City residents rejoice in wake of court ruling

Long Branch residents in the Marine and Ocean Terraces and Seaview Avenue neighborhood gather with their attorneys to discuss the recent Appellate Court ruling. LONG BRANCH — Beachfront property owners crowded City Council chambers last week in the wake of a court ruling that the homeowners say is a step in the right direction.

The group of residents in the Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue neighborhood, known as MTOTSA, were seeking an all-out dismissal of the condemnation complaints served upon their neighborhood.

The appellate court did not dismiss the complaints, but MTOTSA is still calling the three-judge panel ruling a victory.

"The appellate court gave MTOTSA a great victory," MTOTSA resident Lori Ann Vendetti said at the Aug. 12 meeting. "This decision will also help other property owners in the city and throughout the state.

"That was our goal," she said, adding, "Doing the right thing for the American dream."

The appellate court remanded the eminent domain case back to Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson's courtroom, where the city will have the opportunity to expand the record in an attempt to prove that its redevelopment plan meets the heightened blight standard.

City officials are still discussing how they wants to move forward with the case, according to City Attorney James Aaron, who explained that the city can petition the New Jersey Supreme Court or prepare a supplemental report to go back before Lawson.

"Several things came out of the [MTOTSA] decision," Aaron said during the council workshop meeting held prior to the public meeting.

"The Appellate Division did not throw out the redevelopment plan," Aaron said. "It remanded it to Judge Lawson."

He added that the city must now prove that the MTOTSA area is blighted and that the neighborhood is a necessary piece of the puzzle for the implementation of the city's redevelopment plan.

Council President Michael DeStefano said the ruling is a "big victory" for the city, referring to the portion of the decision that dismissed all conflicts of interest, doubts of good-faith negotiations and several allegations surrounding the redevelopment process that the MTOTSA attorneys argued in the case.

Just days after the ruling was released, MTOTSA homeowners gathered in their neighborhood with their attorneys to discuss the decision.

"The meeting went well and everyone is elated with the decision, although we would have preferred the appellate court to reverse the decision themselves and have this matter resolved," Vendetti wrote in an e-mail.

"If we actually [go back to Lawson's court], that could take us well into 2009 before any decision is made," she said, adding, "We are all aware of that and are prepared should that happen."

Vendetti said at the council meeting that for the past five years she has listened to city officials say that they need to continue with plans to develop the MTOTSA neighborhood because they would get sued for breaching contracts with developers.

"Now you have all the legal out you need," Vendetti said. "This is it. Isn't it time. Isn't it enough?

"This has been a long and grueling process for both sides. It is time to move on. It is 2008. It is not 1995, 1996 anymore."

Vendetti continued, "It has been 12 years. You can't give us the time back, but you can stop now. I truly think the City Council needs to get on with running this city and put this chapter behind you.

"It is time to let us get on with our lives," she said, adding, "It is our land, not yours."

One city resident, who is hoping that the MTOTSA decision sets a precedent in Long Branch, said that with the recent ruling, citizens are getting their due.

"It has not been easy," said Michelle Bobrow, who has been fighting to save her home in the Beachfront South redevelopment zone from condemnation. "Our taxes are going up. We are paying for this redevelopment.

"It is time for us to get our due," she said, adding, "This is not the climate to continue with other redevelopment. Developers do not have the money to develop."

Bobrow's husband, Harold, also spoke at the meeting and asked the city to consider taking a different route with the case, rather than proceeding to another court.

"You can sit down with everyone concerned and try to find a way to solve the problem," Bobrow said. "It is time to come together.

"That is what we should do," he said, adding, "The governing body and the residents of this city should come together now."

Bobrow also publicly thanked the appellate judges for their "insight" and "fairness."

"[The] appellate court decision in favor of the citizens of Long Branch was another victory in a string of recent court decisions affirming the rights of property owners in the state," Bobrow said.

"As President John Quincy Adams said, 'Property must be sacred or liberty cannot exist,'" he added.