Long Branch Sued Again for it's development process...

Broadway- Gateway blight challenged BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer Alawsuit filed against the city of Long Branch charges that the process used by the city to designate properties as "in need of redevelopment" in the Broadway Gateway redevelopment zone was unconstitutional and should be overturned.
The suit filed in state Superior Court in Freehold April 8 on behalf of lower Broadway property owners seeks to overturn what it alleges is the city's "unconstitutional designation of private property as blighted" and asks for "damages and injunctive relief against the mayor and the council of the city of Long Branch."
Filed by Princeton attorney R. William Potter on behalf of the owners of the property known as the Fuchsia Triangle, in the Broadway-Gateway redevelopment zone, the complaint names the city of Long Branch and the City Council, the city's designated redevelopment authority, as defendants.
Plaintiffs are the Fuschia Triangle Corp., 71 Broadway; Coach Corp., 80 Broadway; and Kevin A. and Adele Fister, principals in the corporations, whom the suit charges have been denied "their lawful right to own, use, enjoy, develop, redevelop or sell their property" in what amounts to the "loss of their property" due to the city's "de facto" condemnation of the commercial properties made up of five contiguous lots bounded by North and South Broadway, Long Branch Av enue and Ocean Boulevard.
"Their property remains 'frozen,' private in name but 'de facto' condemned for future use and without just, or indeed, any compensation," reads the complaint, which asks for a jury trial.
Potter, of Potter and Dickson, said Monday the suit advances two main arguments.
"One, we are filing that the original designation of property was unconstitutional. Two, we are arguing that the long standing failure for the city to use eminent domain resulting in a significant to almost complete loss of value of the property" which "has remained frozen for more then a decade.
"The thrust of the case is to get justice for Kevin and Adele Fister," Potter said.
"They have been trying for years to develop the land in a manner where the city would embrace. We are hoping that this is a wake up call to the city. Not only do we want the city to lift the cloud of the blight designation, now they must compensate for the loss of value."
He continued, "This lawsuit is coming only after extraordinary efforts by the Fisters to find a common ground with the city. We are still open to find a common ground. Fister still has a current proposal to develop the land."
Potter said he expects other legal actions to be filed.
"I expect similar cases to follow," Potter said.
"We are not trying to drain the city's20resources, we are seeking just compensation for the loss of value to the property."
City attorney James Aaron could not be reached for comment Monday. The city has 30 days after being served with the suit in which to respond to the filing.
According to the complaint, the city's unconstitutional actions date to the mid- 1980s with initial efforts to redevelop leading to a preliminary investigation by the Long Branch Planning Board into whether large sections of the city, including the Fuschia Triangle, were blighted under the 1992 Local Redevelopment and Housing Law (LRHL).
The suit claims the city used the terms "area in need of redevelopment" and "redevelopment area" while actually applying standards of "blighted" property or area that were rejected by the New Jersey Supreme Court in a 2007 case, Gallenthin Realty v. Borough of Paulsboro, which Potter successfully argued.
According to the complaint, the city designated the Fuschia Triangle as "in need of redevelopment" making the property and surrounding area subject to the LRHL; using the law to prevent the plaintiffs from developing their own property; to designate another redeveloper and to acquire the property through eminent domain.
However, the complaint states, the city for more than a decade has not exercised the power of eminent domain to acquire the Fuschia Triangle or to pay just compensation nor have any of the city's chosen redevelopers purchased it.
At the20same time, the owners have been subject to property taxes that do not take into account "the extreme loss of value and use" resulting from the city's actions, the complaint states.
Because the property could be subject to eminent domain, the suit argues potential purchasers or developers have been unwilling to invest in the property "despite its prime location … at the gateway to Broadway."
The filing of the legal action comes after the owners have exhaustively pursued alternative courses of action and failed to gain the city's approval of any plans to develop the Fuschia Triangle, the complaint states.
It notes that last July, a Notice of Tort Claim was filed in an effort to receive fair compensation for the "de facto taking" of the property.
"Therefore, this lawsuit seeks to overturn the blight designation of the Fuschia Triangle … and to obtain compensatory and punitive damages … for the inverse condemnation 'taking' of the Fuschia Triangle that has resulted from the city's ongoing pattern and practice of 'freezing' the Fuschia Triangle in place for some ill-defined future use or redevelopment purpose that may never transpire."
As an alternative, the suit asks the court to order the city to purchase the Fuschia Triangle property within 30 days and end the "legal limbo which has prevented the Fisters from making profitable use of their property for more than a decade."
