Haddonfield’s epic struggle to settle on an acceptable future for the former Bancroft NeuroHealth campus may be entering a new phase.$3.25 million to avoid enmeshing the Kings Highway property in what could have been years of expensive litigation, Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich said Monday.
The settlement of a lawsuit filed by O’Neill’s 2 Hopkins Lane LLC against the borough last December also will enable Haddonfield to pursue residential development — including 10 affordable units — on the 8.2-acre portion of the property for which the LLC has agreed to give up its option. The lawsuit alleged that the borough had partnered with 2 Hopkins Lane in 2016 not to develop housing on the Bancroft site but instead to prevent construction of one of O’Neill’s
addiction treatment facilities on the property. The borough contended that its sustained and good faith efforts to work with 2 Hopkins Lane were unsuccessful.“None of us are thrilled, but we feel strongly about moving the ball forward,” Bezich said during a news conference with fellow borough commissioners Kevin Roche and Frank Troy. The three voted unanimously to approve the settlement in June.
In an email, Kevin H. Marino, the lawyer for 2 Hopkins, said his client “is very pleased with the settlement, which we feel is a fair and appropriate resolution of this long-running dispute.”Haddonfield is obligated to provide 10 affordable housing units on the Bancroft site under terms of a