[AsburyPark] Property owners need protection.........

Thu, 04 May 2006 09:11:23 -0700

Property owners need protection
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/4/06
Eminent domain — the taking of private property for public use — is as much about people as it is about property.
It's about George Salamone, at 96 probably Neptune City's oldest taxpayer, worried about whether he will have to sell his home of 65 years because it is located in the borough's redevelopment zone. Or Grace Cangemi, whose four-family Long Branch house was lost to eminent domain for the new Pier Village parking garage. Her family is still challenging in court the "just compensation" awarded for the taking.
It's also about municipalities luring development to increase the tax base and the town's commercial-residential mix, ostensibly for the economic good of all residents, and condemning properties that stand in the way.
The use of eminent domain for economic development when it involves owner-occupied residences and businesses cannot be justified, philosophically or morally. Eminent domain should be primarily limited to its traditional purpose — acquiring property to build highways, bridges, schools, hospitals and other clearly public uses.
Swift action is needed in Trenton. Lawmakers should overhaul the state's redevelopment law to ensure that blighted areas are clearly defined and that all parcels, such as the Salamone home, are considered individually when declaring an area in need of redevelopment. And they must ensure that satisfying the constitutional mandate of "just compensation" for people like the Cangemis goes beyond the value of the land at the time of the taking. It must consider the value of the property after it is redeveloped and allow the property owner to recoup the costs of relocating and any legal fees incurred in challenging the taking.
Eminent domain abuses and efforts to correct them were the focus of the Press' series "Private Property/Public Gain: The Battle Over Eminent Domain," which ran Sunday through Tuesday. The issue has not escaped Gov. Corzine's attention, who said Tuesday that reforming eminent domain use is a top priority. He has told Public Advocate Ronald K. Chen to recommend reforms quickly, a report that will signal how aggressively Chen will advocate on behalf of the public.
New Jersey is among 40 states considering eminent domain reform, so Chen and the legislators have many sources to draw upon. They should take a particularly close look at reforms approved recently in Indiana and Georgia. Indiana flatly prohibits the condemnation of private property for economic development. Georgia has tightly defined "blight" — primarily as a danger to public health or safety — and requires individual parcels, not just a whole area, be designated as "blighted" before being subject to condemnation for private development.
Legislators in New Jersey are calling for a moratorium on eminent domain for redevelopment projects. Assemblyman Michael J. Panter, D-Monmouth, says he will introduce a bill for a 24-month halt while lawmakers consider reform. That's too long. A tighter time frame, perhaps a year, would put pressure on the legislators to act on their own or on Chen's recommendations.
Corzine's ability to issue a moratorium is limited to "dire emergencies." Eminent domain, however important, doesn't qualify. But the governor can stop state government from exercising eminent domain for private development, which Panter said would send a message indicating how he feels about the practice to the municipalities, where most of the condemnations take place. Corzine should follow up on this suggestion.
Property owners like Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adams must have a voice. Her furniture restoration business in Long Branch is threatened by eminent domain. "If someone doesn't want to sell their property, I don't understand why they are being forced to do it," she said. Neither do we. Trenton must put an immediate end to the abuse. 



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