Author: tduggan

In a case that will have a ripple effect on many partial taking cases to come, one must wonder whether the timing of Hurricane Sandy had an impact on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision to overrule two lower court decisions that barred the introduction of any evidence that tended to show that sand dunes actually increased the value of property located on the beach. The two lower courts decided the legal issue before Hurricane Sandy, but the New Jersey Supreme Court did not render a decision until July 8, 2013, well after the storm and its damages where known. Did the storm bolster the government’s argument that the dunes provide enhanced protection for the homes on the beach since the property in question survived the storm? Or was the Court able to rely solely on the record and divest itself of the horrors of Hurricane Sandy? I believe the Court was not swayed by Hurricane Sandy and did a thorough job on analyzing the history of the “general / specially benefit” paradigm and how it should be applied in New Jersey. However, the decision may leave property owners with no money at the end of hotly contested eminent domain cases.