Today the Supreme Court of the United States and the New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments on similar issues in two different cases: Who has title to riparian land created by natural accretion of sand or a public works project to replenish beachfront property? In Stop the Beach [...]
The New York State Court Appeals heard oral arguments today in Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, the eminent domain controversy in which a handful of property owners have tenaciously battled New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner’s attempt to acquire their property to develop the Atlantic Yards.
A [...]
Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation will be argued tomorrow, October 14, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. in Albany, New York. This controverisal eminent domain case challenges the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. The New York State Court of Appeals will webcast the arguments live.
Daniel Goldstein is the [...]
The litigation over Beachfront North in Long Branch may be over, but eminent domain abuse will continue unless the New Jersey Legislature acts.
A comprehensive review and amendments to the statutes governing eminent domain in New Jersey are needed, including the Eminent Domain Act of 1971, the Local Redevelopment and [...]
Tom Anzalone is proud about his father’s decision to save his beachfront home in Long Branch. “He may be 92,” Tom said, “but my father made all the major decisions. It’s his house. He has that World War II fighting ethic, fighting for his rights.”
On Tuesday, attorneys for the [...]
"The Little Guy Wins' is a feature news segment by reporter Mary Murphy, who covered the Long Branch eminent domain story on WPIX Channel 11 last night. The video clip features Louis Anzalone, 92, who never gave up the fight to keep his home, even after his wife
Below is the Asbury Park Press video of the court hearing on September 15, featuring the signing of the 12-page settlement agreement in City of Long Branch v. Anzalone. Later that evening, the Long Branch City Council voted 4-1 to adopt a resolution on the [...]
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"To the outside world, my home may have been just wood and concrete, but to me, it is my whole existence...a little piece of heaven with my wife..." - Louis Anzalone, Long Branch, N.J.
One year and seven days after his wife, Lillian, quietly slipped away on the porch [...]
JOINT MEDIA ADVISORY
EVENT:
Tomorrow's court hearing could resolve long-standing eminent domain battle for homeowners in the MTOTSA neighborhood, Long Branch, N.J. Pending resolution, homeowners and attorneys will speak to media after court hearing.
TIME/DATE:
1:30p.m./Tuesday, September 15, 2009
PLACE:
Courtroom of Hon. Thomas W. Cavanagh
Hall of Records
One East Main Street
[...]
In an important eminent domain opinion, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court reversed Somerset County Assignment Judge Yolanda Ciccone's decision to permit Readington to condemn the Solberg Airport property, and remanded the matter to the trial court for a hearing on the public purpose. Read the opinion in [...]
Listen to last Thursday's Brian Lehrer Show at WNYC-FM, featuring a segment about halted development and eminent domain in Asbury Park with Paul McEvily, associate executive director of Interfaith Neighbors, and William J. Ward, eminent domain attorney and blog author.
' [...]
In the case of Klumpp vs. Borough of Avalon, the Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the trial court decision of Judge Perskie. Judge Perskie had determined that, after the 1962 storm which destroyed plaintiff’s beachfront home, the defendant Borough of Avalon took functional physical possession of the property by including [...]
The New Jersey Supreme Court has granted certification to a second eminent domain case for the 2009-2010 term. The case is City of Long Branch v. Jui Yung Liu (A-0237-06T2). At the heart of this case is a question similar to those that are under consideration by the United [...]
On June 15, 2009, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case of Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Docket No. 08-1151. This is the Court’s first sojourn into the takings issue since June 2005, when the court issued three opinions in [...]
On May 21, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted certification to petitioner Iron Mountain Information Management, Inc. in a case which could be a precedent setting decision in eminent domain law. See the Appellate Division opinion in Iron Mountain Information Management, Inc. v. City of Newark et al (A6561-06) [...]
West Orange v. 769 Associates (A-113-07)
Today the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously decided that a condemnee may recover counsel fees and costs upon abandonment of a condemnation proceeding, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-26 (b), from the point at which the property is formally targeted for condemnation through the filing of the [...]
Matter of Do Not Destroy Brooklyn v. Urban Dev. Corp. (2009 NY Slip Op 01395). On February 26, the New York Appellate Division, First Part, upheld a lower court ruling by Justice Joan Madden dismissing a lawsuit filed by a group of plaintiffs opposing the Atlantic Yards [...]
Can one Bergen County municipality, Cliffside Park, use the power of eminent domain to condemn a property for a public works garage (DPW) in Fairview, an adjacent town? This unique issue is before Assignment Judge Peter Doyne, and his opinion on whether Cliffside Park has standing to move forward to trial [...]
