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Developer settles suit with Westfall Township | |
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By AARON APPLEGATE
WESTFALL — A New Jersey developer reached a settlement with Westfall Township late last week that will allow him to build up to 1,500 homes on 748 acres on a bluff north of Milford overlooking the Delaware River. The agreement brings closure to a case that has been going on since 1994 and included a $10 million verdict in favor of developer David Katz of Sparta, N.J., in 1999. The settlement — reached in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania — reestablishes 1985 Westfall Ordinances and all Westfall Township laws that were in effect at the time Katz submitted his original development plans. This includes allowing for cluster and townhouses, modifying various land-use requirements to facilitate development and an agreement on water and sewage with the possibility of public service in the future. Economic consequences of the settlement include an unspecified payment to Katz from insurance policies covering both the township as a municipal government and individual township officials in their professional and private capacities. In exchange for the agreement, Katz released Westfall Township and its officials for any past or current liability. The settlement ends all litigation between Katz and the township. Township supervisors declined to comment on the case and solicitor Joe Kameen was unavailable for comment. Katz originally filed the suit in 1994 alleging his civil rights were violated in the mid-1980s after he tried to develop the proposed Rosetown Estates. During that case, Katz claimed he was a victim under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute, that the hostility he faced was motivated by the fact that he was Jewish and that he had purchased property that for years had been used by township residents for hunting and fishing. Katz also alleged that zoning ordinances were changed to prevent him from developing the land. In 1999, a jury at a federal court in Scranton ruled in favor of Katz for nearly $10 million. The verdict held the township liable for nearly $2.9 million in damages, Westfall Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard Maggs liable for $191,500; Supervisor John Hess liable for $1.32 million; the late Colleen Hakun, who was the zoning officer, liable for $2.35 million; and township Solicitor John Steih liable for $3.2 million. They were sued in both their official township capacities and as private citizens.
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Copyright © August 01, 2001, Pocono
Record | |
