Posted on February 11, 2016
By MaryAnn Spoto, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
New Jersey has the authority to take private beachfront property for a massive storm protection project, but it isn’t trying to turn the tracts into public land, attorneys for the state contend.
The state Department of Environmental Protection by law is empowered to condemn the necessary parcels for a massive federal beach replenishment project and the taking can be in perpetuity, lawyers for the DEP asserted in their response to a lawsuit challenging that authority.
That argument, made in papers filed in state court on Tuesday, sets up the state’s defense in the case of 35 oceanfront property owners in Ocean County who say the state is overstepping its authority by condemning parts of their property for a massive federal beach replenishment project.
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