Long Branch, NJ drops eminent domain scheme

Charlottesville, Va.—The case reported in Parade Magazine on Aug. 6, 2006 reached as many as 78 million readers. Long Branch, NJ began the process in 1996 to force out about 35 oceanfront homes to make way for luxury condos.

“The Long Branch City Council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday [Sep. 15] to accept an agreement in which the city will pay $435,000 in legal fees for the residents and give up its eminent domain claims for the neighborhood” (“Agreement reached to end NJ eminent domain dispute”, Sep. 16, 2009, Associated Press).

New Jersey is not one of the 43 states that have reformed eminent domain since the June 23, 2005, Susette Kelo v. New London, CT Supreme Court ruling. New Jersey is not one of the four states where the state supreme court has overruled the US Supreme Court on this issue.

A pending bill in New Jersey's Senate would revise existing law to "remove the possibility of property owners losing their homes simply because a 'better' use could be envisioned by a local government" (“Long Branch victory heats up eminent domain debate" by David Porter, Associated Press, Sep. 21, 2009 ).

Eminent domain spotlight on Long Branch, NJ, Aug. 10, 2006