BLOG: Court Decisions
Sayreville Developer Fails in Challenge to Redevelopment Fees
A New Jersey appellate court this week rejected an appeal by a Sayreville developer to challenge the imposition of costs and fees levied upon its commercial redevelopment by the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (“SERA”). The developer Gillette Enterprises, Inc., sought to develop a parcel of land within Sayreville’s redevelopment area with age-restricted housing, after it... Read More
Inverse Condemnation Defeated: Wildwood Property Owner Fails to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
On Friday May 18, 2012, a New Jersey appellate court affirmed – and published – the trial court’s decision in Dock Street Seafood, Inc. v. City of Wildwood, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (Law Div. Docket No. L-17056-06). Plaintiff/appellant owns a vacant parcel of property located at 600 West Baker Ave in Wildwood, N.J. adjacent to its... Read More
Appellate Court Reaffirms Bedrock Condemnation Principles in Dismissing Complaint
This week, a New Jersey appellate court reversed a trial court judgment allowing a condemnation action to proceed in the face of the property owner’s objection that the government has failed to engage in bona fide negotiations pre-complaint. New United Corp. v. Essex County Vo-Tech. There appears to have been a long-standing dispute, prior and... Read More
Appellate Division Gives Train Case One-way Ticket Back to ALJ with Remand
Norfolk Southern Railway Company petitioned the New Jersey Department of Transportation for authorization to acquire the neighboring property owned by Intermodal Properties, LLC, by eminent domain after the property owner refused an arms-length sale. Railroads, as a public utility, can receive authorization under N.J.S.A. 48:12-35.1 once they show that the land is needed for a... Read More
Prior Owner's Assent Does Not Defeat Inverse Condemnation Claim
Ciaglia v West Long Branch – Inverse Remedy Awarded by Appellate Division Yesterday, the Appellate Division of New Jersey’s Superior Court reversed a trial court that had dismissed a property owner’s lawsuit alleging that West Long Branch’s zoning regulations amounted to an inverse condemnation of an undersized lot created by a subdivision approved by the Planning Board... Read More
Long Branch Property Owners Suffer Setback
As reported today in the Asbury Park Press, four property owners in Long Branch’s infamous MTOTSA (Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace, and Seaview Avenue) redevelopment area lost their most recent battle with the governing body. Two years ago, after the Appellate Division reversed a trial court decision that authorized the use of eminent domain to acquire private... Read More
Highlands Act Withstands Another Round of Legal Attacks
New Jersey appellate courts, in a series of published and unpublished opinions, recently addressed a variety of issues raised by the adoption of the Highlands Regional Master Plan (RMP) as required by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act (the Highlands Act), N.J.S.A. 13:20-1 to -35. The Council, on July 17, 2008, adopted the RMP... Read More
Electricity Shocks Property Owners, But Not The Court
Shock Treatment Insufficient to Constitute Inverse Condemnation Yesterday, a New Jersey appellate court affirmed a jury verdict awarding $195,000 in “nuisance” damages to a Brick Township couple, but refused to reverse the trial court’s finding that an electric utility company’s stray “neutral to earth” voltage running rampant through their backyard was insufficient to amount to taking. Smith v. Jersey Central... Read More
Expert’s “Gut Feeling” on Costs Survives Dismissal Claim
An expert witness’s “gut feeling” about the cost of a plaintiff’s construction claim was sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss according to a recent New Jersey Appellate Division opinion. The holding in Nevins v. Toll Brothers, Inc., has the potential to affect similar motions in real estate valuation litigation such as eminent domain and real estate... Read More
South Carolina: Attorneys' Fees Can't Be "Taken"
Court Holds Appointed Attorneys’ Time is Compensable Property As our colleague from Hawaii, Robert Thomas, recently posted in his excellent blog, inversecondemnation.com, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that an attorney’s services constitute a property right which entitles the attorney to just compensation under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. An appointed attorney sought removal as appointed counsel... Read More
