Eminent Domain Abuse Update

Certain residents of Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace & Seaview Avenue recruited the assistance of the Institute For Justice and fought back. At the local level, Freehold Court, Judge Lawson, they lost every bid to save their homes.

The appeal was heard early last year and the appeals division ruled that, Long Branch did not designate the areas for redevelopment properly. They should have dismissed the condemnation of these property and thrown the 1996 Redevelopment ordinance out, based on faulty methodology, but they sent it back to Judge Lawson for trial, where in the City of Long Branch would have been given an opportunity to present more evidence to the "real" blight necessary to take these homes.

Lawson's response was to cause the parties into negotiations to see if the parties could come to some compromise. Judge Lawson assigned the negotiations to the Chancellery Division where Judge Cavanaugh presides.

The parties were instructed not to discuss the negotiations outside the courts publicly. They met and recently met again on Friday, in the court.

Either the method of determining the area was ripe for condemnation under Statutory eminent domain requirements, or it wasn't. The appeals court should have dismissed, because Long Branch has nothing more to add to the record. It is time that the people whose homes have been in limbo for so long, and for the public, to see that Long Branch had no right to indiscriminately decide whose property would be taken by Eminent Domain and whose would not.

The 1996 plans and ordinances are in error and the whole redevelopment of Long Branch was wrong in the first place, simply because they did not do a proper study on the area to determine "real & necessary blight."

Where in the areas of redevelopment, one may see such decay to justify Long Branch's position, must realize the blight appearance was created by the ordinances which depressed the neighborhoods intentionally, so that at minimum the city would look "right" in their quest.

For instance, lower Broadway, whose appearance is boarded up and empty today. Well the city prohibited former owners from redesign and renovation and refused to accept any proposal to redevelop or renovate on their own.

In the matter of the Lighthouse Mission at 162 Broadway. After renovation of a major percentage of that property, they city decided the mission had to right to occupy and use the property. This prohibition cause a cessation of the forward movement of the renovations of 162 Broadway. The mission won, on appeal, however 13 years after the prohibition. Far too late to avoid what appears to be a run down condition, mostly on the rear exterior of one of three buildings at that location.

The whole matter should be dismissed, and the property owners who are in these areas should be allowed to stay and where renovation is necessary, they should be given the opportunity to chose to renovate or sell independently of the force of eminent domain.