by Geoffrey Wertime, The Packet Group
ROBBINSVILLE — After 10 years of struggles between the township and owners of J.E.M. stables over zoning issues and a neighbor’s complaints, it seemed late last year as if the business and the township might finally be reaching a resolution.
But several months later, the issue remains in negotiation.
J.E.M. attorney Patricia Ratner said this week that the riding academy’s agreement with the township is still in the works.
Late last year the Township Council authorized the purchase of the development rights to the Robbinsville portion of the Windsor Road property with about $200,000 from the open space fund, with the intent to deed-restrict the land so it cannot be developed further.
Ms. Ratner said she has met with Township Attorney Mark Roselli several times since the township approved the ordinance, with the most recent meeting on March 23.
Ms. Ratner said while discussions have gone well, the written agreements the township sends her have proved different from what was said earlier. Ms. Ratner said the agreement had undergone “substantial changes.” But she said she didn’t feel comfortable elaborating on the changes made by either side.
Mr. Roselli said this week that disagreements between J.E.M. and neighbor Richard Cruser have kept the negotiations from moving forward.
Mr. Cruser lives adjacent to the land and very close to the outdoor ring. He has complained about dust, noise and lights from it at night, as well as flooding and manure runoff showing up in his yard and well.
Mr. Roselli said, “The township has been trying to reach a resolution that’s amenable to both parties, and we thus far have not been able to reach that resolution.”
The township and J.E.M. have been at odds for years, and the debate flared up again in 2008 when a cease-and-desist letter delivered by the township that May prevented riders from using J.E.M.’s outdoor riding ring, located in Robbinsville along with about half of the property. The other half is located in West Windsor.
Joan Esposito, who owns J.E.M. with husband, Michael, said this week that she has been waiting on the township since July.
”As yet we haven’t gotten the money, and the terms keep changing,” she said. “Cruser wants us out of here, no two ways about it.
”The mayor offered us money to do this, that and other thing, and when it came in writing it was changed.”
Mayor David Fried last year called the issue “essentially resolved,” but this week said he wasn’t updated on the situation because the lack of a quorum at a recent council meeting prevented a closed-session discussion of the situation.
Late last year, the proposal called for the township to purchase the development rights, while J.E.M. would move its outdoor riding ring back 550 feet. Under that version, the Espositos would also seek a use variance from the zoning board to make the use legal, move the paddocks near Mr. Cruser’s residence back from the property line, and put hay in their place to address the drainage concerns.
Until the agreement is finished and signed, she said, J.E.M. won’t receive any money from the township with which to make the necessary changes.
Township Administrator Mary Caffrey said previously a deal between Robbinsville and J.E.M. would amount to a valuable open space purchase for the township.
The township has been issuing summonses to J.E.M. for more than a decade, most recently in fall 2007 and again in winter 2008.
Geoff Wertime can be reached at [email protected].

