Wigs & Wishes founder files civil lawsuit against township

The owner of Wigs & Wishes, an organization that provides wigs and grants wishes to individuals with cancer, has filed a civil lawsuit against Washington Township and two of its employees.

At his home in Sewell – where the Wigs & Wishes organization is based – Martino Cartier has created a safe space to live and grow his business, Martino Cartier Salon, which just opened a new 4,000-square-foot building on Oct. 19, as well as his nonprofit, which also grants wishes to children with cancer.

That safe haven that Cartier has created has been met with challenges, leading to the 18-page civil lawsuit with 105 pages of documentation filed in U.S. District Court by his attorneys, Samuel B. Fineman and Lynn M. Cohen of Cohen Fineman LLC in Cherry Hill and Marlton.

The story begins with a tax sale certificate in 2023. Martino resides in a 5,600-square-foot dwelling amidst a multi-acre farm at 122 Salina Road. On May 17 of last year – in consideration of the sum of $2,800.01 – he was assigned a tax-sale certificate, dated Dec. 15, 2016, for a back property next to his dwelling that was owned by FPA Corp, according to the lawsuit, which also names Albert Morgan, the township’s zoning officer, and Jeanette Naylor, supervisor of its planning and zoning department.

The back property had been “languishing for more than 40 years as an unkempt area, rife with rampant weeds and unwanted and dangerous trees, and stands as a public eyesore to the Colts Neck community,” according to the lawsuit. A 2023 township resolution states the mayor and the township council determined that it was in the best interest of the township to sell the tax-sale certificate of the property privately.

The tax sale certificate was sold to Cartier on April 12, 2023. But on Feb. 14 of this year, the township, through a resolution, authorized a revocation of the tax-sale certificate, saying it believed “the tax sale certificate was either improperly issued as a matter of law, or in the alternative, that it is in the best interest of the public to rescind and/or redeem” the certificate.

In the lawsuit, Cartier indicated he wasn’t given notice regarding the rescinding of the tax-sale certificate and called the move “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.” He also said he incurred significant costs maintaining the back property, including about $4,000 to obtain its survey; tree removal and assessment estimated at $60,000; fence replacement of about $20,000; and taxes paid, $3,000, plus attorney fees.

Cartier had made known his intention to plant 300 to 400 Christmas trees on the back property – once all the debris, dead and diseased trees are removed – through a tree planting and removal permit, according to the lawsuit.

Prior to the beginning of construction on Cartier’s salon – and dating back to when he first acquired the homestead – Cartier placed a group of symbolic structures, some carrying religious significance, on the property, including a shroud cross garden, lions, a sculpture of King David and a metal dreidel structure.

In late July, he unveiled a new statue erected near Salina Road that featured Wigs & Wishes recipient MacKenzie Rose, a child who ultimately succumbed to cancer and passed from cancer-related treatments, according to the lawsuit. The township contacted Cartier and advised that the statue would have to be removed immediately due to violations relating to township code on structures or he would face serious fine penalties.

As fines continue to pile up – some as high as $1,000 a day – so do violations, which not only include the memorial statue but the train station, fountain, child umbrella statue, paver sidewalk, entry sculpture, five lions, angel spirit and “the installation/construction of the religious symbols also known as Shroud Cross Garden and Dreidel and/or any and all religious symbols used for ornamentation,” the lawsuit maintains.

The counts in the lawsuit include:

·       Substantive due-process violations, interference with property interest;

·       Unlawful taking of Cartier’s property rights;

·        Free speech violations;

·        Violation of Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act;

·        Violation of the free exercise clause of the first aAmendment;

·        Violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination;

·        Violation of the New Jersey Tort Claims

·        Selective enforcement.

Cartier seeks to invalidate the rescinding of the tax-sale certificate and also compensatory damages, awarding of reasonable attorney fees and costs and a jury trial. The Sun reached out to township Mayor Laurie Burns, who said in August that the situation would be rectified during a CBS news clip on the situation.

She did not return a recent request for comment; neither Morgan and Naylor.

Council President Peter Delborrello said the township has a policy and he cannot comment on any pending or past litigation; however, he said that he supports and appreciates Cartier’s business and nonprofit mission.

“The township has ordinances and codes in place for the safety of everyone,” he said, noting he has spoken to Cartier and they are working together to get on the same page. “We have to make sure [everyone] follows the same rules.”