BLOG: Condemnation Law
Redevelopment Gone Right?
California Town Celebrates New Neighborhood The RecordNet.com reports on a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony in Gleason Park, California of a new neighborhood built over a once drug invested waste-land. The project involved a cooperative effort between government and private enterprise in this central California community in Stockton, and exemplifies a legitimate use of government power.... Read More
McGinley Square Residents Safe and Sound?
City Converts Redevelopment Area to Rehabilitation Area, Saving Homes from Takings Due to pressure from the voting public, the Jersey City governing body last week removed the threat of eminent domain in McGinley Square by converting the area from a “redevelopment area” to a “rehabilitation area.” The latter provides for many of the same planning benefits afforded... Read More
Mt Holly Gardens Residents Live to Fight Another Day
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has reversed a United States District Court decision in the long-running Mt Holly Gardens redevelopment cases. As reported in the Burlington County Times, the Third Circuit remanded the case back to the District Court to analyze alternatives to eminent domain takings that allegedly had a... Read More
Brooke Shields to Play Susette Kelo in New Movie
Kelo v. City of New London is moving from a court case of a lifetime to a movie on the Lifetime Channel. The movie is based on the book “Little Pink House” about Susette Kelo and the Fort Trumbull section of New London’s fight against eminent domain for redevelopment purposes. Susette Kelo’s story became famous the United... Read More
Atlantic City Development Authority Gets New Executive Director
The Press of Atlantic City reports that Governor Christie will today announce a new head of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority at Boardwalk Hall. Christie picked John Palmieri, born in Hoboken, but who spent the last four years as head of Boston’s redevelopment agency and has spent many years in New England working in other... Read More
Long Branch Property Owners Suffer Setback
As reported today in the Asbury Park Press, four property owners in Long Branch’s infamous MTOTSA (Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace, and Seaview Avenue) redevelopment area lost their most recent battle with the governing body. Two years ago, after the Appellate Division reversed a trial court decision that authorized the use of eminent domain to acquire private... Read More
Don't Bank On It!
Mortgage Lender’s Rights in Eminent Domain Cases May Outweigh Owner’s Property owners in eminent domain cases rarely own the condemned property outright, without any mortgages or other liens. Typically, the property owner took out a loan from a bank to purchase the property, and the bank obtained an interest in the property in the form of... Read More
Morristown's Speedwell Redevelopment Moving Forward (Slowly)
Earlier this month, the Town of Morristown introduced – and adopted – another amended redevelopment plan. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the amended plan on September 15, 2011 as reported by the Daily Record. A more detailed account of the redevelopment project may be found in this Morristown Patch article. Having grown up in Morristown,... Read More
Highlands Act Withstands Another Round of Legal Attacks
New Jersey appellate courts, in a series of published and unpublished opinions, recently addressed a variety of issues raised by the adoption of the Highlands Regional Master Plan (RMP) as required by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act (the Highlands Act), N.J.S.A. 13:20-1 to -35. The Council, on July 17, 2008, adopted the RMP... Read More
Jersey City McGinley Square Redevelopment – Citizen Asks: Et Tu Brutus?
Following on the footsteps of last week’s removal of the McGinley Square Redevelopment Plan from the Jersey City Council’s agenda, is this impassioned letter to the editor reported by the Jersey City Independent. Even though the plan was removed from the Council’s agenda, this citizen asks that eminent domain be removed from any version of... Read More
