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Morristown's Speedwell Avenue Redevelopment Nears Approval
(Photo courtesy Dean Marchetto/MorristownGreen.com) Morristown’s Speedwell Avenue redevelopment project appears to be heading towards approval. As reported by Maria Pfeifer in MorristownGreen.com, the Planning Board directed special counsel to prepare a resolution approving Phase 1 on the redevelopment plan, which calls for construction of residential units along Speedwell Avenue and Early Street. One bone of contention... Read More
Appellate Court Reaffirms Bedrock Condemnation Principles in Dismissing Complaint
This week, a New Jersey appellate court reversed a trial court judgment allowing a condemnation action to proceed in the face of the property owner’s objection that the government has failed to engage in bona fide negotiations pre-complaint. New United Corp. v. Essex County Vo-Tech. There appears to have been a long-standing dispute, prior and... Read More
Greetings from Asbury Park! Courts Deny Property Owners' Request for Takings
Photo courtesy of www.beebeegrace.blogspot.com On March 26, 2012, the Appellate Division wrote another chapter in Asbury Park’s redevelopment book, where the final and unwritten chapter conjures images of the City’s ‘glory days’ pictured above. City of Asbury Park v. Springwood Lake, LLC. Without recounting the entire Asbury Park redevelopment history, the short course in this case... Read More
Property Owners’ Prayers Answered by Supreme Court in Sackett Case
Property owners Michael and Chantell Sackett of Priest Lake, Idaho fought the law, and surprisingly, they won. On March 21, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States – in a unanimous decision – sided with the property owners in determining that the property owners had the right to challenge an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)... Read More
Thomas Edison Battery Building Moving Towards Redevelopment
The Thomas Edison Battery Building in downtown West Orange is moving closer to being redeveloped. According to Karen Yi of the West Orange Patch, the Council passed two ordinances on first reading and a resolution authorizing issuance of bonds to pay for the municipality’s share of the development costs. Some residents voiced concerned about the... Read More
DuPont to Redevelop Pompton Lakes?
As reported in NorthJersey.com, Pompton Lakes leadership is contemplating whether to demolish every single building in the central business district fronting on Wanaque Avenue. The concept would be to build multi-story buildings with 400 units above street-level retail uses. However, it appears that the plan is contingent upon DuPont coming to the table and cleaning... Read More
More on Fort Lee Redevelopment
As recently blogged here, Fort Lee recently revisited the former Helmsley property in the Borough as one of its redevelopment areas. The newest group of redevelopers slated to tackle an allegedly blighted area are confident that they can succeed where others have failed. NorthJersey.com reports that Bergen County developer James Demetrakis, Esq. has teamed up with... Read More
Eminent Domain Going Nuclear!
The people of Vermont are up in arms about the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions license renewal issued to Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The plant sits on the Connecticut River in Vernon Vermont and provides about 35% of the energy for the entire state of Vermont. Photo courtesy of www.vtdigger.org The license was renewed by the... Read More
Morristown – Amended Speedwell Avenue Redevelopment Plan on January 12, 2012 Agenda
Morristown Patch reports that the Town Council will vote on an Amended Speedwell Avenue Redevelopment Plan on January 12, 2012. IPhoto Credit – John Dunphy, Morristown Patch As noted in the Patch article, its been a long-time coming. The redevelopment initiative for the Speedwell Avenue area began in the early 2000s with an actual “in need of... Read More
Aberdeen and Matawan to Re-evaluate Train Station Redevelopment Area
As reported in the Asbury Park Press, the Matawan-Aberdeen train station redevelopment area – first designated 10 years ago – is being sent back to the planning board to determine whether the area is still “in need of redevelopment.” As referenced in the article, the municipality is addressing the area now because of changes in... Read More