After 22 years in Newark, Multicolor Corp.'s building was condemned for the Prudential Center arena and the property owner was forced to move out of the building pictured above in April 2007. The property owner, Jorge Aguayo, is still waiting for relocation assistance.
Denial of Relocation Benefits by the City of [...]
A new and insidious attack on property owner rights is being undertaken by the Borough of Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island. In December 2008, Harvey Cedars filed eminent domain complaints against beach front property owners. The borough seeks the right to acquire an easement across the width of [...]
Settlement discussions in the Long Branch eminent domain cases began on December 22 before Judge Thomas W. Cavanagh, Jr., who was designated by Monmouth County Assignment Judge Lawrence Lawson to conference legal counsel and concerned parties in City of Long Branch vs. Anzalone. The [...]
Union Township business owner Raul Rodriguez was one of 22 property owners who successfully fought the blight designation and the use of eminent domain in Union Township, New Jersey.
This Friday, December 5, attorneys for Union Township will move before the Hon. Walter R. Barisonek for reconsideration [...]
Monmouth County Assignment Judge Lawrence M. Lawson rejected two motions to stay two eminent domain jury trials in the cases City of Long Branch v. DeLuca and City of Long Branch v. Angelides yesterday. Long Branch filed a motion seeking an indefinite stay [...]
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A Hudson County jury awarded $18.6 million on September 22 to property owners Ronald, Katherine, and Lynn Kerrigan for 3.41 acres acquired by the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA). The unanimous verdict was reached by 8 jurors, concluding the 10-day eminent domain trial [...]
Lillian Anzalone died at home this morning. She was 91. Mrs. Anzalone was born in Newark on February 10, 1917. She was a buyer of women’s clothes in New York before she married Louis Anzalone in 1954.
Together, the [...]
William J. Ward, Esq. of Carlin & Ward; Peter H. Wegener of Bathgate Wegener & Wolf and Scott Bullock of the Institute of Justice, representing the Long Branch property owners, have cross-petitioned the New Jersey Supreme Court today in the City of Long Branch v. [...]
In a unanimous 85-page opinion, the Appellate Division today reversed the decision of Judge Lawson and remanded the controversial eminent domain case, City of Long Branch v. Anzalone, for a plenary hearing. The court agreed with the arguments made by the appellants that the record was devoid of the requisite [...]
In a unanimous per curiam opinion issued yesterday, July 15, 2008, the Appellate Division affirmed a lower court decision by Chancery Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso denying an injunction to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to compel beach front property owners on Long Beach Island to grant [...]
The Halper family has had a long, tortuous history with the township of Piscataway regarding the acquisition of their farm. The township condemned the 75-acre farm for open space on December 10, 1999. Piscataway offered $4.326 million as its estimate of just compensation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-6. The jury awarded [...]
The Appellate Division heard three hours of arguments from the assembled attorneys representing Long Branch property owners and the city of Long Branch. The argument before the media and a standing room crowd of spectators included the property owners, their families, and interested parties to the eminent domain issues. This case [...]
MEDIA ADVISORY: City of Long Branch v. Anzalone
The Appellate Division of the Superior Court will hear oral arguments tomorrow in two eminent domain cases, City of Long Branch v. Anzalone and City of Long Branch v. Brower, on the 5th floor of the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, 25 [...]
Tomorrow May 5 at 10 a.m., the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee will take up S-757, the latest version of eminent domain reform, sponsored by Senator Ronald Rice. To read the most recent amendments, download bill S-757. The meeting will take place in Committee Room 7 on [...]
In a significant case, widely anticipated by the eminent domain bar, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling which would have blocked communities from using eminent domain for private development supported by tax concessions on March 18, 2008. Meanwhile, the city has attacked the defendants in [...]
"They're going to put up some fence, and it's going to be in Eagle Pass just to make an example of the mouthy mayor of Eagle Pass." – Mayor Chad Foster, as quoted in the Houston Chronicle.
The Bush administration’s decision to move forward with condemnation to acquire [...]
NOTICE: YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE CONDEMNED. If you own a property in an "area in need of redevelopment," (a.k.a blighted area") you would expect to see those exact words at the top of the notice you receive from a municipality. The notice issue was first discussed on this [...]
Three's a charm. New Jersey's promised eminent domain reform enters its third year after many iterations of the bill, passed by the Assembly in 2006, failed in the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee in 2007, and reintroduced and referred on January 8 to the Assembly Commerce and Economic [...]
