Middletown Neighbors Fought Farm For Autistic Adults, Suit Claims

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A judge ruled Monday that an anti-discrimination lawsuit can proceed over a contested piece of property in one of Middletown's wealthiest neighborhoods. A non-profit sought to open a farm for autistic adults on Navesink River Road, and was met with angry backlash from neighbors, who allegedly targeted the property with graffiti, allowed their "aggressive" goat to roam the land and headbutt a woman, and even dumped hundreds of pounds of horse manure on the site, a lawyer retained by the non-profit alleges.

The issue started when a local Monmouth County non-profit called OASIS (Ongoing Autistic Success in Society), formed by Joan Mai Cleary, a nurse and mother of an autistic child, and her husband, sought to buy a piece of property on Middletown's affluent Navesink River Road. It's the wealthiest part of Middletown, home to residents such as rocker Jon Bon Jovi and Gov. Phil Murphy.

OASIS already runs a 26-acre farm for autistic teens off Sleepy Hollow Road in Middletown. They intended to turn the second property into a place where adults could live permanently after they graduated from Sleepy Hollow, their lawyer Ron Gasiorowski told Patch.

"There is a void of places for these young men and women to go once they graduate from high school," Gasiorowski said Tuesday.

However, neighbors began a door-to-door campaign in the neighborhood, compiling signatures on a petition objecting to the sale, according to a copy of the lawsuit Gasiorowski provided to Patch.

"Defendants and other neighbors cobbled together a sham offer to induce the property owner to back out of his commitment to sell to Oasis," the suit alleges. "Anonymous individuals – who did not identify themselves – wrote to the property owner, reminding him that '[w]e have all been good neighbors' and 'up until now you have been a good neighbor.' 'Why,' they rhetorically asked, 'Would you do this to us?' And: '[h]ow can you live with yourself?' They claimed that what the property owner was 'doing to us' was 'hurtful' and the cause of 'much anxiety.'"

Despite the backlash, Oasis purchased the property on July 2, 2015. What allegedly happened next is even more shocking:

"In November 2015, Oasis residents woke to find ... described in the complaint as 'enormous, garish and frightening graffiti' that included depictions of snakes and fire covering 'approximately 600-700 square feet on and at the [Oasis] driveway," the lawsuit alleges. "The following month, defendants allowed to trespass onto Oasis' property their 'very aggressive goat,' which 'head butt[ed]' Mai Cleary. They also allowed a horse to graze on Oasis' property, leaving piles of manure. Indeed, the complaint alleged defendants dumped 'literally hundreds of pounds' of horse manure on Oasis's property."

The lawsuit also alleges that another neighbor "expressed fear of another Sandy Hook massacre if Oasis joined the neighborhood."

OASIS hired Gasiorowski to file a lawsuit on their behalf, suing their neighbors and alleging the non-profit was being discriminated against under the Law Against Discrimination. OASIS is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

Last year, Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Dennis O’Brien dismissed the lawsuit, saying OASIS did not have a valid claim.

However, on Monday a panel of appellate judges reinstated the lawsuit, saying OASIS is entitled to seek damages because it provides benefits to people who are protected by the law, the Asbury Park Press reported.

"It was a gratifying decision that the lawsuit can move forward," Gasiorowski said to Patch on Tuesday. "It's a really important decision protecting the rights of people who are disadvantaged."

Attorneys representing the defendants did not return calls made by the Asbury Park Press.

Photo by Alexis Tarrazi/Hillsborough Patch