Superior Court Judge Valerie Armstrong granted the injunction Tuesday to Marshall Schmeizer and Lisa Hartman, the north-end couple suing the city after the construction office halted work at their East Surf Road home.
City Council passed an ordinance Aug. 10 extending frontyard setbacks on the couple's street from 12 feet to 20 feet.
The city had already issued the couple construction and zoning permits, and days after the ordinance was passed they installed footers for a garage that established a 13-foot frontyard setback, which violates the new ordinance.
In August, Hartman told The Press of Atlantic City she preferred a large back yard, which offered space where her children could play safely and she could entertain.
The city's construction office then issued a stop-work order, saying the couple could not begin work on a new home while living in the old home on the same lot.
Attorney Frank Corrado, representing the couple, said the couple requested the injunction, which would require the city to restore the building permits and grant a demolition permit to allow them to continue construction on their new single-family home.
City Solicitor Gerald Corcoran, however, said he looks forward to a final hearing at which the city expects to demonstrate that the ordinance and its extended setbacks should apply to the couple's new home as it does to the rest of the street.
“They can start work, but they are working at their own peril,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran said that if the judge ultimately determines the ordinance does apply to Schmeizer and Hartman's new home, then any work done in violation of that ordinance would not be permitted to stay.
The judge has not set a date for a final hearing on the issue.
To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: