Judge to now rule if challenge to Pulte project was filed in time
By: Greg Forester
ROCKY HILL A lawsuit filed by a Rocky Hill citizens group against a planned housing project has survived a legal challenge by the defendants.
A judge ruled that Rocky Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth has sufficient standing within the community to bring suit against Pulte Homes, the Planning Board and Borough Council. The suit alleges that the project and its approval by the Planning Board and the Borough Council conflict with building criteria usually applied to construction within Rocky Hill Borough.
"The size, scale and configuration are out of character with the historic buildings and landscape of Rocky Hill," said Rocky Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth member Susan Bristol. "The treatment the project received from the borough was unique from anything else."
The Pulte Homes development, planned for the Schafer tract off of Princeton Avenue, would include 34 age-restricted, single-family residences in 17 duplexes.
While attorneys representing the defendants filed motions stating the citizen’s group had no standing within the community, the judge presiding over the case ruled on March 16 that the group indeed had standing.
If the group had been found to lack standing within the community, the lawsuit would have had to be brought by individual plaintiffs, rather than plaintiffs and the group itself, said Borough Attorney Albert Cruz.
Citizen’s for Responsible Growth representatives said the ruling only represented a psychological victory.
While ruling that Rocky Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth had standing within the community, the judge asked for more information regarding another motion filed by the defendants to dismiss part of the complaint, said Mr. Cruz.
This request for dismissal alleges the citizens group filed its complaints too late in the planning process.
Briefs about the second complaint were due on Tuesday from the parties involved, and the judge was to hear oral arguments on this second complaint on Friday.
A ruling on the second complaint is expected on Friday as well, according to Mr. Cruz.
The Citizens for Responsible Growth group contends that the Borough Council and the Planning Board did not intend to hold the project to Rocky Hill’s usual historic criteria.
Group officials said this became clear through several months of hearings and planning deliberations from January to June of last year, said Ms. Bristol.
With the lawsuit moving ahead, the Rocky Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth has a meeting planned for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Mary Jacobs Library.
Entitled "Beyond Wawa," the group plans to discuss options in its fight against the Schafer development, especially if the defendants decide to compromise with the group and change the nature of the development.