Judge to NJ: You can’t just take Margate land for dunes
“The beach town of Margate and its Philadelphia law team has scored a victory in federal court against Gov. Christie’s plan to build one big dune along the state’s coast. U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb told the state Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday that its reliance on an administative order to seize municipal easements was “misplaced.”
She extended a Temporary Restraining Order that bars the state from awarding a contract for the beach protection project until Dec. 17 and urged the state in the meantime to institute legal proceedings to condemn Margate’s land in state court. The state had argued that any delay jeopardizes the entire project.
Assistant Attorney General David C. Apy told the judge the state could only do that if bidders for the project agree to extend a deadline for the process, now set to expire on Dec. 31. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Taylor told the judge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will build the dune, is not ready to give up on this “quick take” method of seizing land. That issue will be further briefed in federal court.”
Rosenberg, Amy. Philly.com 4 December 2014.