Former Brick Councilman Says Church Settlement Ignores Real Issues

BRICK, NJ -- A former Brick Township councilman says a lawsuit settlement reached with New Beginnings Christian Fellowship over the zoning board's rejections of the church's plans ignore the real issue with the property: that the site is too small for how it's being used.

Michael Thulen also says quotes attributed to him via the lawsuit, in particular one referring to "pedophiles" is "not something I would say."

The Township Council on Tuesday night approved a settlement agreement with New Beginnings Christian Fellowship that included the approval of the church's application as well as a $237,500 payment to the church. Mayor John Ducey said the settlement was the result of actions by former zoning board members and a councilman that a court said showed a bias against the church.

The New Beginnings complaint filed in November 2013 by Storzer & Greene -- the New York law firm that filed suit Tuesday for the Chabad Jewish Center against Toms River seeking to overturn the township's zoning rules -- cites actions by the zoning board chairman at the time and a zoning board member who recused herself and then spoke out against the New Beginnings application as negatively influencing the board's decision.

Ducey said quotes attributed to a councilman saying, "We are going to bury you," "Our strategy is to make the church spend as much money as possible," and "They could all be pedophiles," were cited as demonstrating the town's bias against the project. Ducey did not identify the councilman during the meeting, but Thulen was identified by name as the source of the quotes in the complaint.

Ducey and Kevin Starkey, the township attorney, said the situation was the prime example of why township officials have to refrain from commenting on matters that are pending before the planning or zoning boards.

"Talking about it is what causes those automatic approvals," Ducey said.

On Wednesday, Thulen took issue with the contention that officials are or should be barred from expressing their opinions on a matter.

"As a member of the public you're allowed to ask questions," Thulen said, saying those rights are not stripped simply by virtue of serving in public office.

Thulen also denied making comments about pedophiles and about trying to exhaust the church's finances.

"Those are not something I would say," he said.

The original complaint filed by Storzer & Greene does not specify where or when the statements attributed to Thulen were made. Roman Storzer, reached by email, said the firm could not comment on where or when the comments cited were made.

"That's the thing," Thulen said, "you can say anything you want in a complaint."

Thulen said the settlement ignores the real issues surrounding the church.

"I have no problem with churches," he said. "The issue is it's an overuse of the property."

Thulen said when the church moved its worship services to the Brick Boulevard building -- it had previously held them at schools in the township -- the parking on the site was inadequate for the number of people attending services, resulting in cars being parked along Lakeshore Drive.

He said the church only sought variances after the township's zoning officer discovered it was operating the church on the premises, which was a violation of township zoning ordinances.

"They broke all the rules," Thulen said. And the zoning board was skeptical that the church would follow the rules in the future because the church had only come before the board when it got caught, he said.

Though the most recent zoning board hearings included a promise from the church that it would see police assistance with traffic control, Thulen said that does not appear to have happened.

"Just because there's a settlement there's no guarantee the church will follow through," he said. "The town shouldn't have stopped fighting."