New Jersey Legislators Introduce New Eminent Domain Bill
After several years of debate, New Jersey legislators have introduced a new bill, co-sponsored by former proponents of previously failed legislation, which would revise the statutory requirements for eminent domain acquisitions in New Jersey. On June 15, 2009, two Democratic lawmakers introduced what they called a compromise bill, which they suggest is designed to allow redevelopment by eminent domain while providing due process protection to homeowners and fair compensation for property taken. The sponsors, Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, and Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Gloucester, jointly crafted S-559/A-1492, to break a previous impasse over earlier bills each had sponsored. Read the bill
Last year, the Assembly passed Burzichelli’s bill, which would tightened the criteria, listed in Local Redevelopment Housing Law, N.J.SA. 40A:12A-5, that allow local governments to declare a property “blighted” — the constitutional standard for use of eminent domain. That bill also eliminated the possibility of an owner losing his or her property simply because it was deemed not fully productive, and required that the property be “detrimental to the safety, health, or welfare of the community.”
In the State Senate, Rice — who is from an urban district with active redevelopment projects — sponsored a competing bill, which had a more lenient definition of blight, but both bills died in committee.
Both legislators said at a press conference on Monday that during the last 18 months they have been negotiating over a version that would satisfy both property owners’ and developers’ concerns, and would also satisfy the standard set forth by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Gallenthin Realty Development Group v. Paulsboro , 191 N.J. 344 (2007). That case held that condemnation of land in a “stagnant or not fully productive condition” under the Local Redevelopment and Housing law, N.J.SA. 40A:12A-5(e), was impermissible unless it could be established that blight — “deterioration or stagnation that has a decadent effect on surrounding property” — existed.
The new bill includes a tighter definition of blight, places time limits on acquisition of properties for redevelopment purposes, and requires that just compensation for takings be based on the highest value of the property, either at the time of taking or the time of the adoption of the redevelopment plan, based on the uses permitted under the redevelopment plan. Homeowners’ compensation would at least equals the replacement value of their homes and would be given rights of first refusal to purchase or lease residences constructed in the area that resulted in their displacement. Notice requirements and public hearing requirements are also tightened under the bill.
“These amendments to the eminent domain and land use laws will add transparency to a process that is often subject to unnecessary miscommunication and will provide for the opportunity for greater public input and consensus,” the sponsors said. They indicated that they were hopeful that the bill would be considered, adopted, and signed into law by the Governor in the next legislative session this fall.
