Butler Quick Chek controversey not a closed book

By Steve Janoski


BUTLER - When the borough’s Land Use/Planning Board decided to approve a proposal to build a Quick Chek convenience store/gas station complex on a sliver of land between Bartholdi and Boonton avenues back in June, it appeared that the final chapter of the 17-month saga of proceedings had been closed.

A new lawsuit appealing the decision has added another facet, however, and might give hope to the handful of residents who opposed the 12-pump, 24-hour station/store on Route 23 from the start.

The suit, which was filed in the Morris County Superior Court on Sept. 10, is being brought by Lafayette Avenue resident Janice Harper-Young, whose back property borders the site.

Harper-Young had testified during the proceedings that she believed her 19-year-old son, Ryan, who is multiply disabled and wheelchair-bound, would be adversely affected by the construction of the station/store, which would require 19 variances to build, and might force her to move from the house.

According to the court documents, Harper-Young is being represented by the Pequannock-based attorney Dave Dixon, who also represented Kinnelon resident Craig Brinster throughout the initial hearings. Brinster owns the 7-Eleven across Boonton Avenue from the Quick Chek site.

The suit names the Land Use board, the Borough of Butler, and Quick Chek as defendants, and alleges that Quick Chek "failed to present the required evidence to support the board’s grant of Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan, Conditional Use Variance, Use Variance, Bulk Variance, and/or Site Plan Waiver approvals."

Therefore, it said the actions of the board in granting site plan approval were "in all regards unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious, and unsupported by the evidence."

The suit also alleges that Quick Chek failed to apply for or give "sufficient, adequate, or specific notice" of either its variances or the "substantial changes" made to the application during the process, and it charges the Borough Council with changing the local zoning ordinance without giving the correct notice to the affected neighbors.

As a result, Dixon said in a phone conversation, he feels the notices were "defective and didn’t properly apprise the public to the nature of the application."

The attorney admitted that these were mostly procedural issues, but said that "if the court follows the law," it will be enough to send the case back to the Land Use/Planning Board for a re-hearing.

"I honestly believe that there were insufficient proofs to grant the variances, and there were procedural and jurisdictional issues that were raised that call into question the validity of the decision," he said, adding that he believes there to be a "very high likelihood" that the ruling will be overturned.

Quick Chek can begin building if it wishes to, but Dixon said to do so would be "at their peril" because if the ruling goes against Quick Chek, it would be forced to tear down whatever had been built.

Fred Azrak, whose Pequannock-based Azrak & Associates is representing Quick Chek, dismissed the validity of the lawsuit and said that he thought the case would be settled quickly and end in a ruling allowing construction of the store to move forward.

Attorney Peter McArthur, the lawyer from Azrak’s firm who presented Quick Chek’s case before the Planning Board, concurred. He said that Quick Chek would "vigorously defend the allegations in the lawsuit" and that he is "confident that at the end of the day, we’ll prevail."

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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