An Essex County court has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Township of Verona by Dennis Handel, the developer who has been seeking to construct a mixed-use building on Bloomfield Avenue near Everett Field.
Handel had filed a suit against the town in late July alleging violations of the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). On Tuesday, September 9, in Essex County Superior Court, a judge dismissed the suit because it had not been filed within the allowable time. An OPRA suit must be filed within 45 days of receipt of the information sought in the request.
Handel, who won Planning Board approval of his project in June after three years in front of the Board of Adjustment and Planning Board, submitted two OPRA requests to the town this year. The first was made in February and the second in June. The requests were aimed at many members of the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment, as well as the Verona Environmental Commission seeking all communications regarding the application for his project at 176-200 Bloomfield Avenue. Handel’s lawsuit did not specifically reference the dates of either OPRA request.
This reporter is a member of the VEC and was named in, and responded to, both OPRA requests. But Handel’s suit also included Councilman Michael Nochimson, who was not on either zoning body. Handel had sought information from both Nochimson and Jack McEvoy, an opponent to Handel’s project in the two OPRA requests. But McEvoy is not on any government body and therefore not subject to OPRA, which pertains to public records only.
Handel represented himself in his lawsuit against the township; Alan Trembulak, the lawyer who represented him during all the applications for his project, filed suit against Handel in late August for non-payment.
In another Handel matter, the Town Council has yet to decide whether it will join a complaint filed in July by current residents of Verona and heirs of the family that owned 200 Bloomfield Avenue a century ago. The Stonham family imposed a deed restriction against commercial use of the property and the complaint, which was also filed in Essex County Superior Court, is asking for the restriction to be upheld. When Handel filed his zoning review application with Verona three years ago, he indicated on the form that there were no deed restrictions on the properties, but two years ago, in Handel’s first appearance before the Verona Planning Board, McEvoy revealed that he had discovered a deed restriction.
