LAKEWOOD DEVELOPERS MARKET HOMES IN EVERGREEN GARDENS DESPITE PENDING LAWSUIT TO TOSS APPROVAL



Realtors from Imperial Real Estate have announced that sales of homes in the future "Evergreen Gardens" will launch today - despite that there is a lawsuit pending which aims to overturn the Lakewood Township Planning Board’s site plan approval for this planned development, FAA News has learned.


Evergreen Gardens was presented to the Planning Board as Chestnut Holdings. The project is one Lakewood's most contentious. Since June 2022, the project has been considered at two public hearings at the Zoning Board, two public hearings at the Planning Board, litigation in Superior Court, and then yet another four public hearings at the Planning Board.


The biggest issue of contention is that after the Planning Board denied the application in April 2024, the Board then changed their vote in July 2024 to an approval.


The Board's approved version of the proposal is for 13 duplex units (26 dwelling units plus basement apartments, for a total of 52 duplex dwelling units) and a playground.


As previously reported here on FAA News, back in September 2024, Aaron Hirsch, a resident of the Chestnut Street neighborhood, filed a major lawsuit seeking to overturn the Board's approval.


In what may be a first in Lakewood, the lawsuit also names Adam Pfeffer as an additional defendant and seeks to bar him from representing the developer in this litigation in court and also to be ordered to stop representing land use applications in Lakewood.


The complaint, which Aaron filed pro se, alleges 10 causes of action.


The lawsuit remains pending in New Jersey Superior Court in Ocean County.


FAA News reached out to the realtors for comment and will update this story with their response.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about the poor buyers who will be left in the dark, wondering if their dream home will even be built?! And what's the deal with taking deposits when the whole thing is still in limbo?! It's just not right. But let's be real, this is Imperial we're talking about. They've been acting shady from the start. Fraudulent practices seem to be their thing.

Common sense said...

Sounds like this has the potential to turn in to a Ponzi scheme.

I don't see legally how this Real Estate Broker is allowed to sell these contested lots which aren't legally there? Just as no permits to build can be issued pending the courts rulings on the board's approvals were in fact legal. Then if the boards approval gets knocked down, the owners and the brokers would have in fact been involved with fraudulently selling lots which do not exist and cannot be built on, and they are knowingly defrauding buyers. They know it's not clear to build on, & they can't claim later that we didn't know....

Ooopsie!!