BLOG: Condemnation Law

With summer upon us, let's go to the beach…if we can access it.

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
27 May 2011
Local Beach Access Plan Draws Ire of Environmental Groups Environmental groups voiced concerns through postcards and press conferences over proposed rules they claim would restrict rather than enhance access to New Jersey’s beaches.  A proposed plan would permit local towns to establish access plans that would be reviewed by the State.  The Department of Environmental... Read More

Asbury Park Heads to Arbitration with Redeveloper

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
25 May 2011
 Court-ordered arbitration hearings are scheduled to begin in early June under the supervision of retired U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas H. Politan.  At issue is whether Asbury Park’s designated redeveloper breached the terms of the redeveloper agreement and is now in default.  The original redeveloper, Asbury Partners, lost control of approximately 70 to 80 properties to its lender... Read More

Long Branch Considers Rehabilitation in Lieu of Redevelopment

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
18 May 2011
 The City of Long Branch has asked its planning board to examine whether the Broadway Arts, Broadway- Gateway and Beachfront South redevelopment zones could be designated as rehabilitation zones.  According to Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider “The ability to have enhanced zoning and planning and the benefits of it are enormous.”  Property owners who spoke at... Read More

Mt Holly Gardens Stay Pending Appeal Continues

by: Joseph Grather
17 May 2011
On May 10, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals denied an application by the Township of Mt. Holly requesting a modification of lifting of a stay pending appeal which had been imposed imposed by the Court back in March of this year.  (Check our prior blog post on the stay by clicking here). The Court of... Read More

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

New Jersey Residents Voice Redevelopment Project Concerns

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
6 May 2011
Residents of Hamilton, New Jersey, and Camden, New Jersey, voiced the same concern about redevelopment projects at their respective city council meetings this week: Promise that you will not take our properties through eminent domain. In Hamilton, where the redevelopment area in question encompasses 1,000 acres and 191 properties, council members have previously stated that... Read More

Should New Jersey's Eminent Domain Laws Be Bulldozed?

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
27 Apr 2011
Rutgers Law Review article urges redevelopment reform A recent article in the Rutgers Law Review calls upon the New Jersey Legislature to adopt meaningful eminent domain and redevelopment law reform in the wake of the 2005 decision of the United States Supreme Court in Kelo v. New London.    The article, entitled “Toward Successful Urban Revitalization:  Why New... Read More

New Jersey Lawmakers Adopt Measure to Protect Developers

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
25 Apr 2011
New “Time of Application” Law Prohibits Municipalities from Rezoning During Development Application Process  New Jersey’s Legislature has revised the Municipal Land Use Law to remove the ability of municipalities to revise zoning codes in an effort to thwart development applications the municipality opposes but which otherwise comply with local zoning laws.  Previously, it was not unusual... 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

Private Property Rights Protection Bill Introduced by Congress

by: Joseph Grather
13 Apr 2011
H.R. 1433 (the “Private Property Rights Protection Act”) was recently introduced in the United States Congress by its bipartisan co-sponsors Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Maxine Waters (D-CA). If the proposed legislation passed as currently drafted, the new law would prohibit a State from using eminent domain for private development where a State had received federal... Read More