Marc Jonas and Kellie McGowan Successful in Negotiating Settlement with Upper Gwynedd Township

Marc Jonas, of the firm’s Blue Bell office, and Kellie McGowan, of the Doylestown office, successfully negotiated a settlement agreement with Upper Gwynedd Township in a 5-year contentious and hard fought dispute between their client, Horgan Recycling Inc., and the Township. The Township unanimously approved the settlement agreement at a special meeting on May 7, 2009, quickly followed by approval of the settlement by the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County.

Horgan Recycling, Inc. (HRI) is the operator of a concrete and asphalt recycling plant in West Point, Montgomery County. The plant received a use and occupancy permit for its business operations in 2004. The dispute began with the Township’s issuance of three enforcement notices and a court action against HRI’s concrete and asphalt recycling center, which is an established and lawful nonconforming use. The Township asserted that the recycling center generated excessive noise, constituted a nuisance, and was an improper expansion of the nonconforming use, despite the 2004 permit issued by the Township. The dispute ultimately escalated to include six lawsuits between the parties.

Throughout the proceedings, HRI consistently maintained that its operations were in compliance with Township ordinances and that the use of the property was not an illegal expansion. The parties were poised to take the case before the zoning hearing board, in a battle which likely would have extended over many months.

As part of the court-approved settlement agreement, the Township acknowledged both the validity of the use and occupancy permit and the right of HRI to continue operating its business without interference.

The settlement agreement terminating both the pending litigation and also the Township’s challenge to the DEP operating permit served to save the client from what would have otherwise been a protracted and costly legal battle.