Dropped lawsuit comes back to haunt some in U.F.
Former plaintiff wants to subdivide property for housing development
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - A large landowner who was part of a group that sued the Township Committee a few years ago said that he hopes one committeeman didn't take it personally.

David Molski, the owner of Dream Land Farm on Schoolhouse Road, is planning to subdivide the property into a housing development called Dream Land Estates.

Back in 2004, Molski was one of the plaintiffs who filed a suit in the state Superior Court in Freehold against then-Mayor John Mele, Deputy Mayor David Horsnall, and Committeemen Stephen Alexander and Salvatore Diecidue.

The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Princeton Nurseries and its subsidiaries, Allentown Tree Farm and Crosswicks Farm Inc., along with Edward and Robert Schaumloeffel.

The suit, which was filed individually against the Township Committee members, cited the committeemen for voting to re-examine the issue of 6-acre zoning at the July 1, 2004, Township Committee meeting without notice to the public on the agenda that such action would be considered. The plaintiffs alleged that the action could have been a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. Committeeman William Miscoski, who had voted against the re-examination, was not named in the suit.

On Sept. 23, 2004, the plaintiffs directed their attorney to dismiss the action.

At the Jan. 9 Board of Health meeting, Alexander, the governing body's liaison to the board, recused himself from a discussion about the status of Dream Land Estates, citing the lawsuit.

"It is best if I do not engage in dialogue so that there is no impact on the Board of Health decision," he said, then sat in the audience.

Margaret Jahn, the Freehold Area Health Department officer, said that Dream Land Estates has proposed creating 39 lots, but roughly half of them could fall into an area with artesian conditions. An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater that would flow upward out of a well without the need for pumping.

Jahn said that once artesian conditions are identified, the developer must get approvals from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Jahn said that Molski plans to go to the DEP for a Treatment Works Approval (TWA) for those lots with artesian conditions but wants the board to approve the 20 lots that are not affected by the conditions.

According to Jahn, Molski is anxious to get his subdivision before the Planning Board, but he first needs approval from the Board of Health.

The board also received a letter from the township's Environmental Advisory Committee regarding the possible need for a 300-foot buffer from stream corridors on the property.

Bob Weatherford, the engineer for Dream Land Estates, said the stream on the property is not a Category One stream as per DEP regulations. He also reported that no septics would be built within 300 feet of the stream on the back of the tract.

While the board had a quorum, only four members were on the dais. James Rosenbauer made a motion for the board to grant conditional approval for the permissible lots pending approval of the ad hoc committee dealing with the issue, but no one seconded his motion.

During the public portion of the meeting, Molski said he was one of the first in the group of plaintiffs who wanted to drop the lawsuit.

Molski said he would appreciate if Alexander, whom he called "an honest and good man," could vote on the issue regarding his subdivision.

"I'd like to clear the air on that," he said, adding that he hoped Alexander would be the next mayor.

Alexander said he recused himself because he has an interest in protecting the town, and that had he voted, Molski's attorney would have had the opportunity to say he had a conflict of interest.

Alexander later said he had never before met Molski and had not realized he was in the audience when he recused himself from the discussion.

The board will revisit the subject at next month's meeting.