The Wyckoff Planning Board has formally answered Zachary Fox's lawsuit over his denied 441 Ellis Place fence application — denying his claims, asking a judge to dismiss the case, and going on offense. The township's Aug. 26, 2026 response, filed in Bergen County Superior Court by attorney Eric David Becker, calls the suit frivolous under New Jersey's Frivolous Litigation Act and reserves the right to accuse him of destroying evidence. It responds point by point to the complaint Fox filed July 17. [1]

On the underlying facts, the two sides mostly agree. The board admits it voted to deny Fox's application on Nov. 12, 2025, and admits Fox told the board afterward that he'd amend his proposal to a fence that might satisfy the criteria for variance relief — then never did. It disputes one characterization: while admitting the property is a corner lot, it denies Fox's description of it as a "conforming lot." [2]

Where the township breaks from the complaint is on legal conclusions. It denies the board's decision was arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, denies the board was "dismissive" of Fox's testimony, denies the memorializing resolution lacked adequate findings of fact, and denies that Wyckoff's land-use boards apply inconsistent fence standards to different corner-lot properties. [3]

Two parts of the filing go further than a routine denial. Citing New Jersey's Frivolous Litigation Act and a related court rule, the township calls Fox's complaint frivolous and reserves the right to make him pay its attorney's fees and costs. Separately, it reserves the right to bring a spoliation claim, alleging Fox failed to preserve material evidence. Both sit among roughly two dozen defenses the filing lists, most of them standard language lawyers include as a matter of course — so their presence doesn't show how hard the township means to press either one. [4]

The township's response is the last entry on the docket. No ruling has been issued, and nothing further has been filed, as of Sept. 14, 2026. [5]