Eminent Domain

WITH SO MUCH at stake for a person who loses a small business to eminent domain, a thorough and thoughtful process is needed to ease the disruption experienced by the owner. Key to the process? Clear and timely communication by the powerful governmental entities that can take land for public projects. Communication was missing in the case of Ed and Debbie Munoz. The couple's corner grocery store and garden center in Juniata Park was included in land set for redevelopment. As reported yesterday by the Daily News' Dave Davies, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has ruled that the city broke the law when it failed to tell the Munozes they could get counseling on their business options and were entitled to relocation expenses.

Basically, when a governing body deploys "redevelopment," the owners of a property that is condemned must sell it to the designated redeveloper. They don't get to set the sales price. They can't refuse to sell. They are forced to sell. The only way they can keep it is to go to court and have a judge decide they have more right to their property than the corporation that is trying to take it away from them through eminent-domain abuse. This is prohibitively expensive for most individuals, and so, in a lot of instances, they sell to avoid the legal expense, emotional drain, and uncertainty of how the judge will decide.

The township has spent at least $53,600 in fees to fight a lawsuit brought by the former owner of a two-story building in Browns Mills taken by eminent domain. After a one-month standoff between Township Solicitor John C. Gillespie and three individuals who filed public-information requests, Gillespie allowed the payment records to be released at last night's Township Council meeting. "I think now is the time to set the record straight," he said before the meeting in a telephone interview.

A Philadelphia agency violated the separation of church and state when it condemned a woman's home and gave it to a religious organization, a state appeals court ruled yesterday. Commonwealth Court said in its 4-3 ruling that the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority erred in employing its power of eminent domain in 2003 to condemn Mary Smith's property in a blighted North Philadelphia neighborhood. The city gave the land to the Hope Partnership for Education for construction of a middle school.

After a four-month review of how the most densely populated state allows the seizure of land for private redevelopment, key Democratic lawmakers are working on legislation that would tighten the criteria for exercising eminent domain and require more public notification. Builders and the New Jersey State League of Municipalities cheered the proposal, while property owners, Republicans, and the state's public advocate said it did not go far enough to curb eminent-domain abuse. "The real question is: What will this do to stop the abuse taking place now?

A long-running dispute in Haddon Township involving the threatened use of eminent domain for a redevelopment project took an unexpected and bitter turn this week with the death of a key opponent. Patrick W. Fritzsche, 53, owner of Pat's Pub in Westmont, died Sunday, four days after he made an emotional appearance before the Board of Commissioners to ask why health inspectors and police had shown up at his bar to investigate anonymous complaints after years of giving it a clean bill of health.

Local governments seeking to spur revival of blighted areas and increase tax revenue sometimes invoke their powers of eminent domain, or condemnation, to acquire private property and then sell it to a redeveloper. Camden and Haddon Township are making such efforts. Do you approve or disapprove? Would you approve the use of eminent domain by your town to take your neighbor's property if that holds down your taxes? Please share your views in 250 words or fewer. E-mail us by March 3 at sjvoices@phillynews.

Eminent domain is one of the most awesome powers Americans have entrusted to government. It is therefore crucial that the laws governing its use ensure a just and transparent process that fully protects the rights of tenants and property owners. This is particularly important when eminent domain is used for private redevelopment because, in these cases, the opportunities for misuse, abuse and injustice are often even greater. Unfortunately, current laws: Allow for the use of eminent domain in areas that do not meet the constitutional requirement of a "blighted area.

TRENTON - A court ruling that upheld a $375,000 judgment for oceanfront homeowners in an eminent-domain dispute could jeopardize beach-replenishment projects in one of the Jersey Shore's most vulnerable areas, a lawyer involved in the case said Tuesday. The appellate ruling Monday upheld the award to a couple in Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Island, site of a $22 million beach replenishment aimed at minimizing storm damage. Harvey and Phyllis Karan had argued during the trial last year that a 22-foot dune built on their property obliterated their ocean view and lowered the value of their $1.9 million property by $500,000.

If there's anything New Yorkers like to talk about more than restaurants, it's real estate. In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards , a show performed by the Civilians at the Annenberg Center, is a docudrama about the unpromising topic of eminent domain - the complex real estate legality that can crush an individual homeowner in the jaws of corporate takeover. The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn has dragged on for seven years; it began when Bruce Ratner decided to build a basketball arena in Prospect Heights, a land grab that involved displacing more than 800 people.

