I.W.S. Transfer Systems of N.J., Inc. v. Planning Board of the City of Garfield

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the

internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited . R. 1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-0305-24

I.W.S. TRANSFER SYSTEMS

OF N.J., INC.,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

PLANNING BOARD OF THE

CITY OF GARFIELD, and

CITY OF GARFIELD, a

municipal corporation

of the STATE OF NEW

JERSEY,

Defendants-Respondents.

__________________________

Argued January 26, 2026 – Decided February 10, 2026

Before Judges Sabatino and Bergman.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law

Division, Bergen County, Docket No. L-4206-23.

Joseph W. Grather argued the cause for appellant

(McKirdy, Riskin, Olson & DellaPelle, PC, attorneys;

Joseph W. Grather, of counsel and on the briefs;

Michael Realbuto, on the briefs).

Alyssa A. Cimino argued the cause for respondent

Planning Board of the City of Garfield (Cimino Law,

LLC, attorneys; Alyssa A. Cimino, of counsel and on

the brief).

Santo T. Alampi (Santo T. Alampi, LLC) argued the

cause for respondent City of Garfield.

PER CURIAM

This appeal in a redevelopment case arises out of the trial court's denial

of a plaintiff's motion under Rule 4:69-6(c) to enlarge the 45-day period to bring

an action in lieu of prerogative writs challenging the City of Garfield's blight

designation as to an adjacent parcel. Because the court did not misapply

equitable principles, nor the applicable law and associated decisions, in denying

the enlargement and in dismissing the lawsuit as untimely, we affirm.

I.

The sole issue before us concerns the application of the enlargement Rule.

We summarize the pertinent aspects of the record succinctly.

The case concerns a parcel in Garfield located at 69 Hepworth Place ("the

property"). Plaintiff I.W.S. Transfer Systems of N.J., Inc. ("IWS") is the

operator of a solid waste transfer station and material recovery facility . IWS's

business is located directly adjacent to the property.

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In late July 2021, a resolution was adopted by the City directing the

Planning Board to examine whether the property met the qualifications of an

"area in need of redevelopment" under the Local Redevelopment and Housing

Law (the "LRHL"), N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 to -49.

Thereafter, in September 2021, the City's planner issued a forty-page

report concluding the property met the requisite criteria under N.J.S.A.

40A:12A-5 to be designated as an area in need of development for several

reasons.

Among other things, the planner noted: (1) the building at 69 Hepworth

Place was in disrepair and was otherwise dilapidated; (2) portions of the building

previously used for manufacturing had been vacant for more than two years; (3)

the parking lot to the rear of the property was completely unpaved, leading

trucks to back up onto a nearby public street with on-street parking on both sides

of the property; (4) the building lacked ventilation and light, allowing for

conditions that were detrimental to the safety, health, morals, and welfare of the

local community; and (5) the property was unsecured, with the potential to invite

possible illicit activity as a result. According to the planner, many of these

conditions had "existed for years if not decades without correction."

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The planner's report concluded the most effective way to return the

property to a state of compliance with applicable land use and building

standards, sound site design, and safe operation was to redevelop the site in a

sustainable manner.

The Planning Board thereafter held a public meeting on November 18,

2021, at which a representative from the planner's architecture firm explained

the contents of the report and comments from the public were heard.

Following these Planning Board proceedings, the City adopted a second

resolution concerning the property at a public meeting of the Mayor and Council

on December 21, 2021. That resolution designated the property to be a "non-

condemnation" redevelopment area. The December 2021 resolution instructed

that any property owner who wished to challenge the City's designation of the

property as an area in need of redevelopment was required to file a complaint

with the Superior Court within forty-five days of the resolution's adoption,

pending publication of notice.

As noted by the trial court, it is undisputed that no representative of IWS

appeared at the November 2021 Planning Board meeting, nor at the December

2021 public meeting of the Mayor and Council.

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Thereafter, the City's planner prepared and issued a redevelopment plan

in July 2022. A subsection of the redevelopment plan listed under the heading

"Affordable Housing" recited that the redeveloper was to either: (1) construct

affordable housing units within the development; (2) contribute to the City 's

affordable trust fund; or (3) through a redeveloper's agreement, determine

appropriate consideration to assist the City in meeting its affordable housing

obligations.

