeowners association doesn’t want the roadway," Mr. Sears said Tuesday afternoon. "It’s a private road and it doesn’t meet township requirements."
In essence, he said, the road was engineered to be private. And the existence of parking spaces and condominiums on each side of the roadway make it virtually impossible to meet requirements the township has for other public roads, Mr. Sears said. Road width, fire hydrant setbacks and other specifications are required by township ordinance in order for a road to be accepted as township property.
But that may not be the main issue, Mr. Sears said.
"It’s what’s underneath. The road bed has begun to deteriorate" he said.
But Councilman Ted Van Hessen, a former resident of David Court, contends a 20-year routine should not just stop at the drop of a hat.
"It’s been practice for that long, and it was the intent of three governing bodies during previous years to do this," he said.
"Now, to turn around and say, ‘Gosh, golly gee, sorry,’ strikes me as wrong," he said.
But Mayor Debra Johnson said the council has to be fair to other areas of the community, as well.
"No one part of the township should be treated any better, or given special or preferential treatment, than any other," she said Tuesday.
"I think we could reach a compromise. I understand it’s a hardship to take this away, if that’s what’s decided, but David Court has been getting benefits no others in town have been getting."
This is not the point, Mr. Van Hessen said.
"There is a whole history here," he said. "The Township Committee agreed to accept dedication of the roadway, agreed to accept responsibility. It’s all in the minutes."
Those minutes show that the township has maintained the street free-of-charge since the early 1980s.
The minutes show three governing bodies willing to accept the road. But a signed contract by the township accepting dedication of the roadway as a public road was never completed.
At this point, when and in what capacity the issue of David Court will again be on the Township Council’s agenda is unclear, Mr. Watkins said Wednesday morning.
"The information we have is difficult. There has been 20 years of discussion, etcetera," he said.
"The problem is the records are unclear and a little thin. We’re finding more information out all the time as to what kinds of agreements were made. We’re going back to look at all of it again."