Matthew J. Doherty

Belmar OKs strict limits on eminent domain use

February 26, 2009

By FRAIDY REISS
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

The borough now boasts the strongest anti-eminent domain law in Monmouth and Ocean counties, Councilman Matthew J. Doherty declared.

Belmar earned that distinction, he said, when the Borough Council voted 4-1 Wednesday night to prohibit itself from seizing any property in a redevelopment area and selling it to a developer - despite a state eminent domain law that allows municipalities to do just that.

“It’s wrong to take private property and turn it over to a redeveloper for private gain,” Doherty said. “It’s a power that shouldn’t be available to municipal, county or state governments.”

The borough already had banned itself from seizing owner-occupied homes in redevelopment zones, under the terms of an ordinance Doherty introduced and the council adopted in 2007. But Belmar wanted to expand that ban to any type of property, even though right now the recession is delaying the borough’s plans to redevelop its downtown, Doherty said.

“At some point, the economy is going to come back, and there is going to be redevelopment in Belmar,” he said. “So this (ban) will already be in place.”

Patricia Tecza, owner of Nostalgic Nonsense Vintage Clothing on Main Street, was among dozens of local business owners who supported the council’s limiting its own power of eminent domain. For the last decade and a half, she said, she has been stuck on a “roller coaster,” wondering whether the borough will seize the property her store has occupied since 1993.

The awning outside Nostalgic Nonsense should have been replaced six years ago, but she held off, reluctant to invest in a storefront that might get torn down in the name of redevelopment, she said.

“Why would I go spend a lot of money on an awning when I don’t know what the town’s going to do?” Tecza asked.

Only now that the council has committed not to invoke its power of eminent domain will she move ahead with improving her business, she said.

The dissenting council vote came from Councilman Richard J. Wright, the only Republican on the governing body, who called the eminent domain ban “silly.” The state Supreme Court recently issued a decision regarding Paulsboro in Gloucester County that “essentially ended” government’s right to seize land for redevelopment, he said.

“Since that court has already spoken on this issue, to pass a local ordinance saying we’re not going to use eminent domain is totally unnecessary,” Wright said. “I don’t believe we should be passing laws that are unnecessary.”

Doherty, his fellow councilman, countered that the Supreme Court decision helps only those businesses that can hire a lawyer to fight eminent domain proceedings, as Freedman’s Bakery and the Belmar Mall have done successfully.

“You have to have the money to go to court,” Doherty said. “If you’re a regular business owner in town and you don’t have those deep pockets, what do you do?”

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 11:20 am and is filed under News Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.