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Upcoming Events

September 23-24, 2008

The Gibbons Real Property & Environmental Department will exhibit at this year's International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware Idea Exchange in Philadelphia. The show attracts attendees from a variety of industries to network and attend programs on hot topics in the industry. The International Council of Shopping Centers is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 65,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and more than 80 other countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders, retailers, and other professionals, as well as academics and public officials. Gibbons will also host a networking cocktail reception on the Tuesday evening of the conference.

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.icsc.org/index.php.

What's Inside

  • What's New
    • New York's New Brownfield Law Previewed
      Before adjourning in June, 2008, legislators in Albany overhauled the state’s brownfield cleanup program (S8717), ensuring that money to develop contaminated sites is better spent and targeted to communities where it is truly needed. Gov. David Paterson signed legislation on July 23, 2008 that will provide more incentives to clean up polluted sites, cap tax credits for redevelopment to limit the state's liability and increase fiscal accountability for the tax breaks.
    • Eminent Domain Update
      In a significant decision, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Harrison Redevelopment Agency v. DeRose for the first time articulated a set of clear standards which define the parameters under which an owner of property in a designated redevelopment area can contest the use of eminent domain based on defects in the redevelopment designation process. The court's opinion provides a comprehensive analysis of the interplay between the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law (LRHL), the Eminent Domain Act and constitutional due process requirements.
    • COAH Adopts New Third Round Regulations
      The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) adopted its revised third round rules and methodology at its monthly COAH Board meeting in May. Additionally, as a result of the over 4,800 public comments received regarding the new rules, the Board also voted on a series of amendments. The new rules, which went into effect on June 2, 2008, continue to use a growth share approach which bases municipal affordable housing obligations on market-rate residential and non-residential growth.
    • New Law Broadens Notification Requirements for New Jersey Site Remediation Projects
      Recent amendments to New Jersey’s contaminated site remediation statute expand the list of local and county officials that parties responsible for a remediation must notify of those activities. The changes, signed into law by Governor Corzine on January 14, 2008, also add to the list of documents that parties responsible for a remediation must make available to those officials.
    • Following Gallenthin's Lead, Court Invalidates Newark's Designation of the Mulberry Street Area as 'An Area in Need of Redevelopment'

    • On October 9, 2007, Joseph V. Doria, Jr. was sworn in as Acting Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. Click here for more information.
  • Articles
    • Energy Primer for Environmental Professionals
      As we proceed into the 21st century, in order to properly serve corporate clients, environmental professionals must have a basic understanding of the often confusing web of terminology and information that surrounds the energy revolution.
    • Critical Info SEQRA Negative Declarations Should Contain
      The purpose behind and primary goal of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) is to incorporate the consideration of environmental factors into the existing planning, review and decision-making processes of state, regional and local government agencies at the earliest possible time.
  • Proposed Eminent Domain Legislation
  • Agency Contacts


THE KELO DECISION

Supreme Court Upholds Use of Eminent Domain for
Economic Development
In the closely-watched case of Kelo v. City of New London, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the use of eminent domain for economic development constitutes a valid public purpose and therefore is permissible under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The decision vests state and local governments with broad power to enact laws allowing for acquisition of private property by eminent domain as part of a comprehensive redevelopment initiative, even where the property to be acquired is not blighted or in need of redevelopment. Read more on this.

"Redevelopment" is the cooperative public-private process of clearing away the existing improvements on a property and replacing them with new improvements designed to promote government policy goals.

How Does Redevelopment Work?
 After preparing a redevelopment or urban renewal plan that sets forth its objectives for a given area, the government takes the property and transfers title to a private developer, which enters into an agreement to construct a new revenue-producing project that is consistent with the government's plan. Before the government may take property for redevelopment by eminent domain, many jurisdictions require a finding that the property or its existing improvements are "blighted" or "in need of redevelopment" although some jurisdictions allow the use of eminent domain solely to stimulate economic development.

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