We had a case management session earlier this week in Cumberland County Superior Court regarding the appeal of our zoning approval. In this meeting, the Judge determined that the case will be heard in Superior Court. This means that the request by Mr. Abbott to have the case heard by the Millville City Commission was rejected, which we are thankful for.
We were very firm in our stance that his appeal was submitted well past the deadlines outlined in state statutes. We are happy to know that the Judge interpreted the statutes in the same way we did. This will also help to save us some money because we will not have to pay for an attorney for two separate hearings.
The appeal hearing is currently scheduled for July 6th at 10 am on Zoom. We are not sure if the proceedings will be public, but we will definitely let you know once we get a little closer.
In the meantime, we are working diligently to secure our Certificate of Occupancy to be able to run all of our operations at Reese’s House. Due to some serious communication issues from the city, we did not receive the information that we needed to begin this process sooner, which caused unnecessary delays. We are currently speaking with architects to engage in updating our building plans to work with the newly approved uses. Once that is finished, we hope to have all the necessary inspections completed and begin our full operations.
Once the Certificate of Occupancy is granted, we can begin running programs, holding meetings, and being the community center that we always dreamed about. We will be able to operate under our approved zoning uses leading up to the hearing in July, which is a huge win for us. If the Judge rules in our favor, we will be good to go. If the judge does not, we will have to cease our operations and appeal that decision or reapply to the Zoning Board.
Regardless of what happens, we have an interesting few months ahead of us. We will continue to post updates on our website, but please sign up for our email list by clicking here. We send out more emails than we post on the site, so this is a great way to ensure you never miss anything. We promise that we won’t spam you! Thank you for your continued support and for having our backs when we need it the most!
PS If you would like to help support us through this process, please consider making a one-time donation or signing up to be a monthly contributor. With the legal and architect fees along with everything else that we are dealing with, every little bit helps! Just click here to donate!