Chen ‘gratified’ by eminent domain ruling -NJ
| LONG BRANCH — The state public advocate said last week that he is “gratified” by the recent court decision in favor of a group of city homeowners who have been fighting against the condemnation of their neighborhood.
“The New Jersey courts have made it abundantly clear that under our state constitution, eminent domain cannot be used to raze a neighborhood merely to make way for luxury townhouses and condominiums,” Ronald K. Chen said on Aug. 7 after the state appellate court reversed a decision that permitted the condemnation of the MTOTSA (Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue) neighborhood. “Our constitution permits the use of eminent domain for redevelopment only in blighted areas, and in this case the court held that the city of Long Branch simply failed to show that the MTOTSA neighborhood was blighted under any definition,” Chen said. Chen had filed an amicus curiae brief as a “friend of the court” in the state Appellate Division of Superior Court on Jan. 11 in support of a group of approximately 18 property owners of the MTOTSA neighborhood. The brief supported the appeal by the MTOTSA residents in the Beachfront North Phase II redevelopment zone challenging the state Superior Court decision of Judge Lawrence M. Lawson that upheld the city of Long Branch’s right to condemn their neighborhood for a private redevelopment project. In a unanimous 85-paged opinion, the three-judge panel of the state Appellate Division last week reversed Lawson’s decision and remanded the controversial eminent domain case for a plenary hearing before Lawson. The ruling relies heavily on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling last year in Gallenthin Realty Development Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro, in which the state’s high court held that the government cannot declare an area blighted and seize property simply because the government wants to engage in economic development. “The ruling once again reaffirms the constitutional rights of property owners,” Chen said. “As such, this is not just a victory for the MTOTSA homeowners, but for every citizen of the state.” Chen further explained that Long Branch officials cannot continue to claim that the MTOTSA neighborhood is essential to its redevelopment plans. “Long Branch’s beachfront redevelopment has proceeded unabated and quite successfully during the years this case made its way through the courts,” Chen said. “Given the force with which the court repudiated the city’s claims, as city officials decide whether to pursue this case further, I hope they consider the human toll this case has taken on the homeowners, their constituents, who waged this battle for so many years.” http://atlanticville.gmnews.com/news/2008/0814/front_page/007.html |
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Long Branch weighing eminent-domain options
August 13, 2008
By Carol Gorga Williams
Gannett New Jersey
City officials continue to weigh their options in the wake of an appellate court decision that set aside the 1996 blight designation in a controversial oceanfront section where residents are fighting the use of eminent domain.
After an executive session Tuesday night, City Attorney James G. Aaron said that no final decisions had been made, and the clock is ticking on at least one aspect of the case. If the mayor and council opt to appeal the appellate decision’s
determination that the 1996 redevelopment report did not comport with 2007 standards on blight, they have only 20 days from last Thursday, the date the appellate decision was released, to file a motion asking the state Supreme Court to review the decision.
Thus far, only Councilman Brian A. Unger, who was out of town for last night’s meeting, has said he favors ending the case. The appellate division is giving the municipality the opportunity to amend its 1996 report to comply with the new,
heightened standards on blight, which would return the case to Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson. Council President Michael DeStefano and Councilman Anthony Giordano have said they favor that tact because it allows the municipality to prove its case.
“We’re considering all our options,” Mayor Adam Schneider said after the meeting.
Aaron said the governing body also is considering whether to bring the Atlantic Group, which helped prepare the original redevelopment report, in to work on evidence to submit to Lawson. Both sides have indicated that sending the case back to the trial division could open it up later to another round of lengthy and expensive appeals.
The appellate decision stemmed from a 2003 request from residents of the Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace, Seaview Avenue area to be withdrawn from the redevelopment zone. Negotiations between the group and the city soon broke down and the case ended up in court.
The appellate panel found for the city in several areas, saying it had engaged in bona-fide negotiations with MTOTSA and also had not committed any conflicts of interest in the planning process, a decision DeStefano called “a big victory for
us” because it cleared the air about the propriety of relationships between the council, the developers, lawyers involved in the process and a bank that lent money to the developers.
Lori Ann Vendetti, a core member of MTOTSA, who last week called the decision a vindication of their fight, said it was always about standing up for a principle, for the idea that everyone deserved their piece of the American Dream.
She said the decision had far-ranging ramifications, not only for her MTOTSA section, but for Beachfront South and the Broadway Corridor redevelopment sectors. City lawyers will be in court Friday seeking to remove one of the last residents standing in the way of the Broadway Arts redevelopment project.
Vendetti pointed out that for years, the city told MTOTSA it could not remove them from the redevelopment sector because of its contract with the redeveloper.
“Now you have all the legal out you need,” she said. “Isn’t it time? Enough is enough already” she said, noting several seniors in the community have died while others live with the constant stress that they could lose their homes.
“That is a horrible way to spend your golden years,” Vendetti said. “Twelve years have passed” since the city declared the area in need of redevelopment. “You can’t give those years back to us. You can stop the madness and give us back our future.”
Harold Bobrow, who along with his wife, Michelle, owns a seasonal home in the Beachfront South redevelopment section, called for the property owners and city officials to sit down and “brainstorm” about how to end the standoff.
“I would hope that after this period of time … it is a time now to heal, it is a time to come together,” Bobrow said. “That is what we should do as a governing body and as residents, come together and find a solution to this issue.”
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080813/STATE/80813008