Lawsuit Looks To 'Invalidate and Vacate' Hillsborough's Warehouse Ordinance

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A lawsuit was filed against Hillsborough looking to invalidate and vacate the Township Committee’s enactment of its 2023 warehouse ordinance.

Hillsborough Industrial LLC filed the lawsuit in Somerset County Superior Court last week claiming the Township's Ordinance 2023-08 "is blanket ban on warehouse, shipping and receiving facilities in certain zoning districts in the Township, including the I-2 Light Industrial (“I-2”) Zone District where Plaintiff’s Property, as defined herein, is located."

Hillsborough Township's Planning Board Attorney Eric Bernstein said, "The Township does not comment on pending litigation."

The lawsuit claims the Township Committee bowed to "political pressure and Not In My Back Yard rhetoric," prompting them to adopt an the zoning ordinance amendment that "unfairly punishes owners of existing warehouse, shipping and receiving facilities."

The Township's passage of the ordinance on June 13, 2023, called to remove warehousing, and shipping and receiving facilities as a principal permitted use in the I-1, I-2, and I-3 Light Industrial Districts, GI General Industrial District, and LI Light Industrial District. Read More: Hillsborough Takes 'First Step' In Fight Against Warehouses

This isn't the first lawsuit the Township has faced following the adoption of its warehouse ordinance.

A lawsuit was filed by Larken Self Storage, LLC, Hillsborough Park, LLC, Hillsborough Mini-Office, LLC, Hillsborough Industrial 5/6 Associates, LLC, Hillsborough Industrial 18/19 Associates, LLC, Jill Court Associates, LLC, Jill Court Associates II, LLC and 133 Stryker Lane, LLC, (collectively "Larken Entities" in Somerset County Superior Court on July 31, 2023.

Hillsborough and Larken Entities settled its lawsuit in 2024 where the Township Committee passed a resolution at its Sept. 24, 2024 meeting authorizing the execution of the settlement agreement. Read More: Hillsborough Settles Warehouse Ordinance Lawsuit With Larken Entities

The agreement states that the Township will "adopt a revised Ordinance permitting small-scale logistics facilities as a principal permitted use in the LI Light Industrial District in consideration for the Larken Entities dismissal of the Larken Litigation."

The Township Planning Board met on Thursday night and unanimously passed the Master Plan Amendment.

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