Meissner, who didn t testify during his hearing, bought the 7.4-acre tract in the township s highway commercial zone on Route 565 for $120,000 in 2014.
He later was accused by neighbor Dave Franek of filling in the wetlands prior to applying for a variance and site plan in 2019. However, the state DEP visited the site four times and found no such violations, said Meissner s attorney, Thomas Hooker.
Franek, who filed the 2019 lawsuit that overturned Meissner s original approval, planned to corroborate his accusation with testimony from the wetlands expert who consulted on the tax break as well as from a professional planner, but had to postpone doing so when his attorney contracted COVID-19 just prior to the board s April meeting.
A Land Use Board member was slapped with a stop-work order for running a commercial operation on property that received 15 years of tax breaks for wetlands.
New Jersey Herald
WANTAGE The township Land Use Board s approval for one of its members to operate a soil processing facility on Route 565 has been voided by a judge who said the process was tainted by conflicts of interest and attempts to influence by then-Mayor Ron Bassani and the board s former chairman.
Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz has ordered a new hearing.
Bassani, who is now deputy mayor, and Michael Cecchini, who was Land Use Board chairman at the time of the vote, both recused themselves from deliberations and the vote due to a conflict of interest. However, Minkowitz found both later improperly attempted to sway the vote despite their recusal.