BLOG: Condemnation Law

Rehearing Ordered on Interest Rate Decision in Long Branch Taking

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
3 Mar 2020
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

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
3 Mar 2020
 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

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
26 Oct 2015
 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

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
26 Oct 2015
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

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
3 Mar 2020
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

Jury Verdict in Cliffside Park Case Upheld on Appeal

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
26 Oct 2015
Verdict not based on averaging or misconduct according to New Jersey’s Appellate Division  An opinion released by a New Jersey appellate court found that a jury properly carried out its duties in Borough of Cliffside Park v. Estate of Ignatius Catanzaro., a condemnation case involving Cliffside Park’s taking of a downtown commercial building containing a restaurant... Read More

"Powerhouse" Redevelopment Amendment Allowed for Decades Old Blight Designation

by: Joseph Grather
26 Oct 2015
The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division recently published its decision affirming a trial court decision which disallowed a challenge to an  amendment to a redevelopment pan by the City of Jersey City in its Powerhouse Redevelopment Area.  Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Assoc. v. City Council, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div, 2010).   Along the way... Read More

"Bizarre" Condemnation Case Resolved — Family Can Seek Payment for Avalon Beach Property

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
3 Mar 2020
New Jersey Supreme Court Permits Filing of Inverse Condemnation in 40 Year Old Dune “Taking” Case  The New Jersey Supreme Court decided earlier this week that Edward and Nancy Klumpp could pursue an inverse condemnation action decades after the Borough of Avalon constructed a dune on their property following a 1962 Nor’easter which destroyed their beachfront... Read More

Kelo Five Years Later – It Still Matters

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
15 Jan 2021
The case that brought eminent domain into national prominence turned five yesterday.  In that five years Suzette Kelo’s house has been removed from its original location, Pfizer closed its global research and development headquarters in New London, Conn., and the area contains large swaths of vacant land, with no redevelopment to speak of.  However, as... Read More

Can NO Compensation Be Just Compensation?

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
26 Oct 2015
VFW Denied Opportunity to Argue Eminent Domain Case to U.S. Supreme Court  This week the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review in City of Milwaukee Post No. 2874 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States v. Redevelopment Agency of the City of Milwaukee, No. 09-1204 (cert. petition filed Apr. 2, 2010).  The VFW,... Read More