Casino project could be latest NJ land-grab flap
05-SEP-2008 Intellasia | Phillyburbs
Sep 5, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
|
More than 20 years after fleeing communism in Vietnam, where his business was seized and he was thrown in jail, Quang Ha fears he could lose his business in this country as well.
Some property owners in Atlantic City are afraid the city could try to take their land to make way for a new US$2 billion casino project.
"I'm too small," the jewellery store owner said. "That's why they're stepping on me."
The City Council voted Wednesday night to designate land in the area of the former Sands Casino Hotel as an area in need of redevelopment. That's where Pinnacle Entertainment plans to build its beach house-themed casino.
But the council only included land already owned by Pinnacle in the redevelopment zone, saying other properties could be added later after review by council committees.
The designation enables the city, if it so chose, to use the power of eminent domain to seize the land of property owners who are unwilling to sell.
Eminent domain is a legal process by which governments can take control of privately owned property needed for a public purpose after paying fair compensation to the owner.
It originally was used to acquire land for highways, public buildings and airports. But recently governments in several states have used the process to clear the way for private commercial projects, arguing that the economic activity they generate is itself a public benefit.
But Atlantic City currently has no plans to use eminent domain to help assemble land for the Pinnacle project, Mayor Scott Evans and City Councilman George Tibbitt said Wednesday.
"There are only rare occasions when it should be used," Evans said. "Eminent domain has its place when land speculators are sitting on land and can hold up a project by their refusal to sell. But in other instances, most of the city is against eminent domain."
"The city has no plans on doing it at this point," added Tibbitt.
Jack Plackter, an attorney for Pinnacle, said the company has bought most of the land it needs through private negotiations. But, he said, eminent domain might be necessary if there were one or two crucial pieces of land where owners refused to sell.
"We are extremely sympathetic to property owners' rights," he said. "We're not relying on the city to do large amounts of eminent domain.
"But say there's one small property at the centre of the site where we've offered one and a half or even two times what it's worth, and they're still refusing to sell," Plackter said. "Some neutral third party would have to weigh the needs and rights of that property owner to be fairly compensated against a project that could create 10,000 or 15,000 jobs."
Christina Walsh of the Institute for Justice, a Virginia group fighting what it considers eminent domain abuses nationwide, said its use is not justified in Atlantic City.
"Eminent domain is for public use, things like schools and courthouses, not to transfer perfectly fine businesses like Quang Ha's to rich casino developers for private use," she said.
Nancy Steele, whose family has owned a landmark fudge shop on the Boardwalk for 30 years, said Pinnacle approached her about a year ago about acquiring her property, then backed off when the economy turned sour. She's nervous that when the company's plans move forward, she could be faced with losing her business.
"We bought this thinking we'd be here forever," she said. "To think someone can come and take it away is troubling."
Elsewhere in the state, Long Branch is appealing a setback it suffered last month when a state appeals court ruled it had not proven that areas it wanted to seize to make way for private oceanfront development were actually blighted.
And oceanfront homeowners on Long Beach Island are fighting plans by the federal and state governments to acquire easements for beach replenishment projects. Eminent domain is being eyed as a way to break the stalemate with reluctant property owners in several of the island's municipalities.
|
| |
|  |
|
Advertising
