BLOG: Court Decisions
Redevelopment Designation Affirmed on Appeal
A two-judge panel of the Appellate Division recently affirmed a decision of the Law Division (Ocean County) upholding a condemnation redevelopment designation in Tradewinds Marina, Inc. v. Borough of South Toms River (A-273-16T2) (unpublished opinion here). In short, while the sole objecting property owner complained of some clear irregularities in the proceedings, the owner did... Read More
Testimony on Reasonable Probability of Zoning Change Not Limited to Real Estate Appraisers
In a recent dispute before the Tax Court, the court addressed the issue of whether only a real estate appraiser may offer testimony as to the reasonable probability of a change in zoning of the subject property as of the relevant valuation dates. In Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corp. v. Twp. of Toms River, the taxpayer... Read More
Newark Property Owner Loses Date of Value Argument
On August 2, 2017, the Appellate Division affirmed several Law Division orders arising out of a long-running dispute between the County of Essex and the owners of property located in the City of Newark. The appellate court affirmed trial court orders; 1) setting the date of value, 2) denying reconsideration thereof, and 3) memorializing a... Read More
SCOTUS Rejects Bright-Line Rule, Adopts a Multifactor Standard in Relevant Parcel Analysis
In the context of regulatory takings, issues often arise in identifying what the actual property consists of before the taking. Because the test for regulatory takings require the courts to compare the value that has been taken from the property with the value that remains in the property, one of the critical components in the... Read More
State Law Held to Apply in Federal Court Pipeline Taking
A Florida Federal District Court judge court recently held that Florida’s state eminent domain laws should be applied to a taking by a private pipeline company which relied upon the Natural Gas Act, federal law which allows private companies to use eminent domain in the federal courts “in matters relating to the transportation of natural gas... Read More
Property Owner’s Second Bite at the Apple Not So Tasty as the First
A New Jersey appellate court just affirmed the denial of property owner’s challenge to a condemnation premised on a failure of pre-complaint bona fide negotiations. Montclair v Cerino 2017 a0753-15. The Township of Montclair had previously commenced a condemnation action to acquire a property along Valley Road that was used by the property owner to store... Read More
Challenge to Redevelopment Action Decades After Finding of Blight Denied
The Appellate Division recently analyzed an old blight designation in Ocean County in a January 18, 2017 opinion. You may have to read it more than once to understand the convoluted fact pattern. Or, you may want to skip ahead to the legal analysis because it is short and to the point. Two tracts... Read More
NJ Transit v. Franco – Property Owner Verdict Overturned on Appeal
On October 19, 2016, almost seven years after a condemnation action was commenced, the Appellate Division published an opinion reversing an $8,150,000 jury verdict in favor of the property owners from 2013. The pre-condemnation offer of compensation was $934,500. The trial judge also ordered that $1,967,865 be escrowed in the Superior Court Trust Fund to cover... Read More
CRDA Denied Authority to Take – Birnbaum Wins on Reconsideration
On August 5, 2016, Judge Mendez reversed himself issuing an Order holding that the Casino Reinvestment Development Corp.’s condemnation of the Birnbaum property was a “manifest abuse of the eminent domain power” and exceeded CRDA’s statutory authority. Thereby dismissing the case commenced over two years ago. Initially the Court denied the Birnbaum’s challenge to the... Read More
Sales Approach Rejected in Valuing Rental Property
In reviewing a recent decision by the Honorable Patrick DeAlmeida, the Presiding Judge of the New Jersey Tax Court, the first thing that jumps out is the large reductions — approximate $1.84 million in reduced assessments for each of the years under appeal. The appeal involved a free-standing Barnes & Noble store in Evesham Township brought by the retailer, a... Read More
