Residents work to stop Diamond Chip project through court action

Anand Dash and Neill Clark recently filed a civil action against the Sparta Township Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Sparta Planning Board and Diamond Chip Realty for their roles in the proposal to erect an 880,000-square-foot warehouse at 33 Demarest Road, where the Sparta Redi-Mix concrete supplier currently operates.

The warehouse proposal was deemed a “permitted use” of the land thanks to an ordinance (Ordinance 21-01) issued last year that allowed for greater building height (from 35 to 56 feet) and more impermeable (non-draining) surface area (from 40% to 65%) — two things this particular project requires.

Dash and Clark claim that the project is not a principal use permitted in the township’s Economic Development District. They seek a court judgement declaring that the planning board application did not fall within the definition of “a principally permitted ‘warehouse’ use, as defined in the Township of Sparta Comprehensive Land Development Code.” They say it is actually a prohibited use within the Economic Development District. The plaintiffs also request that the court rule that the zoning board, not the planning board, has jurisdiction to consider the planning board application.

“Plaintiffs seek, in the alternative, a declaratory judgment determining that the planning board application impermissibly contemplates a non-rail dependent building not adjacent to the railroad or a rail siding that exceeds 35 feet in height by greater than 10 feet or 10%, requiring a use variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d6 that can only be granted by the zoning board.”

The plaintiffs are also accusing the zoning board of failing to provide them with a “fair and full hearing” on its reasoning for the proposal.

“The planning board and zoning board, in dereliction of their respective public duties, and with a complete disregard for the legal rights of plaintiffs and township residents, including those resident owners of property in the neighborhood surrounding the Property, have failed to properly follow all applicable laws, including the New Jersey Constitution, the MLUL and the Township Code,” the complaint states.

The complaint has been filed with the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Sussex County.

Recently, Dash and Clark requested that the Sparta Township Planning Board stay, or halt, further proceedings on the Diamond Chip application until the court rules on their aforementioned complaint. The request was made after Diamond Chip sent a letter to the planning board asking that their application be heard on October 5, 2022, following their submission of revised plans for the warehouse.

“This request [from Diamond Chip] ignores the continuing violation by the planning board, as alleged in the complaint, to preside over the application which it lacks jurisdiction to hear. While the planning board and Diamond Chip will likely dispute this allegation, it would be legally improper and a tremendous waste of time and resources of all parties, if the planning board was to proceed with the application while fundamental and threshold issues — relating to the scope and meaning of Township Ordinance 21-01 and whether the use proposed by Diamond Chip fits within this ordinance — are pending adjudication by the Superior Court.”

And if the planning board opts to disregard the stay request, Dash and Clark have asked that the testimony of their hydrogeologist, Tom Maguire, be delayed for at least 30 days after the October hearing to allow their team time to review Diamond Chip’s revised plans and environmental impact statement, and prepare a written report.

The town’s response to these requests has not yet been publicly announced.