ABSECON – The hearing on a lawsuit brought against the Planning Board by the Save Absecon Committee has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 in the Atlantic County Civil Courts building, 1201 Bacharach Blvd., Atlantic City.

The date has been rescheduled twice since the suit was filed last summer.

Superior Court Judge Allen J. Littlefield is scheduled to preside.

The citizens group is suing the Absecon Planning Board over its decision to lift the 55-and-older restriction on the Absecon Gardens development.

The board's May 10 decision allowed the developer, Boardwalk Development and Design Co., to sell homes in the 76-unit condominium complex to people of all ages.

The 2009 state Tarlo Law allows unsold age-restricted properties to be changed to unrestricted housing with a number of technical requirements, and a provision that lifting the age restriction must not cause substantial detriment to the public good.

The Save Absecon Committee, organized after the board's decision but including many who testified against changing the age restriction at a Planning Board hearing drawn out over several meetings, filed its lawsuit July 28.

The suit argues that 30 bedrooms were added to the project, the parking lot was reconfigured, and the site plan has been revised.

Save Absecon’s organizational meeting in July meeting drew more than 100 people. The committee raised money and retained attorney Louis C. Dwyer Jr. of Corino and Dwyer in Wildwood Crest.

Absecon Gardens is at New Jersey Avenue at School Street, on the site of the old H. Ashton Marsh School, which was demolished. A 55-and-older housing project there was halted and then fell into bankruptcy under previous developers, who left an unfinished four-story building bordered by fencing.

Partners Thomas Sykes and Anthony Cappuccio have said they want to market the units to young professionals, empty-nesters and those looking for second homes, which they said would create more foot traffic for the downtown New Jersey Avenue business district.

Save Absecon contends that lifting the age restriction would create a detriment to the public good by overcrowding the school system and potentially bringing adolescents into an area in which there are no provisions for playgrounds or other recreational space.

The project still awaits City Council action on a request for other variances: approving a main building height of 53 feet, which exceeds city regulation by 13 feet; allowing a reconfiguration of Mechanic Street; removing the 55-and-older zoning overlay from the entire area since another property has been incorporated in the plan; allowing for residential use of the entire area; and accepting a payment in lieu of providing affordable housing in the project.

The city is not a party in the suit.

Save Absecon leaders Joe Courter and Bob Kusnirik are both scheduled to be out of town Feb. 22 and have asked other members of the organization to appear in court to “show solidarity and support for our cause.”