State's eminent domain law is under attack

Tuesday, February 05, 2008
BY TOM HESTER
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

In a case on the use of eminent domain to condemn property in Harrison, the state public advocate and other lawyers argued yesterday in state Appellate Court over the constitutionality of the state redevelopment law.

Public Advocate Ronald Chen said the law does not give property owners any meaningful opportunity to challenge a town's plans to take their property because they may not know whether their property is actually targeted for condemnation until years after a deadline to take legal action has expired.

In 1997, the Harrison Planning Board determined a portion of the town south of Route 280 was blighted and designated it as an "area in need of redevelopment."

Chen said when the Planning Board conducted a required public hearing, members provided only positive information about the benefits of redevelopment and told property owners it would not affect their property rights.

In 1998, the Town Council adopted the Planning Board's redevelopment recommendation and from that point forward, property owners had only 45 days under the law to initiate legal action opposing the blight designation.

But the town did not identify any specific properties that it intended to take through eminent domain. It would be another six years before any property owners received formal notice that the town planned to condemn their properties. By then, the 45-day period to take legal action had long passed.

"Under our current law, New Jersey residents can lose their property without adequate notice that their property will be taken and without a hearing," Chen said. "This case demonstrates why the current law fails to satisfy the due process requirements of the federal and state constitutions."

The three-judge appeals panel in Trenton did not make an immediate ruling in the case.