TSI East Brunswick, LLC v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment of Twp. of East Brunswick

Defendant New Vornado/Saddle Brook, LLC owned a tract of land that was located in East Brunswick’s HC-2 (General Highway Commercial District) zone. The property included one vacant free-standing building which New Vornado sought to convert into a gym. Because a for-profit health club was treated as a conditional use in the zone, the gym was required to comply with the relevant conditions established in the zoning ordinance, particularly that the boundary of the lot on which the gym was to be situated could not be located within 500 feet of any residence. On the other side of the street and behind other existing commercial buildings, there was a small residential neighborhood 1,200 feet away from New Vornado’s property, but the edge was within 500 feet of a residence. New Vornado filed an application seeking a conditional use variance to enable it to open the gym. Plaintiff TSI East Brunswick, LLC (TSI), the owner of a health club located across the street from New Vornado’s property, was the principal objector to New Vornado’s application. Plaintiff filed suit to challenge the local Zoning Board’s approval of New Vornado’s variance. The trial court upheld the Board’s decision, finding that New Vornado had met its burden of proving that its proposed plan satisfied both the positive and negative criteria and that TSI had failed to demonstrate that the Board’s grant of a conditional use variance was arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. TSI appealed; the Appellate Division affirmed. After its review, the Supreme Court agreed with the Appellate Division and affirmed the Zoning Board’s decision.

TSI East Brunswick, LLC v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment of Twp. of East Brunswick