Longo briefly worked for Kerbeck about 10 years ago. But the same month Longo opened his business on the other side of the highway - in December - his former employer filed a lawsuit in Burlington County Superior Court against Longo and the Palmyra Borough Council over a zoning variance.
Kerbeck protested the Zoning Board's decision July 19 to permit Longo to operate his used-car lot without a five-car showroom, as required in the borough zoning ordinance.
"I guess the big guys don't like the little guys," Longo said.
John Master Jr., Kerbeck's attorney, said his client was concerned with the aesthetics on Route 73. More important, the Zoning Board of Adjustments exempted Longo from a building requirement while other businesses were held in compliance. Longo, Master said, had not proved any hardship to merit the variance.
"The zoning board has absolute power to grant a variance if they feel it is in the best interest of Palmyra," said Mark Lebowitz, Longo's attorney in Mount Laurel. "We are not sure why we are in this case.
"Mr. Longo got a legally signed resolution, got the necessary permits, and a lawsuit has been filed against him. What did he do wrong?"
Last month, Longo filed a counterclaim against Kerbeck under the state's Frivolous Lawsuit Act. Kerbeck's complaint "does not spell out any substantial grounds against Mr. Longo," Lebowitz said.
Also named co-defendants in Kerbeck's suit were Mayor Bob Leather, the Borough Council and Sam Cipoletti, the property owner who leases the land to Longo.
A major reason Kerbeck filed suit, his lawyer said, was because the Borough Council ignored Kerbeck's request in July for an appeal of the variance.
Master canceled a hearing the Borough Council had scheduled March 2 because the dispute is now in litigation and a hearing could jeopardize Kerbeck's case, he said.
"They were supposed to give us a hearing within the right time," said Master, who is based in Voorhees. "The problem is, under the law, if the borough takes no action on the appeal within 95 days, the laws says they have affirmed the Zoning Board's decision.
"I did not want our case to be prejudiced by something that was not permitted under the statute," he said.
And while litigation is under way, Longo and his 20-year-old son continue to sell and trade cars quietly on Route 73. Business, Longo said, is average. They are surviving.
"Starting a business, isn't that everybody's dream?" he asked. "That's why we live in America."
