State Court Sides With Developer, DEP in Toms River Walmart Case

The state Superior Court Appellate Division issued a ruling on Tuesday that sided with the developer of a proposed Walmart Supercenter and the state Department of Environmental Protection in a case that centers around the northern pine snake, a threatened species in New Jersey.

A slew of environmental groups, as well as Shop-Rite owner Michael Perlmutter, joined together in a lawsuit against Jaylin Holdings, the developer of the Walmart, as well as the state DEP, which granted Jaylin a permit to build.

Jaylin has proposed a 203,091 square foot Walmart retail store, a 19,884 square foot garden center, 1049 parking spaces, three stormwater basins and access roads, while reserving two outparcels for future use, according to court documents. The store would be located in both Toms River and Manchester townships.

The latest legal battle in the years-long spate of litigation over the Walmart store's construction focused on the presence of the northern pine snake, a species considered threatened in New Jersey. Environmental groups have long held that the presence of snake dens at the site proposed for the Walmart should be enough to stop the retail shopping center from being constructed, while Jaylin and the DEP had reached a settlement to physically move the snakes to a new location and preserve habitat elsewhere to make up for what would be lost at the Walmart site.

The court ultimately upheld the DEP's decision to allow the project to move forward, which came in 2012, a reversal of previous decisions by the same agency that disallowed the shopping center's construction.

Some have accused Walmart of hiring politically connected attorneys to help the approval process move forward in favor of the retail giant.

Jeff Tittel, Director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey, said Tuesday's decision "opens up a loophole big enough to drive a bulldozer right over endangered species habitat and the species themselves."

"This court case isn’t an environmental disaster waiting to happen," said Tittel, in an e-mail to Patch. "We could potentially lose a tremendous amount of important, environmentally sensitive lands to development.  Through this decision we have created an open season on threatened and endangered species.  Under this decision you can move species or make up fake habitats somewhere else and then pave over valuable habitat and species."

Tittel said his group would explore a possible appeal of the court's decision.

Representatives for Walmart, contacted by Patch, said the company will continue the permitting process in hopes of building.

“We will continue to seek a final resolution that will allow us to serve customers and the community,” spokesman Bill Wertz said.