Bloomed faces yet another lawsuit in the attempt to redevelop downtown Bloomfield Center.
Bloomfield Parking Authority was given authorization to use eminent domain to seize property last year. This was the townships most recent attempt to move the redevelopment forward since 2006 when the New Jersey Supreme Court refused to overturn a 2005 decision that stopped the condemnation of downtown properties.
Tony Ellenbogen, owner of the former Animal Instinct pet supply store and landlord to Garden State Yoga, said he was forced to file suit in Superior Court. “It is clear that this is an effort by the town to side step the legally binding settlement they made a couple of years ago stating that they would not take my property through eminent domain,” Ellenbogen said.
In 2008, Baristanet reported that the township was willing to pay 100 percent of market value for Ellenbogen’s property, the now closed Animal Instinct business and the parking lot next to it. However, the council already drafted an ordinance giving Bloomfield Parking Authority eminent domain if Ellenbogen and the town did not come to a negotiation.
The law firm of Potter and Dickson of Princeston filed Ellenbogen’s lawsuit. Attorney William Potter will challenge the government of Bloomfield with issues of blight; the true purpose of the Parking Authority’s use of condemnation and the agreed upon Consent Order stating that eminent domain would not be used.
“It is a shame that the Bloomfield Mayor and Town Council continue to behave in a manner that is really contrary to the welfare of the entire town and its commercial land owners,” Ellenbogen said. “While they promised a new redevelopment plan that was inclusive and cooperative and that would not pursue condemnation, it seems they really have their own agenda, and are being manipulative to achieve it.”
Mayor Ray McCarthy does not know anything about the lawsuit. “I know nothing about it and I don’t know why he would file a lawsuit against Bloomfield,” he says.