From the Asbury Park Press:
Jackson may take land for housing
Some 80 years ago, Roger Gilbert’s great-grandmother won a small piece of land in this township as a door prize from a New York City theater.
Since then, the 20-by-100-foot parcel, which lies in the woods just north of West County Line Road, has been passed down in his family through four generations, he said. Gilbert inherited the lot from his father about a decade ago, and he hopes one day to give it to his son, David, who is now 15.
“The land itself is so small, it’s not really worth a lot of money,” said Gilbert, 52, who lives in Beth-lehem, Pa. “It’s strictly sentimental value.”
But the Gilbert family tradition may end before David inherits the land.
The town wants to acquire Gilbert’s lot and 22 other small, undeveloped parcels in the area so it can build affordable housing. And under the terms of an ordinance scheduled for a public hearing on Tuesday, the town would acquire the lots either by negotiating with the property owners or by invoking its power of eminent domain.
That power gives government the right to take private property for a public purpose, after paying the owner just compensation.
To Gilbert, though, that power is “un-American.”
“It goes against my very upbringing as a U.S. citizen, this eminent domain,” he said. “It’s wrong for a township to come in and take (property) without getting the approval of the people.”
…
The project for which Jackson plans to acquire Gilbert’s and other lots, called Solar Avenue, calls for 100 low- and moderate-income rental units, said John Russo Jr., the township affordable-housing attorney. The units would be built on 20 acres north of West County Line Road and west of Christopher Columbus Boulevard.The units would partially fulfill the town’s affordable-housing requirement, set forth by the state Council on Affordable Housing, Russo said. He added that Jackson’s COAH requirements are the second-highest in the state, behind Toms River.
I know eminent domain has gotten a bad rap recently, and rightly so, but this actually seems like an appropriate use of the Constitution’s “takings clause”. A town is taking small and unusable pieces of land and using them for a purpose that’s in the public’s interest. This is a far cry from taking peoples homes to give it to a private developer to build a mall or luxury hotel because it will generate better tax revenue.
Of course the devil is in the details.
I don’t know RentinginNJ, this seems exactly like the infamous Kelo case. How much tax revenue can the city/town possibly be getting from undeveloped land as opposed to condos, even if they are “affordable” ones? They’re doing the same thing only under the banner of “affordable housing” instead of the older urban renewal scheme.
Of course we may have a separate disagreement over interperetation/validity/implementation of the takings clause; but such is life.
RE: Gilbert
“To Gilbert, though, that power is “un-American.””
Guess he hasn’t read the constitution. Taking is as American as apple pie. Doen’t mean we have to like it, but let’s not flaunt our ignorance of our country.
Mifune,
The diference from what I read is that the land in Kelo was where people are living as compared to this case. Yes it is constitutional but it should have some simple to live by limits.
1. Is the area suffering from high crime?
2. Is the area blighted in the old sense, not the new which just says nothing new has been built there recently.
3. Is the new development a good one not just from the perspective of neighbors but the region. Home rule negates that one oin this state but I am of the opinion that neighboring counties should be allowed to weigh in wit h some authority.
There’s always another side to these stories. Something tells me that Roger wants six figure’s for Granny’s unbuildable land.
I’m not a big fan eminent domain, but sentimental value for a 20×100 foot lot in the middle of the woods? Sounds like a Seinfeld episode.
Well if its any interest to you try this map.
If anyone here is looking for an easy weight loss solution I would recommend Proactol.