Madison Residents Sue Chatham Township, Say Lighting Ordinance Was Adopted Illegally (UPDATED)

UPDATE: 5:21 p.m. Madison residents who live in homes adjacent to Cougar Field have filed suit against Chatham Township, saying an ordinance it established to regulate the lighting of fields within the municipality was adopted under false pretenses.

The suit, which was filed in state Superior Court Friday by the Cougar Field Neighborhood Preservation Association, names Chatham Township as the defendant. It alleges the ordinance, which the township adopted at a Township Committee meeting June 24, was established solely to help the School District of the Chathams and the Chatham High School Athletic Boosters place lights at Cougar Field.

The association is made up of Madison residents who are opposed to the lighting plan. It is represented by attorney Robert Simon, and says in the suit that because of that, the ordinance was adopted "for an impermissible private purpose."

One of the Madison residents who is opposed to the ordinance, Carol Preston of Barnsdale Road, informed the Madison Borough Council of the lawsuit at its meeting on Monday. She did so while reading a statement during the public comments portion at the end of the meeting.

"They put lights literally in our backyard," said Jocelyn Colquhoun, also of Barnsdale Road.

Township Mayor Nicole Hagner said this afternoon she had not yet been informed of the lawsuit. She said she would review the matter with attorney Carl Woodward before commenting.

But in the past, township officials have said the ordinance is intended to regulate the placement on lights on all fields throughout the municipality. Because of that, they have said, it is not solely intended to allow lights to be placed on the field.

They have said that the ordinance was not illegally tailored toward one specific project, as Madison residents have alleged.

Chatham High School Athetic Boosters representatives were also not immediately available for comment. The boosters have said they would like to see lights installed at Cougar Field as soon as possible.

The adopted ordinance stipulates that the height of lights at a sports facility cannot exceed 85 feet, the minimum distance from the pole to a property line must be 40 feet and a natural landscape buffer must be maintained to the greatest extent possible.

The association cites in the suit a 1997 Chatham Township Planning Board decision saying that lights should never be allowed to be placed at Cougar Field. It also says the recent ordinance's 40 foot setback requirement is an arbitrary one that applies solely to Cougar Field, because the closest properties in Madison to where the lights would be placed are 40 feet away.

The suit alleges the ordinance is not consistent with the township's master plan. It also says the Township Committee failed to consider the evidence presented by a planning expert and a zoning expert at a June 10 public hearing on the matter.

The residents have long said that lights at the field could shine into their homes and could generally affect their quality of life.

But township officials have said that any proposed lighting plan—including one that could be presented for Cougar Field—would be denied if it did not conform with the ordinance's parameters.