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 property for use as a public works garage, despite the fact that it is located in another town.
Last year, Cliffside tried to take the Pedigree property for about $1.3 million, even though Pedigree had invested approximately $1.7 million in the property, and later leased it to Cliffside on a short-term basis. Pedigree objected to the taking, stating that Cliffside could not exercise eminent domain in another town and that the taking was unnecessary because Pedigree had already agreed to lease the property to Cliffside. Pedigree also objected to the taking because Cliffside’s unreasonably low purchase offer of $1.3 million ignored the actual lease of the property, which lease would have indicated a value exceeding $2 million. Cliffside and its neighboring town, Fairview, were at odds during much of the dispute, and had discussed using the property as part of a joint public works facility. After it was apparent that no agreement between the two towns would be reached, Cliffside increased its offer to buy the property from Pedigree without consent or participation from Fairview. The settlement was made before a ruling on Cliffside’s right to condemn property in another town was made by Superior Court Assignment Judge Peter Doyne, who had held his decision on the issue in abeyance, and approved the settlement terms.
Pedigree had initially purchased the property with the intention of using it in the future to expand its truck dealership, Beyer Brothers, located on Broad Avenue in Fairview. Pedigree and Beyer planned to replace frontage which the dealership expects to have taken in yet another eminent domain acquisition — this time by the New Jersey Department of Transportation — which has planned a future widening and modification of Broad Avenue (Routes 1 and 9) in Fairview. While the sale of the Pedigree property to Cliffside removes it from consideration for these future plans, Pedigree agreed to the sale because the price was fair, and it elected not to expend further time and resources fighting in court to keep the property.
Read more about this settlement in the Bergen Record, or the Associated Press
The property owner, Pedigree Holdings, was represented in this eminent domain matter by McKirdy & Riskin’s Anthony Della Pelle and Joseph Grather.
