Hopewell and Pennington Boroughs v. Hopewell Township et al.

The New Jersey Appellate Division has decided the case of Hopewell and Pennington Boroughs v. Hopewell Township et al. Hopewell Township shares a regional school district with Hopewell and Pennington Boroughs. Hopewell Township entered into a pilot agreement for an affordable housing project under the New Jersey Long Term Tax Exemption Law (LTTEL) with an entity of Lennar homebuilders. The two Boroughs sued Hopewell Township and Lennar, seeking to void the pilot agreement and asserting that the pilot agreement violated school funding statutes and that Hopewell and Lennar did not prove that the affordable housing project would not be built without the pilot agreement. The trial court dismissed the Boroughs complaint, and the Appellate Division affirmed, holding that the parties had to prove that the pilot agreement was “necessary” for the affordable housing project. The Court highlighted the importance of insuring that the application for the pilot agreement completely conformed to the LTTEL statutory requirements and that the pilot agreement expressly sets forth the findings required by the LTTEL.
Senior partner Timothy M. Prime represented Lennar in the litigation.