Horses and hot-air balloons, the optimal modes of transport in Chester County's West Vincent Township, offer idyllic vistas of covered bridges and rolling pastures - as well as a jarring contrast to a recent, acrimonious land dispute. Like many area municipalities, West Vincent, which boasts pre-Revolutionary War lineage, is struggling to preserve its rural ambience, having more than doubled its population from 2,268 in 2000 to 4,567 in 2010. But the pressure to keep development at bay fostered a skirmish between unlikely foes: the township supervisors - two of whom have a background in conservation - and the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show Association, a 68-year-old nonprofit dedicated to preserving its 33-acre site on Route 100, just north of Route 401. The supervisors voted Nov. 28 to seize the horse show grounds by eminent domain for a public park, generating an outcry that rivaled the din of a steeplechase and resulted in a reversal less than a month later.

After several weeks of protest, the West Vincent Township supervisors voted this morning to rescind the Nov. 29 condemnation of the grounds of a popular horse show. Township Manager Jim Wendelgass said the special meeting, held in the township building, did not last more than 10 minutes. He said a motion was introduced to rescind the condemnation of the 33-acre tract owned by the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show Association, seconded, and approved by all three supervisors. John Jacobs, president of the Horse Show organization, said he "absolutely applauded" the supervisors' action.

About 150 angry protesters jammed the West Vincent Township supervisors' meeting Monday night, where a sign identified the room's capacity of 49, and another 150 attendees strained to hear the proceeding from the hallway. The rancor centers on a vote earlier this month by the board to seize by eminent domain the 33-acre tract owned by the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show, a nonprofit that has been hosting a popular Labor Day show and other events for 68 years. The supervisors have said they want the land for a park and ball fields and plan to increase its equestrian use. Those affiliated with the show have questioned the practicality of that arrangement as well as the necessity for such extreme action.

Jill Townsend Red, 76, of Malvern, a nurse and conservationist, died of nonsmoking lung cancer Thursday, Dec. 8, at home. In 1970, Mrs. Red and her husband, Donald E., moved to Radnor when he joined the radiology staff of Lankenau Hospital. He later chaired the radiology department and was president of the medical staff. While her husband pursued his medical career, Mrs. Red raised four sons, worked as a nurse, and became involved in the community. She and other activists fought to protect the former 46-acre Zantzinger estate in Radnor from development.

Several hundred people packed the West Vincent Township Building on Monday night to protest the recent condemnation of the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show Association. Supervisor Clare Quinn told the crowd that the supervisors had decided to rescind the plan to seize the association's 33-acre parcel at Routes 100 and 401, the site of numerous horse shows and other events for 68 years. Quinn said that action would occur at a nearby firehouse so that the crowd could be accommodated. The supervisors had said eminent domain was needed to acquire the land for a public park; however, the decision was sharply criticized by township residents, area equestrians, and politicians, including State Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D., Chester)

With millions of dollars in federal grants available to fix up dilapidated homes, Camden nonprofit redevelopment groups are eager for the city to use the state Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act, as it promised it would this year. But using the law - pitched as a more efficient way than foreclosure to take control of blighted properties - has proven to be a lengthier process than many imagined. As the months pass, there is a growing sense of urgency among some groups to get titles to the properties they applied to rehabilitate before those essential grants expire.

Camden and Campbell Soup can move forward with their plans for the former Sears building on Admiral Wilson Boulevard, which likely includes its demolition, according to a decision by Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division. The plan to raze the former department store was challenged by Ilan Zaken, who bought the building in 2006, and city activist Frank Fulbrook. In February, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Orlando Jr. struck down Zaken and Fulbrook's lawsuit against the city and Campbell Soup in which they claimed the city did not follow proper protocol in its decision to include the Sears building in its redevelopment plan.

When the chunks of concrete began falling, Camden's Lanning Square School closed and students were temporarily moved into two 19th-century buildings. Nine years and $10 million later, the Lanning Square School has been demolished, architectural plans have been drawn for a new building, and adjacent homes have been seized by eminent domain - but the neighborhood is nowhere near getting a new school. Now children's advocates are calling for an investigation into how part of the land set aside for a $42.4 million school has become a parking lot for a politically connected construction project.