BLOG: Condemnation Law
Taking of Gallenthin Property Approved
A Superior Court judge held last week that the Gloucester County Improvement Authority properly exercised its power of eminent domain and may proceed with the taking of a portion of the Paulsboro property owned by members of the Gallenthin family — the same family that was successful in stopping a previous effort to take their... Read More
Old Bridge Adopts Ordinance Restricting Eminent Domain
Old Bridge Councilman-at-Large Brian Cahill and local resident Tony Piscetti successfully convinced the Old Bridge Township Council to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the use of eminent domain for tax revenue purposes that was previously discussed on this blog. Following discussions on the ordinance at a June Council meeting, both Republicans and Democrats voted in favor... Read More
Newark Trucking Facility Not Blighted
A Newark property owner, CD Development, LLC, challenged a 2005 blight designation which led to its property being designated as an area in need of redevelopment. The five acre property is used as an active trucking facility. Newark’s planning expert concluded the property satisfied the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law (LRHL) criteria in N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5(e), the... Read More
Asbury Park Property Owner Wins Opportunity to Seek Amendment to Redevelopment Plan
The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court has reversed a trial judge’s decision that property within a redevelopment area in Asbury Park was “unzoned” because it was exempted from eminent domain as part of a redevelopment plan. The subject property, formerly owned by the Salvation Army, was exempted from eminent domain under the... Read More
United States Supreme Court Declines to Hear New Jersey Highlands Act Case
The United States Supreme Court has declined to hear arguments in a case challenging the New Jersey Highlands Act filed by several families who own farmland in Warren, Hunterdon and Morris counties. The property owners argued that their properties were devalued by the Act because the legislation made it impossible for those properties to be sold... Read More
Rehearing Ordered on Interest Rate Decision in Long Branch Taking
Failure to Provide Evidentiary Hearing on Interest Rates Requires Remand A New Jersey appellate court recently held that a Monmouth County Superior Court trial judge erred by failing to hold an evidentiary hearing in a Long Branch redevelopment taking case, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-31 and -32 after it was requested by the property owners. The... Read More
Eminent Domain Questions Asked of U.S.Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan at Confirmation Hearings
Even before Senator Charles Grassley (R. Iowa) questioned Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on July 1, 2010, about property rights and the Court’s Kelo decision, the media expected and suggested that she address the topic. See Christian Science Monitor ; or George Will’s column from the Washington Post. Senator Grassley was not satisfied with Kagan’s answers... Read More
Old Bridge Councilman and Resident Teaming Up to Propose Eminent Domain Restrictions
Old Bridge Township Councilman-at-Large Brian Cahill, and local resident Tony Piscetti, are in the early stages of researching and drafting a municipal ordinance which would prohibit the use of eminent domain to seize property for tax revenue purposes. The work is being done at the request of Old Bridge residents. Cahill acknowledged that the ordinance... Read More
Recovery of Owner’s Attorneys’ Fees Limited in “Complicated” Inverse Condemnation Case
A New Jersey appeals court recently limited a Bergen County property owner’s ability to recover attorneys’ fees in an inverse condemnation proceeding to those fees actually and reasonably incurred in connection with the condemnation. The plaintiff, NJ Capital Partners, LLC, filed an inverse condemnation action after the Oakland Planning Board denied its subdivision application twice. After... Read More
NY High Court Permits Taking for Columbia University Expansion
The New York Court of Appeals reversed the decision of a lower court, holding that a Columbia University expansion project could proceed, resulting in the taking of private property for use by a private university. The court below had concluded that there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the Columbia University Educational Mixed Use Development Land... Read More
