Evicted by city, man to have day in court

BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

Long Branch LONG BRANCH — A city resident whose home was taken for oceanfront redevelopment through eminent domain proceedings was scheduled to have his day in court Tuesday.

Bruce MacCloud owned a three-story, 17-room, 100-year-old Victorian home at 47 Cooper Ave., just 300 feet from the beach, according to his attorney, William J. Ward, of Carlin & Ward, Florham Park.

McCloud’s home was located in the Beachfront North, phase I, redevelopment zone and on Nov. 6, 2002, he was physically evicted from the home he had owned for 23 years.

The properties in his neighborhood were taken by the city through its power of eminent domain and since have been bulldozed and replaced with high-rise townhomes and condominiums.

On the morning of his eviction, MacCloud said six police officers, a locksmith, an animal control officer for his 13-year-old black shepherd, Shannon, and fire bureau officials gathered on his property to escort him out of his home.

He was relocated temporarily to the Fountains Motel on Ocean Avenue, and his belongings were moved into nine storage facilities in Tinton Falls, Neptune and Long Branch that were paid for by the city for one year.

MacCloud moved to a motel on Newman Springs Road in Lincroft for five months and is currently staying with a friend in Red Bank.

A $140,000 deposit was made into a court escrow account as part of the settlement between MacCloud and the designated developer, Applied Cos., Hoboken, according to MacCloud.

He said that amount was $1,900 less than what his home was assessed at in 1987.

Ward is asking that MacCloud be compensated $630,000 for his home.

Ward is no stranger to property rights cases and has already successfully tried a case in November in which Fred and Dorothy Strahlendorf were awarded $500,000 for their property in Beachfront North, phase I, after the city offered them $189,000.

He has also been retained to represent two residents in the Beachfront North, phase II, redevelopment zone, who have received notice from the city that they have two weeks to negotiate a sale price for their home before eminent domain is used to seize the properties.

And most recently he has been retained by two business owners in the downtown Broadway Corridor redevelopment zone.

As of Monday, Ward was awaiting word from the court whether a judge would be available to hear MacCloud’s case scheduled for Tuesday.