By: Dick Brinster
EAST WINDSOR The lawsuit filed by a group of Twin Rivers residents seeking the right to post political signs on common ground and force changes in other rules of the planned unit development will be heard by the state Supreme Court on Jan. 4, according to the president of the Homeowners Association’s board of directors.
Scott Pohl said the suit, filed six years ago against the association, will be argued at 12:15 p.m. in Hughes Justice Complex on Market Street in Trenton.
A state Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the association in 2005, applying the business judgment rule, which upholds actions taken providing there is no improper or irrational intent. But an appellate panel in February sent the suit back to the lower court, instructing it to apply a constitutional standard to counts involving placement of signs, use of the community room and access to Twins Rivers Today, the community’s newsletter.
Those items were part of nine-court lawsuit filed by five residents calling themselves the Committee for a Better Twin Rivers. The trail court ruled in favor of the association on five of those items, and an out-of-court settlement was reached that gave residents the right to record board of directors meetings.
The appellate court’s ruling did not approve of the residents’ demand for a one-person, one-vote system to elect board members. In Twin Rivers’ weighted system, votes are based on the value of one’s property.
The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the voting system.
The board of directors of the Homeowners Association, which represents the 10,000 residents of the community, has placed the cost of the lawsuit at $750,000.
