BLOG: Court Decisions

Asbury Park Settlement Rejected

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
11 May 2011
City’s Misconstrued Settlement to Property Owners’ Not Enforceable  A New Jersey appeals court recently held that a settlement allegedly reached with a property owner in the Asbury Park oceanfront redevelopment area was not enforceable.  Asbury Partners, as the master redeveloper of Asbury Park’s waterfront redevelopment area, had requested that the City condemn certain properties which it was unable... Read More

Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies Torpedos Case

by: Joseph Grather
21 Apr 2011
A New Jersey appellate court recently affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a civil rights/due process claim by a Somerset County property owner who alleged that it was denied the right to develop its acreage in Millstone Borough over the course of several years where efforts to develop the property were stalled.  Rezem Family Associates... Read More

When a Private Beach is Really Not Private

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
31 Mar 2011
The Texas Supreme Court has decided to reconsider its opinion in Severance v. Patterson, No. 09-0378 (Tx. Nov. 5, 2010), where that court was asked to decide “whether private beachfront properties on Galveston Island’s West Beach are impressed with a right of public use under Texas law without proof of an easement” when an avulsive event... Read More

Another Inverse Condemnation Complaint Bounced

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
7 Mar 2011
A New Jersey appeals court recently affirmed the dismissal of an inverse condemnation complaint filed by a property owner against the Township of Mount Laurel, which asserted that a resolution adopted by the Township amounted to a total regulatory taking of his property.  Carroll v. Township of Mt. Laurel, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate... Read More

Broker Denied Right to Intervene in Condemnation Case

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
21 Jan 2011
Brokerage Fee Issue Considered “Peripheral”  A trial court’s decision to deny a real estate broker’s motion to intervene into an existing condemnation action to argue for a brokers fee was affirmed after the Appellate Division found “those issues have nothing to do with adjudicating the fair market value of the property as determined by the... Read More

Hackensack Redevelopment Challenge Permitted Over Objection to Hearing Notice

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
19 Jan 2011
Redevelopment Notice Statute Upheld as Constitutional on Appeal   Despite categorizing certain notice provisions in New Jersey’s redevelopment statute as “spotty and incomplete” based upon the 2008 decision in Harrison Redevelopment Agency v. DeRose, 398 N.J. Super. 361 (App. Div. 2008), the New Jersey appellate court recently upheld the method by which planning boards must... Read More

Late Claim Allowed in Zoning Dispute

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
17 Jan 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court reinstated a dismissed complaint after finding that the forty-five day statute of limitations in R. 4:69-6(b)(3) should be enlarged because “‘it is manifest that the interest of justice so requires.’”  The facts were undisputed.  In May 2008 the Hopewell Township Planning Board granted preliminary site plan approval for a development... Read More

Court Refuses to Hear Columbia University Redevelopment Case

by: Joseph Grather
14 Dec 2010
The United States Supreme Court today issued its decision denying property owner Nick Sprayregen’s petition for certification. The two issues raised in the petition were:  “1) Whether it was error for the Court of Appeals of New York to disregard the principles enunciated in Kelo v. City of New London in sanctioning the use of... Read More

NJDOT Complaints Dismissed for Failure to Engage in Bona Fide Negotiations with Property Owners

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
24 Nov 2010
The Bergen County Assignment Judge recently dismissed condemnation complaints filed by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (“DOT”) after its appraiser failed to consider the impact that the loss of access would have on business’s operating on the Route 46 Circle in Little Ferry, as well as potential flooding issues caused by the installation of... Read More

Court Denies Discovery Request for Expert’s Financial Records

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
22 Nov 2010
A recent New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a litigation expert’s financial records are not subject to disclosure.  This holding could impact eminent domain and real estate tax appeal litigation because both practices rely on expert opinions to establish a property’s value.  In the case in question, a plaintiff’s attorney in a personal injury case requested information from... Read More