A New Jersey appeals court has overturned a counsel fee award to a Montclair resident who successfully challenged a local ordinance allowing for the construction of an assisted-living facility.

The three-judge Appellate Division panel on Thursday in Grabowsky v. Montclairsaid a trial judge erred when he awarded a local resident and government watchdog, Richard Grabowsky, $123,225 in counsel fees and costs after he successfully challenged the passage of the ordinance.

Appellate Division Judges Marianne Espinosa, Karen Suter and Michael Guadagno, in an unsigned opinion, said there was no reason to depart from the so-called “American Rule,” in which litigants are expected to bear their own costs.