LBI Replenishment Fight Heading to Federal Court

The dispute between Long Beach Township and a small group its oceanfront homeowners over beach replenishment will be heading to federal court, at least once.

Mayor Joseph Mancini said the township has been granted permission to try one eminent domain case in a federal court rather than state Superior Court.

The now-years-long row between a few residents and their municipal government is over easements they are required to sign before federal tax dollars can be allocated for beach replenishment projects in various sections of the township. The residents claim granting the permanent easements – and thus, permission to go forward with a beach replenishment project – could lower their property values since their view of the ocean could be diminished by higher dunes.

Taking the small amount of land that would make up the easement through eminent domain was the path decided upon by Harvey Cedars, but what seemed to be a solution against the holdout homeowners was tempered by a March decision in state court. An appeals court upheld a jury award of $374,000 to Harvey and Phyllis Karan, Harvey Cedars residents who sued that town, claiming their property value was lowered due to their view being diminished since the dunes and beach were larger.

Some, including Harvey Cedars' attorney, said such awards could end beach replenishment projects forever in New Jersey, since homeowners could realize a windfall by refusing to sign easements, then suing if their town pursued eminent domain claims, according to a report in the Newark Star-Ledger at the time.

The advantage of being able to take the case to federal court rather than state court, Mancini said, would be the fact that the township could argue that any monetary award to homeowners could potentially be reduced by the amount the replenishment project cost.

"Federal court recognizes the cost of the project as opposed to Superior Court, which does not recognize special benefits," said Mancini. "If it costs $200,000 to put sand in front of somebody's house, Superior Court doesn't recognize it."

Harvey Cedars argued unsuccessfully in state court that the improved sand dunes provided an extra benefit to oceanfront homeowners, whose property would be most-protected by them. Homeowners' attorneys argued the dunes protected the island as a whole rather than specific properties.

"By changing the venue to federal court, they've had a history of recognizing special benefits," Mancini said.

Mancini said the township would file the test case "ASAP."