East Bruns. council sued over Hatikvah reversal

Suit alleges collusion, denial of due process

BY JAMES McEVOY
Staff Writer

Owners of the property proposed to house the Hatikvah International Academy Charter School have filed a lawsuit against the East Brunswick Township Council.

In a press release, the Eisenreich Family Foundation announced that it has filed suit due to the council “violating its due process and tainting the application process through illegal coordination and illicit conflicts of interest.”

Last month, the Township Council’s unanimous reversal essentially invalidated the use variance granted July 5 by the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. The zoning approval would have allowed the Hatikvah International Academy Charter School to use the site of an existing 55,000- square-foot warehouse at 7 Lexington Ave. for a K-8 school building. The charter school currently operates at 367 Cranbury Road, behind the Trinity Presbyterian Church.

According to the press release, the council exercised a “pattern of coercion, intimidation and collusion” that was revealed through private emails between individual council members and the residents who appealed the zoning board ruling granting the use variance. The emails, which according to the press release were obtained through the Open Public Records Act, “clearly demonstrate illegal coordination between members of the council and the appellants on the issue of charter schools in general and Hatikvah in particular.”

Specifically, the release alleges that the emails exchanged included efforts to coordinate a meeting between the appellants and then-council President Michael Hughes to discuss what the plaintiff refers to as “anti-charter school advocacy,” and to provide Councilwoman Nancy Pinkin with materials on the same subject.

“This coordination directly violates the council’s responsibility to act as an impartial judge and jury on the matter,” the release states.

The press release also refers to an exchange between Hughes and the foundation’s attorney during the first special hearing on the appeal in December.

“At the initial hearing in December, Hughes proceeded to threaten the Eisenreich Foundation with a code violation of the existing Hatikvah school location if the plaintiff did not agree to move the hearing date to the end of January,” the release states. “The bizarre threat did not take into account that Eisenreich had no ownership or relationship with the school’s current property on Cranbury Road — further demonstrating Hughes’ bias against the school as an entity.”

In reversing the approval in January, some council members said the matter came down to a land use issue, and the school was proposed in a planned industrial zone.

“I feel that towns have zones for a reason,” Councilman James Wendell said at the time. “I do not see that this should be a permitted use in this zone.

Wendell said the fact that the proposed site is in a light industrial zone makes it a safety issue. Councilwoman Camille Ferraro said she was concerned about the potential of restricting other industrial uses from pursuing development in the zone if the variance for the school was upheld.

Hughes told Greater Media Newspapers that he does not comment on pending litigation before the governing body, but added, “We’re very confident that we will prevail.”

Contact James McEvoy at [email protected].