Hoagland v. City of Long Branch, A-1583-11T2; Appellate Division; opinion by Haas, J.S.C., temporarily assigned; decided October 11, 2012; approved for publication October 16, 2012. Before Judges Axelrad, Nugent and Haas. On appeal from the Law Division, Monmouth County, L-2308-10, L-2750-10, L-2808-10 and L-3358-10. DDS No. 21-2-7941 [16 pp.]
This case returns after remand proceedings directed by a previous opinion involving a redevelopment plan adopted by Long Branch in 1996. In 2005 and 2006, the city filed condemnation actions against the defendants, who filed motions to dismiss. The trial court denied the motions and granted judgments in favor of the city, appointing condemnation commissioners. The trial court had decided these cases prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro, which reaffirmed that the New Jersey Constitution requires a finding of actual blight before private property may be taken for purposes of redevelopment. Therefore, the judgments appointing commissioners were reversed and remanded to afford the city the opportunity to amplify the record to meet the Gallenthin standard.
