MONTVILLE - The town that sued itself lost.

The township committee in this Morris County town filed suit in Nov. 2023, to stop construction of a 266-unit, senior citizen complex near Route 287, Route 202 and River Road.

Normally, there is nothing unusual about a governing body opposing a development project. The "Not-In-My-Backyard," or NIMBY, syndrome impacts officials as well as residents.

The difference here was that the municipal governing body was suing the township's very own board of adjustment. It was the board that approved the project by Diversified Properties in the fall of 2023.

That's right.

The township committee was suing a board whose members they appoint.

Besides the strangeness of all this, it is worth realizing that taxpayers likely are paying for both sides of this legal battle.

After all, the board of adjustment is not an independent entity. It's part of the municipal government that property taxpayers support.

This case meandered through the courts until Monday.

That's when state Superior Court Judge Michael Gaus dismissed the suit and affirmed the adjustment board's decision approving the plan. He also dismissed separate litigation brought by a resident.

A reading of his decision suggests this was not a hard call.

The judge said the adjustment board "painstakingly reviewed" the application over nine public meetings. It said the approving resolution was not a "bunch of boilerplate," but that it fully covered why the board acted as it did.

In short, the board's action was reasonable and not "arbitrary and capricious" - language that shows up in almost every suit.

Moreover, the judge suggested that the project would meet a need, noting that Montville has many people who "would qualify to live in this age-restricted development."

The judge's ruling throws things back to the township committee. It can accept the ruling and move on. Or it can continue this peculiar Civil War by appealing.

Any appeal decision would come before the end of the year.

It is worth remembering that come next January, there will be two new committee members. Two incumbents on the all-Republican committee are not seeking reelection.

You have to figure that appointing board of adjustment members going forward will get some attention from the 2026 township committee.