The complaint alleges t hat the unconstitutional process of designating the Fuschia Triangle a redevelopment area dates to August 1995 when the City Council directed the Planning Board to investigate whether the Broadway-Gateway area and other areas met the criteria for designation as redevelopment areas.
In January 1996, the Planning Department issued a Redevelopment Report, and property owners were noticed that there would be a public hearing would be held on Jan. 16. However, the complaint states that the Planning Board failed to inform property owners that designation as 'in need of redevelopment' or 'redevelopment area' were the legal equivalent of declaring the property or the area as blighted and could result in condemnation. Nor did the board explain other consequences including that the city was empowered to designate a person other than the owner to be the redeveloper of the Fuschia Triangle and could prevent the plaintiffs from developing their property.
Because of the failure to explain the consequences of the redevelopment area designation, the complaint argues, "The city failed to provide the constitutionally necessary and sufficient notice of the investigation as mandated by the court" in three 2008 decisions.
The Redevelopment Report concluded that the Oceanfront North and Broadway corridor met the statutory criteria for "areas in need of redevelopment." However, the complaint charges the Redevelopment Report did not provide "the constitutionally required substantive evidence of actual blight of any of the properties" as mandated by the Supreme Court in Gallenthin and recently in Long Branch v. Anzalone.
Specifically, the suit charges the report failed to examine building interiors within the study area to determine if there were any severe structural, safety or health hazards or illegal activity; if the property was uninhabitable or dangerous or abandoned or in a state of disrepair beyond restoration, among other criteria.
"In short, there was no actual, credible or reliable evidence that the plaintiffs' property or the property of any other property owner within the study area was in a condition of blight and part of a blighted area," the complaint states.
"The Redevelopment Report relied upon and employed unconstitutional standards of what is a blighted property or area in that it was not based on objective factual evidence of severe and continuing detriment or harm to other property or the public."
Instead, the report was based on "a contrived and subjective 'rating' system of properties and assumed that any property deemed … to be 'underutilized' by comparison to some assumed future and potentially more profitable use is a sufficient basis … to render the properties blighted in direct contravention of the Supreme Court's enunciation of constitutional standards," the complaint states.
As a result, the Redevelopment Report amounts to "an unreliable and misleading net opinion which cannot form the substantial evidence basis which is required to support a constitutionally sustainable blight designation," the suit argues.
As a result, the board and the city failed to rely on the standard of substantial evidence required to support a redevelopment area or blighted area designation.
Citing the Gallenthin ruling, the complaint notes: "The Supreme Court ruled that the substantial evidence standard is not met if a municipality's decision is supported, as here, by only the net opinion of an expert or consultant."
The council adopted the Planning Board's findings and directed the board to develop a redevelopment plan for the area including the Fuschia Triangle. The council voted to adopt the Oceanfront-Broadway Redevelopment Plan in May 1996.
However, the complaint argues, since the blight designation for the Fuschia Triangle and the Gateway area did not meet standards set forth in the New Jersey Constitution, "it follows that the Redevelopment Plan is null and void and cannot supersede local zoning, nor may the city utilize the Redevelopment Plan to prevent plaintiffs from developing their property."
For the same reasons, the suit states, the city lacked the authority to designate the City Council as the redevelopment agency for the area and the council has "no power to determine who will be the redeveloper of the Fuschia Triangle unless it is the rightful owners."
The complaint also addresses the impact of the city's "inverse condemnation" of the Fuschia Trian gle.
The complaint notes the prolonged delay in the city exercising eminent domain diminished the value of the property. It states that for more than a decade, the city engaged "in a consistent pattern and unlawful practice of delaying action" to acquire the property and of denying the owners the right to develop their property, rejecting numerous redevelopment proposals. At the same time, purchase or lease offers have fallen through due to the "cloud of potential eminent domain that has been hanging over the property since 1996."
The suit seeks a declaratory judgment that the Fuschia Triangle "is not, nor has it ever been, lawfully properly designated as an area in need of redevelopment or blighted." Also, it asks the court to issue preliminary and permanent injunctions directing the city to discontinue and nullify the designation of the property as blighted or in a redevelopment area.
As an alternative, the suit asks the court to order the city to initiate the acquisition of the Fuschia Triangle within no more than 30 days and to empanel a jury to determine the value of the property during the period in which it was taken through inverse condemnation and to assess damages including compensation for the financial losses and pain and suffering experienced by the Fisters.

