NEW JERSEY PUBLIC ADVOCATE RONALD K. CHEN

STATEMENT ON TODAY’S APPELLATE DECISION IN FAVOR OF LONG BRANCH PROPERTY OWNERS

I am very gratified by today’s decision.  The appeals panel agreed that the city did not meet its basic obligation to provide evidence that the MTOTSA neighborhood was blighted.

Read Long Branch Decision

I am further gratified that the panel “did not find actual blight under any subsection” of the state’s redevelopment law and specifically noted that “the record lacked substantial evidence that could have supported the New Jersey Constitution’s standard for finding blight.”  The ruling relies heavily on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling last year in Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro.  The ruling once again reaffirms the constitutional rights of property owners. As such, this is not just a victory for the MTOTSA homeowners but for every citizen of this state.

The New Jersey courts have made it abundantly clear that under our state Constitution, eminent domain cannot be used to raze a neighborhood merely to make way for luxury townhouses and condominiums.  Our Constitution permits the use of eminent domain for redevelopment only in blighted areas, and in this case the court held that the City of Long Branch simply failed to show that the MTOTSA neighborhood was blighted under any definition.

Furthermore, it is clear that the city cannot continue to claim that the MTOTSA neighborhood is essential to its redevelopment plans.  Long Branch’s beachfront redevelopment has proceeded unabated and quite successfully during the years this case made its way through the courts.

Given the force with which the court repudiated the city’s claims, as city officials decide whether to pursue this case further, I hope they consider the human toll this case has taken on the homeowners—their constituents--who waged this battle for so many years. 

This ruling and the other important rulings by the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division in the area of eminent domain provide municipalities with clear direction on how to proceed with redevelopment in ways that are consistent with state law and comply with the protections that the New Jersey Constitution provides for property owners.

Background Note:

The Public Advocate has worked to alter the legal landscape governing the taking of private property for redevelopment, ensuring that redevelopment efforts proceed in a manner consistent with the New Jersey Constitution and do not violate the rights of homeowners, businesses and tenants.  In addition to issuing two major reports on problems surrounding eminent domain practices in New Jersey, the Department also has participated in four cases as amicus curiae.

The MTOTSA case was the first in which the Department participated as amicus curiae.  The Public Advocate has scored major court victories in its ongoing effort to prevent abuses of eminent domain laws to ensure that the constitutional rights of private property owners are protected.  In its June 2007 ruling in Gallenthin, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that helped rein in the overly broad definition of blight contained in the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law. The Supreme Court agreed with the Public Advocate’s argument, as amicus curiae, that the definition of blight in the statute was too broad. 

The Public Advocate also participated in a case that resulted in a victory for residents of Lodi before the Appellate Division. Early this year, the Public Advocate scored yet another major legal victory in a case involving the city of Harrison when the Appellate Division ruled that property owners are entitled to clear notice and a fair hearing before a municipality can take their property for redevelopment.  In addition, the Department is conducting an ongoing investigation into the impact of the redevelopment process on residents in a Mount Holly neighborhood.

A summary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Gallenthin and the other cases in which the Public Advocate participated can be found at http://www.state.nj.us/publicadvocate/public/issues/edcasesummary.html.

Copies of recent court rulings involving the use of eminent domain in other communities, as well as other publications and legal briefs issued by the Public Advocate, can be found at http://www.state.nj.us/publicadvocate/public/issues/eminentdomain.html