SAVE THE DATE...William J. Ward, Esq., author of the New Jersey Eminent Domain Law Blog, will moderate the Lorman Education seminar Eminent Domain in New Jersey for the third consecutive year on Thursday, April 17, 2008, in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The seminar is an opportunity for attorneys, [...]
"Even in the most egregious eminent domain cases, the party whose land is being taken is given his or her day in court. The people of Texas should be outraged by the sneaky, underhanded methods used by the Department of Homeland Security....Informing the city after the judge ruled that [...]
The New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education will hold its 2008 Redevelopment Law Institute on Friday January 25 in New Brunswick featuring The Impact of Gallenthin v. Paulsboro and Other Recent Cases. Several cases following the Gallenthin decision have affected municipalities' use of eminent domain in redevelopment [...]
There was one eminent domain bill passed in New Jersey -- on January 13, 2008, to be exact. No, it was not a reform of the Local Redevelopment Housing Law, long considered by the Legislature, passed by the Assembly, and never voted out of the Senate Community and Urban [...]
Pay-to-play remains at the heart of the problem in New Jersey redevelopment and the authorization of eminent domain. Simply put, developers contribute to the campaigns of mayors and council members; and, in turn, the mayor and council designate the developer for the project and use the municipal power of eminent [...]
West Orange v. 769 Associates LLC (A-5677-05)
In an unanimous decision of the Appellate Division issued on December 24, 2007, and approved for publication, Judge Jose Fuentes writing for the panel, ruled that a property owner can recover litigation costs under the provision in the Eminent Domain Act, N.J.S.A. 20:3-26(b). [...]
"Asbury Partners is very sad that the current financing and real estate market has caused Metro to suspend construction on the Esperanza." -- Larry Fishman
In 2006, the demolition of the C-8 steel skeleton, a symbol of redevelopment failure, gave hope to Esperanza, the high-rise residential tower undertaken by developer Dean Geibel [...]
The decision in Lighthouse Institute for Evangelism v. City of Long Branch, rendered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on November 27, has national implications for religious use, zoning regulations, and eminent domain. In its precedent setting 96-page opinion, the Third Circuit ruled 2-1 in favor [...]
Mark Twain said, “There are two things you should never watch being made: sausage and legislation.” Heeding that advice, I saved myself a trip to Trenton and listened to yesterday’s Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on eminent domain reform on my computer. Twain’s admonition should offer [...]
While she waited for the next round in the eminent domain fight against the City of Long Branch, Anna DeFaria, 82, lost her battle with ovarian cancer. Last Wednesday, she died at home.
Home was the modest, oceanfront cottage that DeFaria and her husband, [...]
After reading the list of Best Law Blogs that made the top ten in the 2007 Weblog Awards, we noted that the Volokh Conspiracy (Ranked #3 in the poll) posts the reading level of their blog at Junior High School level. So we were [...]
posted by Priya Prakash Royal
"The future of the Indian people and Indian democracy rests on the land question. While the Government is forced to pause in its inhuman project of land grab, let the farmers and the democratic forces of the country join in evolving charter and an agenda [...]
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The New Jersey Turnpike is the fifth busiest road in the nation and the proposed widening between exits 6 and 9 will be one of the biggest public works projects ever undertaken in the state. Preliminary plans, displayed at four public [...]
William J. Ward and James M. Turteltaub will speak on Monday, October 15, 2007, at the 3rd Annual CLE International Eminent Domain Conference at the Nassau Inn in Princeton, N.J. On Monday October 15, Mr. Turteltaub and Stephen Eisdorfer of Hill Wallack will discuss best practices in their [...]
September 2007 will go down in history as a month of infamy for New Jersey. The headlines in the state’s major newspapers featured the sentencing of former Ocean Township Mayor and Asbury Park Manager Terrence Weldon for accepting $64,000 in bribes from developers; the federal indictment of 11 municipal officials [...]
September 2007 will go down in history as a month of infamy for New Jersey. The headlines in the state’s major newspapers featured the sentencing of former Ocean Township Mayor and Asbury Park Manager Terrence Weldon for accepting $64,000 in bribes from developers; the federal indictment of 11 municipal officials [...]
On June 25, 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Wilkie v. Robbins (06-219.) The case was barely reported in the media but was anticipated by property rights activists since it was the first significant property rights case decided by the Supreme Court since Kelo [...]
On June 25, 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Wilkie v. Robbins (06-219.) The case was barely reported in the media but was anticipated by property rights activists since it was the first significant property rights case decided by the Supreme Court since Kelo [...]