Tax Day Tea Party - Tomorrow Trenton Statehouse - Lonegon To Attend!

The Boston Tea Party was a trigger event in the revolution against England which brought about the war for American Independence against despotic government. Taxation without representation was the outcry of the people back then.

Isn't it ironic that today's tax burden has been brought about by creative tax & use programs developed by our representatives... The question of representation is a big one these days. The climate across New Jersey is far from "bliss" as many are struggling under the extreme burden of property taxes as a result of education, the main culprit! Add to that, size of government and all the little municipal pockets (over 600) in the tiny state, and you have a price ticket for running a state that is so high, that no matter who is leading it, there is no real end in sight.

State, county and municipal elected officials as well as administrations and staffs are the cost of government here. Something has to go! Either funding for public schools from property taxation or an arm of NJ Government!

It's not the tea tax, that has New Jersey residents up in arms in 2009. It's "government". One positive note about tomorrow's demonstration is that Gov candidate Steve Lonegon is scheduled to speak to those attending at 3 PM!

Eminent Domain Abuse - Alive & Well in New Jersey

"Not For Sale!" - That was our exclamation from 2002 till now, but unfortunately when it comes to forced sale in designated redevelopment areas in the New Jersey city of Long Branch, you might as well say; "take whatever you want from me, and don't compensate me!"

Our church owned building once was 162 Broadway in the depressed downtown area of Long Branch. We bought it in 1994 when the downtown area was really "needy." So needy, that the only folks congregating there were "needy." Perfect place for a church run for 'Needy people." We took on the enormous undertaking in a political community with meager funds and a whole bunch of faith in God Almighty. We never lost the faith, we just lost the building. I have expressed much of the facts previously and made it pretty clear that the New Jersey statutes make property worthless, when a local government decides to take it from you.

Friday, in a court of law we had another go around with the funds the city had to place on deposit when they filed their affadavit of taking last May 2008. We seem to be finally over the hurdles in the county court, we had to prematurely and with no way to negotiate payments of our debts, pay off all the liens on the property. Now that everyone has their money, one would expect we would get ours. Especially when the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution tells us all, Just compensation shall be paid when you and before you use eminent domain.

Well the city took possession of title May 29, 2008. The transferred it over to the designated developer shortly there after... so they have what they wanted - even though it was against our will! Yet we still do not have a replacement property, nor the money the city gave to the State at that time. The State has it and will most likely keep it even longer as we now have to apply to the State Treasurer for our money. What can I say, we are virtually "out of business" with no continued support or revenue since we were made to leave the building we occupied close to a year ago. This is as close to hell, as I would have ever expected to experience while a Christian minister and on the earth.

I don't mean to cry too much here, I know there are people out there in worse situations and circumstances than we, even me. Yet, I expected the american way of life to be honored and the intent of the founding fathers of this once Great Nation, to be some type of plumb line in all matters pertaining to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness and right to own land. Add to that the right for the church to exist free of government interference!

God have mercy.