An ordinance was introduced and adopted by the City on August 16, 2022

approving the redevelopment plan for the property. The matter then returned to

the Planning Board to consider the redeveloper's application for preliminary and

final major site plan approval.

At a public hearing on October 27, 2022 to assess the merits of the

redeveloper's proposed site plan, the Planning Board heard expert testimony

from a civil engineer, an architect, a traffic analyst, and a planner. They all

testified in support of granting the application. Consequently, a third resolution

was adopted by the Planning Board on December 15, 2022, granting major site

plan approval to the redeveloper.

Further moving the project along, another ordinance was adopted by the

City on March 14, 2023, approving a Payment in Lieu of Taxes ("PILOT")

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program for the property. The ordinance further authorized the execution of a

financial agreement between the city and the redeveloper.

A financial agreement and a related redevelopment agreement were

entered into by the City and the redeveloper the following month in April 2023.

Both agreements proposed the construction of a market-rate residential rental

development on the property.

In the wake of all of these municipal events, IWS filed an action in lieu of

prerogative writs in the Law Division on August 8, 2023, naming the City and

the Planning Board as codefendants. The complaint was filed 595 days after the

City had adopted the December 2021 resolution and 357 days after it had

adopted the August 2022 ordinance – well beyond the 45 days prescribed by

Rule 4:69-6(b)(3).

IWS thereafter filed an amended complaint on December 4, 2023. In

particular, the amended complaint contested: (1) the constitutionality of the

redevelopment designation of the property as "blighted;" (2) the approval of the

redevelopment plan for having been predicated on an allegedly unconstitutional

blight designation; (3) the site plan approval for a multi-story, multi-family

residential building instead of retail uses, based on an alleged unconstitutional

blight designation; (4) the site plan approval as an impermissible exercise of

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spot and contract zoning; (5) defendants' failure to comply with their

constitutional duty to provide affordable housing; and (6) defendants' violation

of the "blighted area clause" of the New Jersey State Constitution's tax

exemption provision, N.J. Const. art. VIII, § 3, ¶ 1.

Defendants filed pre-answer motions to dismiss the lawsuit as untimely

under Rule 4:49-6. In opposing the motions, IWS urged the trial court to enlarge

the 45-day filing period under the "interest of justice" exception set forth in Rule

4:49-6(c).

Following oral argument, the trial court entered an order and seven-page

written opinion on August 19, 2024, granting the dismissal motions. In its

opinion, the court focused exclusively on the untimeliness of IWS's lawsuit,

noting that it had been filed well beyond the applicable 45-day filing period.

The court discerned no adequate grounds under the Court Rule and the

factors established by the Supreme Court in Brunetti v. Borough of New

Milford, 68 N.J. 576 (1975) to extend the filing deadline. Specifically, the court

found:

The issues presented are far from novel and are focused

on [p]laintiff's private interests[,] as [p]laintiff is not

the target property, [p]laintiff is not within the

designated redevelopment area, and [p]laintiff's

property was not studied and was not determined to be

in an area of redevelopment. . . . The court finds no

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public interest warranting expansion of the applicable

time period to permit [p]laintiff's amended complaint.

In fact, the interest of justice to the City [d]efendants as

well as to the public warrants dismissal of the

complaint. The City [d]efendants, the owner of the

Designated Property and redeveloper all have rights

which are presumed to be vested in this matter many

months ago. Plaintiff's complaint is fatally time-barred.

On appeal, IWS argues the trial court arbitrarily denied its motion to

enlarge the 45-day period. IWS does not argue the merits. Defendants urge that

we affirm the trial court's dismissal and enable the redevelopment project to

advance.

II.

The applicable standards for time enlargement under Rule 4:69-6(c) have

been repeatedly applied and illuminated in case law.

"Rule 4:69-6 sets forth the time limitations on the institution of [actions

in lieu of prerogative writs]," with subsection (a) of the Rule "acknowledg[ing]

a general limitations period of forty-five days 'after the accrual of the right to

the review, hearing or relief claimed.'" Hopewell Valley Citizens' Grp., Inc. v.

Berwind Prop. Grp. Dev. Co., L.P., 204 N.J. 569, 576-77 (2011) ("Hopewell

Valley") (quoting R. 4:69-6(a)) (emphasis added). Rule 4:69-6(b)(3) similarly

prescribes that no action in lieu of prerogative writs shall be commenced:

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[T]o review a determination of a planning board or

board of adjustment, or a resolution by the governing

body or board of public works of a municipality

approving or disapproving a recommendation made by

the planning board or board of adjustment, after 45 days

from the publication of a notice once in the official

newspaper of the municipality or a newspaper of

general circulation in the municipality . . .