On the face of it, you may be wondering what eminent domain, demographics, and immigration policy have to do with each other. A disturbing trend is developing – the prime example is in Morristown, New Jersey, where Mayor Cresitello has been banging the drum to have local police deputized to [...]
On the face of it, you may be wondering what eminent domain, demographics, and immigration policy have to do with each other. A disturbing trend is developing – the prime example is in Morristown, New Jersey, where Mayor Cresitello has been banging the drum to have local police deputized to [...]
Today at the Statehouse Annex in Trenton, New Jersey high school students, who participated in the New Jersey Symposium on Leadership and Politics hosted by the Junior Statesmen Foundation and Princeton University, heard a lecture on eminent domain among other topics.
The symposium is [...]
Today at the Statehouse Annex in Trenton, New Jersey high school students, who participated in the New Jersey Symposium on Leadership and Politics hosted by the Junior Statesmen Foundation and Princeton University, heard a lecture on eminent domain among other topics.
The symposium is [...]
In a 35-page opinion issued Friday, August 10, 2007, and approved for publication, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court upheld the validity of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act., N.J.S.A. 13:20-1 et seq. , and its impact on a 93-acre tract of land in Washington Township in [...]
In a 35-page opinion issued Friday, August 10, 2007, and approved for publication, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court upheld the validity of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act., N.J.S.A. 13:20-1 et seq. , and its impact on a 93-acre tract of land in Washington Township in [...]
Yesterday Essex County Superior Court Judge Donald Goldman vacated Maplewood’s blight declaration for two properties, one owned by Carolyn Evans and the other owned by Richard Rio of the Rivco Group LLC. The case was an action in lieu of prerogative writs where the plaintiffs contested the inclusion of their properties [...]
Yesterday Essex County Superior Court Judge Donald Goldman vacated Maplewood’s blight declaration for two properties, one owned by Carolyn Evans and the other owned by Richard Rio of the Rivco Group LLC. The case was an action in lieu of prerogative writs where the plaintiffs contested the inclusion of their properties [...]
In a reported case, Cramer Hill Residents Association v. Primas (PDF), brought by the South Jersey Legal Services involving the Cramer Hill Neighborhood of Camden, the Appellate Division unanimously reversed the trial court regarding Camden’s attempt to use eminent domain to acquire several parcels of land [...]
In a reported case, Cramer Hill Residents Association v. Primas (PDF), brought by the South Jersey Legal Services involving the Cramer Hill Neighborhood of Camden, the Appellate Division unanimously reversed the trial court regarding Camden’s attempt to use eminent domain to acquire several parcels of land [...]
"Now we know that you can't simply say that you can redevelop on the basis that you're not getting the highest return on your land." - Michael Kates, Esq., as reported in the Star-Ledger (July 25, 2007)
Lodi's attempt to blight and ultimately condemn two trailer parks, comprising aproximately 20 [...]
"Now we know that you can't simply say that you can redevelop on the basis that you're not getting the highest return on your land." - Michael Kates, Esq., as reported in the Star-Ledger (July 25, 2007)
Lodi's attempt to blight and ultimately condemn two trailer parks, comprising aproximately 20 [...]
Yesterday, Essex County Superior Court Judge Marie P. Simonelli issued a detailed 71-paged opinion in Mulberry Street Area Property Owner's Group v. City of Newark (download PDF- 2 MB) and threw out Newark’s attempts to blight the Mulberry Street project area. The area [...]
Yesterday, Essex County Superior Court Judge Marie P. Simonelli issued a detailed 71-paged opinion in Mulberry Street Area Property Owner's Group v. City of Newark (download PDF- 2 MB) and threw out Newark’s attempts to blight the Mulberry Street project area. The area [...]
In a surprise development at a Monday night meeting in Lodi, the five members of the Borough Council voted unanimously to drop the appeal of a lower state court decision that found the borough had no grounds to blight land belonging to Brown's Trailer Park and Costa Trailer Court. More than 40 [...]
In a surprise development at a Monday night meeting in Lodi, the five members of the Borough Council voted unanimously to drop the appeal of a lower state court decision that found the borough had no grounds to blight land belonging to Brown's Trailer Park and Costa Trailer Court. More than 40 [...]
Two recent decisions of the Appellate Division show that the N.J. Supreme Court decision in Gallenthin Realty v. Borough of Paulsboro will be followed in pending cases, but Gallenthin is not the panacea envisioned by some property rights activists.
In the case of Citizens in Action [...]
