MTOTSA appeal could start in court this spring A report on the effect of reforming eminent domain laws released BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer Attorneys at the Institute for Justice (IJ) said the oral arguments in a Long Branch eminent domain case could be scheduled to start this spring. A group of city residents living in the Marine and Ocean terraces and Seaview Avenue neighborhood, known as MTOTSA, is appealing a state Superior Court ruling that warrants the city's power to condemn their oceanfront homes for a private redevelopment project. The MTOTSA residents have been waiting for their day in court for more than a year, according to IJ attorney Jeff Rowes, who said his firm filed the opening brief in the appeal on Feb. 8, 2007. "The MTOTSA case has not been scheduled yet," Rowes said last week. "We will find out almost any day now. "We have heard that oral arguments could be scheduled [in the New Jersey Appellate Division] to be heard this spring," he added. A group of some 18 homeowners in MTOTSA is being represented by Peter H. Wegener, of Bathgate Wegener and Wolf in Lakewood in the appeal. IJ attorneys Rowes and Scott Bullock are acting as co-counsel in the case. The attorneys are appealing the Superior Court ruling of Judge Lawrence M. Lawson that permits the city's use of eminent domain to condemn the properties in the beachfrontMTOTSA neighborhood. Plans for MTOTSA call for designated developer MM Beachfront North II - consisting of Matzel & Mumford, a division of K. Hovnanian, and the Applied Cos., Hoboken - to raze the neighborhood and construct three buildings with 185 upscale condominium units. The IJ, a public interest law firm based inArlington, Va., conducted a study of the economic trends in areas where government enacted eminent domain reforms and publicized the findings in a report in January. The report is named "Doomsday? No Way: Economic Trends & Post-Kelo Eminent Domain Reform" and can be viewed at www.ij.org/publications/other/doomsday. html. "The point of the study was that after the Kelo decision, IJ was speaking about eminent domain reforms at the state level," Rowes said. "We heard a lot of opposition from local governments that said if the power of eminent domain is taken away at the local level, the economy will crash. "We did a study to look at the data and to do a serious analysis," Rowes said, adding, "We discovered there are no dire consequences to the economy when change is made with respect to people's property rights." According to IJ, in towns across the state, including in Long Branch, government force is being used or threatened to take property from one private owner to hand it over to another private party for his or her personal financial gain. Some 42 states across the country have enacted eminent domain reforms, according to a press release from IJ, which states that eight states, including New Jersey, have yet to enact any reforms. The U.S Supreme Court upheld eminent domain for private redevelopment in the 2005 Kelo vs. New London, Conn., case. The IJ represented homeowner Susette Kelo, a homeowner along the New London waterfront where the New London Development Corp., a private development corporation, was planning to take Kelo's property and the other 15 properties in the neighborhood. The public reacted with "shock" and "outrage" to the Kelo decision, according to the IJ report, which states that the decision sparked a nationwide movement to reform state laws and curb the abuse of eminent domain for private gain. "Throughout the public backlash to the Kelo ruling, those who favor eminent domain for private redevelopment predicted, and continue to predict, dire consequences from reform for state and local economies: fewer jobs, less development and lower tax revenues," the report states. It continues, "This report tests those doom-and-gloom predictions. We examined economic indicators closely tied to reform opponents' forecasts - construction jobs, building permits and property revenues - before and after reform across all states." Dick Carpenter, director of strategic research for the IJ, said in a press release, "The data reveal that post-Kelo reforms have provided greater protection to homes and small businesses without sacrificing economic health, securing property rights and stimulating economic development can coexist. "With no ill economic effects and with the substantial benefits strong reform provides the rightful owners of property and society as a whole, legislators nationwide should be encouraged to keep good reforms in place while pursuing new and stronger safeguards against eminent domain abuse," Carpenter said.