[(Emphasis added).]

The Supreme Court has observed that the 45-day time limitations of Rule

4:49-6 are "designed to encourage parties not to rest on their rights." Reilly v.

Brice, 109 N.J. 555, 559 (1988). Parties who object to municipal actions

generally should be incentivized to bring their grievances to court prompt ly, so

that their claims can be adjudicated efficiently and the validity of the

governmental action can be determined in a timely manner.

At the heart of this appeal is the exception in Rule 4:69-6(c), which

provides that a court "may enlarge the period of time provided in paragraph (a)

or (b) of this rule where it is manifest that the interest of justice so requires ."

The exception has been the subject of many case law applications, too numerous

to list comprehensively here. See, e.g., Hopewell Valley, 204 N.J. at 578-83;

In re Ordinance 2354-12 v. Twp. of W. Orange, 223 N.J. 589, 601-02 ("In re

Ordinance 2354-12"); Borough of Princeton v. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders, 169

N.J. 135 (2001); Reilly, 109 N.J. at 560; Brunetti, 68 N.J. at 587.

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As the Court explained in Hopewell Valley, under subsection (c) of the

Rule, a trial court "has discretion to enlarge a Rule 4:69-6(a) or (b) timeframe

when it perceives a clear potential for injustice." 204 N.J. at 578 (emphasis

added). The interest of justice exception has been found by our courts to be

satisfied most typically in "cases involving 'important and novel constitutional

questions,' 'informal or ex parte determinations of legal questions by

administrative officials,' 'important public rather than private interests which

require adjudication or clarification,' . . . and 'a continuing violation of public

rights.'" In re Ordinance 2354-12, 223 N.J. at 601 (internal citations omitted)

(emphasis added); see also Brunetti, 68 N.J. at 585-88.1

In cases in which time enlargement has been sought, our courts have

additionally considered: (1) the length of the delay in which a complaint has

been made after the applicable filing deadline; and (2) the extent to which

enlarging the limitations period might prejudice the opposing party. See Comm.

of Petitioners for the Repeal of Ordinance No. 522 (2013) of the Borough of W.

Wildwood v. Frederick, 435 N.J. Super. 552, 561-63 (App. Div. 2014) ("Comm.

1

Brunetti is not comparable because it concerned a municipal-wide rent control

ordinance raising what the Court described as "substantial" constitutional

questions affecting multiple landlords and renters, ibid., unlike this case

involving a single parcel brought by a sole adjacent plaintiff owner.

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of Petitioners"); see also Rocky Hill Citizens for Responsible Growth v. Plan.

Bd. of the Borough of Rocky Hill, 406 N.J. Super. 384, 402-03 (App. Div. 2009)

("Rocky Hill Citizens").

Our scope of review of a trial court's ruling on an enlargement request is

substantially deferential, recognizing the court's first-hand perspective in

equitably assessing the competing considerations presented before it. In Reilly,

the Court repeatedly described the trial court's assessment under Rule 4:69-6(c)

as entailing an "exercise" of "discretion." 109 N.J. at 556, 560. An abuse of

judicial discretion "'arises when a decision is made without a rational

explanation, inexplicably departed from established policies, or rested on an

impermissible basis.'" Kornbleuth v. Westover, 241 N.J. 289, 302 (2020)

(quoting Pitney Bowes Bank, Inc. v. ABC Caging Fulfillment, 440 N.J. Super.

378, 382 (App. Div. 2015)). That said, we review de novo on appeal pure

questions of law relevant to the trial court's decision. Manalapan Realty, L.P.

v. Twp. of Comm. of Manalapan, 140 N.J. 366, 378 (1995).

Given these principles, we affirm the trial court's denial of the requested

enlargement, substantially for the sound reasons we have quoted above from the

written opinion of Judge Gregg A. Padovano. We add only a few comments,

focusing on two strands of the analysis: (1) the substantial delay between the

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series of municipal actions and IWS's lawsuit, and (2) the largely private rather

than public character of IWS's interests as an objecting neighboring property-

owner.

