New Jersey high court lets towns condemn land without naming the public use in the ordinance
A divided Supreme Court held that a town may name the intended use later, in its condemnation complaint, weeks after ruling that an open-space taking in Jackson was pretextual.
Owners whose property a New Jersey town sets out to acquire may not learn from the authorizing ordinance what the town intends to do with it. On August 10, 2026, the New Jersey Supreme Court held 6-1 in Borough of Seaside Park v. Shree Jyoti, LLC, No. A-2-25 (N.J. Aug. 10, 2026), that neither the Eminent Domain Act, N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 20:3-1 to -50 (the “EDA”), nor the Local Lands and Buildings Law, N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 40A:12-1 to -30 (the “LLBL”), requires a municipality to state the intended public use in the ordinance that authorizes a taking.
Borough of Seaside Park v. Shree Jyoti, LLC, No. A-2-25 (N.J. Aug. 10, 2026); Township of Jackson v. Getzel Bee, LLC, No. A-3-25 (N.J. July 20, 2026); N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 20:3-1 to -50; N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 40A:12-1 to -30