LAND USE AND PLANNING
26-3-2168 Mazel LLC v. Township of Toms River, Law Div. (Ocean County) (Grasso, A.J.S.C.) (26 pp.) Plaintiffs, the owners of a Ramada Inn, filed this action by way of a complaint in lieu of prerogative writs against the owners of Dover Woods, an adjacent facility licensed by the Department of Community Affairs as a residential health care facility, asserting that the original zoning approval of Dover Woods by the planning board as a conditional use no longer exists and that the facility is no longer being operated as a residential health care facility or in compliance with the original resolution and that the township has permitted it to exist as a non-permitted use within the Rural Highway Business Zone. Plaintiffs seek to enjoin and restrain Dover Woods from its current use and operation until it obtains the necessary approval as a permitted use in the RHB zone. The court grants summary judgment in favor of defendants as to counts one through seven, finding that Dover Woods constitutes a hotel under the township ordinances, which is a permitted use within the zone, and that its status as a residential health care facility does not affect its status as a hotel, and further that it operates as a medical services facility which is a permitted use in the zone. The court declines to find that Dover Woods has failed to comply with the original resolution regarding its operation because doing so would undermine the purpose of state regulations or conflict with those regulations regarding the operation of a RHCF. It declines to order the township to enforce the resolution, finding that doing so would intrude on the DCA’s regulatory authority. The court reserves judgment as to count eight seeking to enforce a settlement between Dover Woods and the township in prior litigation that requires Dover Woods to monitor its premises with security cameras, finding genuine issues of material fact. [Filed November 26, 2013]
