MTOTSA attny. will not seek stay on takings

Aaron: City won’t move on condemnations pending appeal

BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer

BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH – The attorney representing a group of residents fighting the condemnation of their oceanfront properties said last week he will not seek a legal hold on eminent domain proceedings.

“I don’t think we need a stay,” said Peter H. Wegener, who is representing some 20 homeowners in the Marine Terrace and Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue neighborhood known as

MTOTSA.

Wegener, of Bathgate, Wegener and Wolf, said he does not plan to pursue the same remedy that resulted in a stay being granted by the state Appellate court of condemnation proceeds on a home in the same beachfront neighborhood.

On Nov. 14, the Appellate court signed an order granting a stay of eminent domain proceedings for Louis and Lillian Anzalone’s Ocean Terrace home in the MTOTSA neighborhood. The court granted the stay pending the outcome of an appeal of a court decision affirming the city’s right to take the home.

The Anzalones are represented by William J. Ward of Carlin & Ward, Florham Park.

“The city would have to file a declaration of taking and deposit the fair market value of each of the properties [in escrow],” Wegener said.

“I think the city wants to wait and see what the Appellate Division says before taking the property,” he added.

“Right now, there are no plans to ask the court for a stay.”

In response to the Appellate court stay on the taking of the Anzalones’ home, City Attorney James Aaron said last week, “The city does not object to [the] stay.

“[The city] advised the Appellate Division that it would not do a declaration of taking while the appeal is in place,” he said.

“The court will now hear the matter in its normal course.”

The city had asked the Appellate Court to expedite the appeal, but the court denied that motion on Nov. 16.

The city is also seeking to block a public interest law firm from joining Wegener as co-counsel in the appeal of a court decision that affirmed the city’s right to take the homes through eminent domain for a private redevelopment project.

Initially, Wegener and Ward sought a stay of the taking of the properties in a motion heard last March in state Superior Court. The attorneys also asked the court to dismiss the condemnation complaints served upon their clients.

Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson ruled on June 22 that the city has the right to take the homes in the Beachfront North Phase II redevelopment zone where the MTOTSA neighborhood is located.

Lawson also denied the request for a stay.

Clients of both Wegener and Ward are appealing that decision.

The Institute for Justice (IJ), based in Arlington, Va., applied to be admitted to the MTOTSA case “pro hac vice” as co-counsel with Wegener on Oct. 18.

The city of Long Branch filed a motion in court on Oct. 24 to block the firm from entering the case.

Wegener said last week the appeal brief on behalf of his clients will be filed with the state Superior Court Appellate Division by the end of December.

Plans for the three-street MTOTSA neighborhood call for MM Beachfront North II – consisting of Matzel & Mumford, a division of K. Hovnanian, Middletown, and the Applied Cos., Hoboken – to raze the properties and construct luxury condominiums in its place.

“I am under the impression that the redevelopers have no intention of taking possession of the properties at this point,” Wegener said.

“The city would have to file a declaration of taking and deposit the fair market value of each of the properties [in escrow],” he said.

“I think the city wants to wait and see what the Appellate Division says before taking the property,” Wegener added.

“Right now, there are no plans to ask the court for a stay.”