WESTFIELD — The New Jersey Appellate Court upheld the Lower Court’s ruling dismissing The Westfield Advocates for Responsible Development’s (WARD) lawsuit against the Town of Westfield and the developer for One Westfield Place.
The Advocates, an ad-hoc citizens’ group concerned with overdevelopment led by Frank Fusaro, Carla Bonacci, Alison Carey, William Fitzpatrick and the late Anthony LaPorta, sought to invalidate Westfield’s redevelopment ordinance passed in 2023 which paved the way for development of the Lord & Taylor and train station properties.
The group alleged in its lawsuit “that Westfield’s approval of Ordinance 2023-03 was arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and contrary to law.” However, the court found that the town had made a “well-reasoned, careful, and sound decision.”
The Advocates then appealed, saying that the redevelopment plan was not in line with the local redevelopment and housing law and that the court erred in not admitting the February 6, 2023 Westfield Planning Board meeting transcript and the WARD memo into evidence at trial.
The Appeals Court ruled that discovery determinations are at the “trial court’s discretion” and said, “We are unpersuaded by plaintiffs’ argument that the trial court abused its discretion.” The decision further states that, “Even if the trial court had reviewed the transcript and the WARD memo, the outcome would not change.”
“This marks the third unsuccessful legal challenge filed by this group against the Town. The first challenged the Sophia redevelopment agreement, the second questioned the One Westfield Place project’s consistency with the Master Plan and the Town’s process, and the third, the recent appeal, challenged the court’s earlier ruling. In each case, the courts have definitively upheld the Town’s actions and dismissed the claims as without merit. The consistency of these decisions reinforces our belief in the integrity of the professional and public planning process we have followed—one that has been transparent, thorough, and inclusive of community input from the start,” Mayor Shelley Brindle said in a statement.
“With this appeal now behind us, we are moving forward with renewed momentum on One Westfield Place, in spite of the fact that the Westfield Advocates have filed a fourth lawsuit challenging the recently adopted amended redevelopment plan, which is even less likely to prevail than the lawsuits already dismissed. Residents can expect to see visible signs of progress and hear exciting updates in the months ahead,” Mayor Brindle stated.
The Advocates released a statement late Friday that said, in part, “We are very disappointed with the [Appeals] Court decision, as it did not address the merits of the One Westfield Place project or justifications for the taking of the Town’s train station parking lot areas, that we hoped the Court would consider given the lack of any meaningful consideration in 2022-23 by the Planning Board or Town Council to incorporate widespread community concerns with the project…Westfield Advocates will continue to evaluate legal options with our attorneys. In any event, we will continue to provide constructive input and voice the concerns of Westfield residents regarding overdevelopment, traffic, parking, design and construction impacts on Westfield’s residential neighborhoods, as well as true community input and full transparency from our elected officials.
The Advocates dropped the appeal of their lawsuit against the town and the developer of The Sophia on Prospect Street in April of last year.
