The fight over eminent domain continues as Bloomfield township makes another play for its $160 million redevelopment plan. The plan has been rejected twice in the courtroom - once in August 2005, and again in August 2006. Now another appeal has been filed, which if accepted could take the case to New Jersey Supreme Court. From The Independent Press:
Attorney Catherine Tamasik said that the township had filed the petition for certification of the appeal to the last decision on Sept. 27. The attorneys for defendant 110 Washington Street Associates, the firm Carlin and Ward, have filed the response brief to the petition. The paperwork that remains is the township’s reply, to be submitted later this month.But that’s as much as anyone can foresee. Tamasik said that the likelihood of the Supreme Court hearing the case — let alone the outcome — is undetermined. The Court could even take a year to decide whether or not to hear the appeal, and even then could decide against taking it on at all.
At the same time, the township planning board and council have adopted changes to the redevelopment area study, in an attempt to justify characterizing the area as blighted. Tamasik also mentioned that the negotiations with the holdout shop and property owners are ongoing, and that Forest City remains committed to the project — despite being stripped of the rights to develop the planned Parcel 4 condominium units on which the 110 Washington Street address lies.
So is the town (aka taxpayers) paying the legal bills or is the developer?