With respect to timing, the record reflects that 595 days elapsed between

the adoption of the City's resolution on December 21, 2021 designating the

property as an area of redevelopment under the LRHL and IWS's filing of its

complaint in the Law Division on August 8, 2023. Subtracting out the 45-day

permissible period to file suit, the lawsuit was mathematically approximately

550 days too late. IWS contends that a much later trigger date for the calculation

should be used, specifically April 3, 2023 when the financial agreement between

the City and the redeveloper was signed. Moreover, the City defendants publicly

issued three additional formal governmental decisions advancing the project

within the space of a year: the City's August 16, 2022 ordinance adopting the

redevelopment plan (357 days pre-suit), the Planning Board's December 15,

2022 resolution granting site plan approval (236 days pre-suit), and the City's

March 14, 2023 ordinance approving the PILOT program and authorizing the

execution of a financial agreement (147 days pre-suit). The trial court's opinion

mentions the intervals associated with both the December 21, 2021 resolution

and the August 16, 2022 ordinance without specifying which interval controls.

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Regardless of whether the December 21, 2021 resolution date or August

16, 2022 ordinance date is utilized, the trial court justifiably deemed IWS's delay

in filing suit to be too long, recognizing explicitly that the City defendants, the

property owner, and the redeveloper "all have rights which are presumed to have

vested in this matter many months ago." Although in comparatively more

compelling situations a few reported cases allowing enlargement have involved

longer delays,2 the delay here of as much as 550 days beyond the specified 45-

day deadline could reasonably be deemed to exceed several other cases in which

enlargement was approved. See, e.g., Comm. of Petitioners, 435 N.J. Super. at

562 (four days late); Hopewell Valley, 204 N.J. at 577, 583-85 (six days late);

Reilly, 109 N.J. at 556, 559-61 (approximately five-months late). The trial court

did not abuse its discretion in evaluating the length of the delay here.

2

See, e.g., Brunetti, 68 N.J. at 587-88 (approximately one year and eleven

months after revised rent control ordinance had been adopted); Harrison

Redevelopment Agency v. DeRose, 398 N.J. Super. 361 (App. Div. 2008)

(several years after the municipal blight designation, given constitutional

defects in the notice provided to property owners); Borough of Princeton, 169

N.J. at 152 (nine years and five years after long-term contracts were entered);

but see In re Ordinance 2354-12, 223 N.J. at 599-603 (53 days after final

publication of a bond ordinance deemed too late); Rocky Hill Citizens, 406 N.J.

Super. at 403 (court deemed delay of approximately two years after ordinance

adopted too late); Casser v. Twp. of Knowlton, 441 N.J. Super. 353 (2015) (three

year delay after Planning Board approved variances deemed too late).

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In addition, the trial court justifiably perceived this to be a situation in

which the public interests asserted by IWS did not manifestly predominate over

its private interests. Reilly, 109 N.J. at 558-59. Notably, one of the public

interests cited in IWS's amended complaint and its appellate merits brief is the

fact that neither the financial nor redevelopment agreements call for the

construction of affordable housing on the property or require the redeveloper to

contribute to the city's affordable housing obligation. Yet the bona fides of that

affordable housing concern is weakened by the fact that, in its motion papers

submitted to the trial court, IWS asserted that it "anticipates being on the wrong-

side of a nuisance action commenced by the future residents of the building."

Presumably, such future residents who might complain about noise and traffic

from IWS's adjacent garbage collection facility would include low-and-

moderate-income persons, if the redevelopment agreement were revised to

require such below-market units. The trial court did not err in pointing out this

apparent dissonance in its opinion.

We recognize that, apart from the affordable housing aspect, IWS has

asserted a few other public concerns that it posits can justify its belated lawsuit,

such as the propriety of the blight designation, the award of tax-exempt status,

and the terms of the PILOT program. The trial court was surely aware of those

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assertions, but, on balance, concluded the complaint was too untimely and

essentially involved matters "wholly personal as [p]laintiff is the

owner/occupant of a parcel adjacent to the Designated Property."

We defer to the trial court's assessment and discern no legal error, nor

abuse of discretion. In doing so, we are not categorically determining that the

identified issues are bereft of public characteristics, but that we are persuaded

the judge did not err in concluding they should have been brought to court

sooner.

To the extent IWS has raised other points on appeal, they lack sufficient

merit to warrant discussion here. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E).

Affirmed.

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