Mayor Conley Speaks On Drew University Lawsuit Against Madison

MADISON, NJ — Mayor Bob Conley addressed the ongoing court settlement between the Borough of Madison and Drew University at the July 25 town meeting.

According to a brief filed in the state Superior Court in Morristown, Drew claims Madison engaged in years of bad-faith land acquisition negotiations with the university as it negotiated its third-round affordable housing settlement.

"Since our last meeting, Drew University took action to challenge our affordable housing settlement with Fair Share Housing Center, this was a settlement as many residents know took several years of work… It was disappointing to see Drew take this action," Conley said.

The university is asking the court to reconsider the settlement with the 63 acres included in the calculation, which could revoke the borough's immunity from builder's remedy lawsuits.

Drew has attempted to have much of the land rezoned for housing and sold to a builder in order to help alleviate the four-year private institution's ongoing financial difficulties.

During the council meeting, Conley stated that Madison has worked with Drew to help alleviate some of Drew's ongoing financial issues, specifically mentioning the recent sale of former Drew land that now houses the Copper Beach condos for $8.75 million in December.

"This property had zoning restrictions, greatly limiting its value. Madison moved quickly in responding to Drew's request," Conley said.

The lawsuit was filed in June 2022 as a result of the Borough's affordable housing settlement in 2020, which excluded undeveloped university land from the plan. Drew claims that this exclusion was deliberate, claiming that the borough concealed the land's existence in order to keep it out of the settlement process.

Conley claims Drew refused to participate in talks to potentially sell off about ten acres of land for Affordable Housing in 2020, forcing the Borough to look elsewhere. Drew, as previously stated, claims that Madison concealed the existence of this land from the Court.

Conley stated during the Council meeting that Madison never acted in "bad faith" and instead took multiple steps to assist Drew when they were dealing with budget deficits.

"It is an ill-informed attack on Madison's long-time commitment to affordable housing. I have often said that Madison is committed to providing affordable housing as a moral, not a legal obligation," Conley said.

Nonetheless, Conley requested that the Borough not take the case personally and stated that the town can return to supporting Drew University.

"This is a difficult time for Madison and Drew University, but for the greater good, we cannot take their recent action personally. Next month we will have our hearing to support what was and is a great settlement to provide affordable housing in our community. When we get past this hurdle we will get back on track," Conley said.