Legal Action Against Delaware Township

Recent correspondence to the Township indicates that the Township will be defending itself from two new lawsuits.  One such notice is an actual lawsuit and the other is a “Notice of Claim” – a notification of intent to sue.

In the first case, property owner Doreen Massett is suing the Township over certain elements of the settlement agreed between Delaware Township and Trap Rock Industries Inc.  The Township is being represented by insurance company Summit Risk Services, a “third party administrator”.  Summit recently wrote to the Township describing both its intent to represent the  Township and the allegations against the Township.  The claimant alleges that under the settlement, Delaware Township violated New Jersey law by “spot zoning”, and that “the passing of the Ordinance was arbitrary and capricious, constituted a taking of her property without just compensation, and violated her constitutional rights to Equal Protection.”

The second case – the Notice of Claim – involves Perimeter Properties, LLC.  In the notice, attorneys for Perimeter Properties allege that Delaware Township has imposed a new requirement that the developers install drywells to contain roof runoff, which is unreasonable and unjust, given that the Township had previously approved all engineering issues for the project.  This is Perimeter’s second legal action against the Township, the first one having been settled in April of this year.