NJ Appellate Court Affirms Right to Condemn
“Yesterday, the appellate division affirmed a trial court decision that rejected a property owner’s request to dismiss a condemnation action on the grounds that the State failed to engage in bona fide negotiations. State, DOT v. St. Mary’s Church (Docket A-5448-10T1). The property owner argued that dismissal was warranted because the State failed to follow the correct pre-complaint procedures required for an entity to exercise eminent domain; i.e. produce a copy of an “addendum memo” authored by its appraiser when it made its offer, and for DOT’s failure to produce an internal “review appraisal. The “addendum memo” was ultimately disclosed to the property owner, but the State refused to disclose the internal “review appraisal.” After positing the issue as: ”Does the failure to provide the addendum memo in the first instance require this court to dismiss the complaint… ?” The trial court found that it did not, and denied the property owner’s challenge.”
Grather, Joseph. New Jersey Condemnation Law 15 October 2012.