TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—A new trial date of Friday, June 28 at 2:30 p.m. has been set by Superior Court Judge Christine Farrington for the developer of Four Seasons Marketplace retail plaza in its suit appealing the denial of its application for a 17,100-square-foot retail plaza at the Pascack Road and Washington Avenue intersection.
The date was newly adjourned from May 29.
A March 15 order from Farrington to the plaintiff (660 Pascack Realty LLC) and defendant (Washington Township Zoning Board) states “court-ordered mediation must be completed by the discovery end date. Ongoing mediation does not provide exceptional circumstances for a request for adjournment of trial.”
The order adds, “Contact the court for details on whether the proceeding will be held by video, or phone, or paper.” The court docket notes Jan. 3, 2025 as the current discovery end date and that the case was filed on Aug. 4, 2023 by plaintiff attorney Bruce Whitaker.
We recently reported that the originally scheduled March trial was delayed until May when ZBA attorney Louis Lamatina told the judge that the parties were negotiating to resolve the matter without going to trial.
“The additional time is requested because the parties are presently engaged in discussions toward a resolution of the matter,” Lamatina wrote Feb. 16, requesting the original trial extension to Farrington. We reached out to Lamatina and Whitaker for comment but did not hear back.
After six hearings over seven months, the ZBA voted, 6-1, on May 16, 2023 to reject the Four Seasons Marketplace proposal for a 17,100-square-foot retail shopping plaza at 660–682 Pascack Road that included two new buildings.
The applicant, 660 Pascack Realty LLC, majority owned by Seasons Catering principal James Kourgelis, applied in October 2022 for a use variance on the 2.4-acre site to construct a commercial shopping plaza with two buildings holding up to 11 shops and a restaurant on land zoned for single-family houses.
Only two occupied homes currently remain standing on the corner lot. Three vacant, dilapidated homes previously there were demolished last summer.
The retail plaza was also opposed by nearby Meisten Street residents who claimed the site might increase water runoff and affect water quality in a small “unnamed tributary” of Musquapsink Brook that runs behind a half-dozen homes and between the proposed development site.
According to a consent order issued Feb. 23 by Farrington, the defendants, or township Zoning Board of Adjustment, have until May 3, 2024 to send a Brief responding to the Plaintiff, 660 Pascack Realty LLC, legal filing that alleged the township’s denial was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.