February 5, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Franklin Lakes Court settles dispute over prohibition of left turns by Frank J. McMahon Superior Court Judge Alexander H. Carver III has settled a dispute between the owner of the Franklin Square Shopping Center and the Borough of Franklin Lakes. Carver ruled in favor of the municipality’s March 2011 adoption of an ordinance that prohibited motorists from making left turns when leaving the shopping center. The ordinance prohibits left turns from that property on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the times many pedestrians cross Franklin Avenue going to or from Franklin Avenue Middle School. Robert Decker, the owner of the shop- ping center, sued the borough in May 2011 asking the court to find the ordinance arbi- trary, capricious, and unreasonable and to nullify the ordinance and award damages to him for the taking of his property. In the lawsuit, Decker complained that he was not contacted about the reasons the borough wanted to restrict left turns from his site, and that the ordinance unilaterally amended the site plan approval he received from the planning board in 1993. He also claimed the ordinance would limit the use of his property, would be a partial “taking” of his property, and would decrease its abil- ity to be rented to retailers and restaurateurs and thereby reduce its market value. Carver ruled that the state’s municipal land use law grants the governing body of each municipality the power to adopt or amend a zoning ordinance and the New Jersey Constitution provides that this del- egation of authority is to be “liberally con- strued” in favor of municipalities. Decker claimed that since the planning board did not prohibit left turns from his property when his site plan was approved the bor- ough cannot prohibit left turns without a hearing before the planning board and a formal amendment of his site plan. Carver ruled that “municipal actions enjoy a presumption of validity,” and cited several court decisions to support his ruling. “Franklin Lakes properly exercised its police power and rights to establish rules controlling traffic patterns in Franklin Lakes in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the traveling public,” Carver wrote. Decker’s shopping center was con- structed in 1993 without any limitations on ingress and egress. The site has an entrance on its west side and an exit on the east side, which has two designated lanes for leav- ing the site, one to turn left and one to turn right, both onto Franklin Avenue. Carver pointed out that the intersection of Franklin and Pulis avenues is the busiest intersection in the borough and sight lines as vehicles exit from the shopping center are often limited, creating a dangerous con- dition. He also stated traffic on Franklin Avenue has increased substantially since the shopping center first opened. On Decker’s claim that the ordinance constitutes a taking of his property, Carver (continued on page 12)