Two recent decisions of the Appellate Division show that the N.J. Supreme Court decision in Gallenthin Realty v. Borough of Paulsboro will be followed in pending cases, but Gallenthin is not the panacea envisioned by some property rights activists.
In the case of Citizens in Action [...]
Recent case law suggests that more than a few municipalities declare blight based on reports that cite statutory language without analysis of the property and the categories selected, and most importantly, without linking the criteria to the health, safety and welfare of the community. Many experts presented by the municipalities [...]
Recent case law suggests that more than a few municipalities declare blight based on reports that cite statutory language without analysis of the property and the categories selected, and most importantly, without linking the criteria to the health, safety and welfare of the community. Many experts presented by the municipalities [...]
Greetings from Asbury Park, a 93-minute film documentary, was shown Friday evening, June 22, as part of the “Kelo Day” anniversary activities at the Jersey Shore Arts Center. There’s one heart-rending scene after another in a film about a senior citizen who finds out the [...]
Greetings from Asbury Park, a 93-minute film documentary, was shown Friday evening, June 22, as part of the “Kelo Day” anniversary activities at the Jersey Shore Arts Center. There’s one heart-rending scene after another in a film about a senior citizen who finds out the [...]
In a unanimous decision which invalidated Paulsboro’s redevelopment classification of the Gallenthin property, the New Jersey Supreme Court analyzes the meaning of blight as it pertains to the New Jersey Constitution and the Local Redevelopment Housing Law (LRHL) in Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro (A-51-2006):
The [...]
In a unanimous decision which invalidated Paulsboro’s redevelopment classification of the Gallenthin property, the New Jersey Supreme Court analyzes the meaning of blight as it pertains to the New Jersey Constitution and the Local Redevelopment Housing Law (LRHL) in Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro (A-51-2006):
The [...]
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The long, contentious three-year litigation over Bloomfield’s redevelopment and its attempts to secure properties by eminent domain is over. The New Jersey Superior Court entered an order approved by Essex County Assignment Judge Patricia Costello dismissing Lardieri [...]
The long, contentious three-year litigation over Bloomfield’s redevelopment and its attempts to secure properties by eminent domain is over. The New Jersey Superior Court entered an order approved by Essex County Assignment Judge Patricia Costello dismissing Lardieri [...]
The much-anticipated lighting of the next Olympic flame was dimmed when a Beijing resident burned himself to death last September. When Baoquan Wang was forcibly evicted from his home to make way for the city’s construction project for the 2008 Olympic Games in China, he became [...]
"Eminent domain reform would allow good redevelopment to continue while protecting tenants and property owners against the abuses that are undermining redevelopment across the state." - Public Advocate Ronald Chen
"I don't want their money. I want my house. From my back porch, I [...]
The Bharatiya Janata Party, one of India's major political parties, created chaos in the Lok Sabha (House of the People), the lower chamber of the Indian Parliament, on Tuesday, May 14, 2007, when the treasury benches did not oblige Mamata Banerjee, the leader of [...]
Public Advocate Ronald Chen has been pilloried for his support of eminent domain reform. The latest blast came from Senate Majority leader Bernard Kenny, Jr. (D-Hudson.), chairman of the Budget Committee, who took the opportunity during recent budget hearings to criticize not just the Public Advocate's budget, but Chen's eminent domain [...]
The opponents and proponents of the massive Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn assembled on Thursday, May 3, 2007, before New York State Supreme Court Justice Joan A. Madden. Lawyers for both sides argued before a packed court room for more than 3 hours.
Norman Oder's comprehensive blog post covering the oral [...]
"Our goal is really quite simple: to keep the power flowing to all Americans with sufficient reliability. And so, each draft Corridor was designed to include both areas where significant congestion problems or constraints exist and areas where there is a substantial amount [...]
I see trees of green....... clouds of white ....Nothing’s goin’ on….so, this must be blight…
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world...
Oral argument was held before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the matter of Gallenthin Realty Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro on April 26, 2007. This [...]
On Thurday, April 26, 2007, at 9:30 a.m., the New Jersey Supreme Court will hear oral argument on the case of Gallenthin Realty Development Inc v. Borough of Paulsboro. This case has been characterized on the front page of the New Jersey Lawyer (April 23, 2007) as “perhaps the most [...]
The Eminent Domain in New Jersey Lorman Education seminar scheduled for tomorrow will proceed as planned.
If you are a faculty member or attendee, please check traffic advisories or contact the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick at 732-873-1234 if you need alternate directions. As of 5 p.m., the hotel suggests:
