BLOG: Condemnation Law
Long Branch Settlement Spares Homeowners
The City of Long Branch has approved a settlement with several homeowners which dismisses the eminent domain actions the City had instituted against them in 2005. Under the settlement, the property owners, all of whom own homes in the MTOTSA (Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace, Seaview Avenue) section of the Beachfront North area of Long Branch, will... Read More
Highlands Act Upheld
New Jersey’s Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act has been upheld by a State appellate court. County of Warren v State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2009) (Slip op. September 4, 2009, Docket No. A-4591-07T1)(Read the slip opinion here). The Appellate Division – in a published opinion – affirmed the trial... Read More
Business Losses Are Compensable in Temporary Takings Cases
A New Jersey appeals court has held that a temporary taking of a commercial property for public infrastructure repair requires compensation for resulting business losses. In a July 27, 2009 opinion, the appellate court upheld a trial court’s dismissal of the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s attempted taking of such a property where its offer of... Read More
Solberg Airport Taking Remanded
A New Jersey appeals court has remanded a challenge to a municipal effort to condemn a local airport. Township of Readington v. Solberg Aviation Co., involved the acquisition of a portion (in excess of 600 acres) of the owner Solberg’s private airport property in Readington Township, allegedly for open space preservation. The Solberg Airport property... Read More
Legislature Approves Open Space Acquisition Funding
Both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature have approved a $400 million bond to fund the acquisition of open space, public recreation and conservation lands. The bill, entitled the “Green Acres, Water Supply and Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Bond Act of 2009,”, A-3901/S-1858, had bi-partisan support in the legislature and passed with... Read More
NJ Supreme Court: Towns Can't Require Developers to Set Aside Open Space
On June 25, 2009, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously upheld an appellate court ruling which declared that municipalities do not have the right to require developers to set aside land for open space or recreational facilities, or to require payments “in lieu” of such set asides, as a condition of development approvals. N.J. Shore... Read More
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... Read More
Cliffside Park Settles; Evades Ruling in Two-Town Dispute
The Cliffside Park Borough Council approved a settlement this week authorizing the purchase of commercial property located in Fairview, and privately owned by Pedigree Holdings, LLC, for $2.35 million. The settlement ended a protracted court case in which the limits of Cliffside Park’s eminent domain powers were tested because it had attempted to take the... Read More
Neptune Proposes Eminent Domain Ban
The Neptune Township Committee introduced an ordinance this week which would restrict the township’s use of its eminent domain powers in municipal redevelopment areas. The proposed ordinance would allow eminent domain to continue where the taking is required for “traditional” public use or public purposes, but would ban takings for redevelopment purposes where the properties... Read More
Property Owner's Challenge to Redevelopment Testing Dismissed as Moot
A New Jersey appellate court dismissed a property owner’s challenge to redevelopment activities in the Town of Kearny on the basis that the appeal was moot. Town of Kearny v. RLR Investments, Inc., Docket No. A-3174-07T2 (read the opinion here). The property owner, RLR Investments, owns and operates a commercial trucking terminal which is located in... Read More
