Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the land swap was blocked by courts. We regret the error.
JACKSON – Four years after the idea was originally conceived by township officials, the New Jersey Supreme Court rendered a decision that will impact a plan involving open space preservation and which might also have state-wide implications.
The court recently ruled that the township improperly used its eminent domain authority to seize privately owned land as part of a land swap with a private developer. It found Jackson officials had exceeded its legal authority and did not deal fairly with the property owners, Bellevue, Jackson, LLC and Getzel Bee, LLC.
Mayor Jennifer Kuhn provided her reaction on the decision to The Jackson Times, saying, “the NJ Supreme Court issued a decision that former-Mayor (Michael) Reina and the prior administration had improperly utilized eminent domain to take two small parcels of land from a Lakewood-based LLC as part of a larger land swap deal dating back to 2022.”
“To be clear: the court did not block or undo the larger land swap,” the mayor added noting the only portion affected by the decision “were parcels which combined amount to less than an acre of the overall property.”
Council President Mordechai Burnstein told The Jackson Times, that the “only thing this decision does is block the condemnation of these two lots, less than an acre of overall tract. The Township had sought to take control of land via eminent domain as part of land swap to aid new school construction.”
He concurred with Mayor Kuhn that “the land swap itself did not fall through. There were two different lawsuits. The lawsuit challenging that land swap ordinance was won (by Jackson) and never appealed.”
Kuhn said “I have instructed our township legal team and officials to fight tooth and nail to preserve every acre possible on this tract and throughout town. I will do everything in my power to protect the town I grew up in. The number one mission of my administration is the preservation of open space. As I have said many times, the best defense against overdevelopment is preserving every acre we can.”
Burnstein noted the conception of the land swap plan went back to 2022. Jackson Township’s land swap ordinances came a year later (with Ordinance 5-23 and amended Ordinance 7-23) which authorized an exchange of 43 acres of municipal land along White Road for a 35-acre parcel on Leesville Road owned by Bellevue Estates, LLC. The goal was to move a planned private school complex.
Bellevue Estates developer Mordechai Eichorn had planned to build a four-school educational complex and dormitories on Leesville Road, which faced strong community opposition regarding traffic in that area.
Jackson officials agreed to trade approximately 43 acres across dozens of lots on White Road (near the border of Lakewood) in exchange for the Leesville Road property, which the township planned to preserve as open space.
The land swap agreement was finalized in the spring of 2024. Then-Mayor Reina told The Jackson Times at that time that “by closing on this property, Jackson Township has eliminated potential development on this land for eternity.”
The governing body’s use of eminent domain to acquire certain properties to facilitate the deal, resulted in significant litigation. The New Jersey Appellate Court struck down the township’s condemnation of the properties, ruling that the municipality misled property owners by initially claiming the land was for open space land when its actual intent was for a private developer land transfer.
The court opinion written by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner affirmed a lower court ruling that blocked the condemnation of the two parcels. These were the parcels that were privately owned that the township sought to acquire and then transfer to the developer.
Rabner added that eminent domain statutes and case law from federal or state courts do not authorize the type of land swap that Jackson officials had used.
The ruling stressed that while towns can use eminent domain to acquire land for a legitimate public purpose, they are prohibited from condemning a property owner’s property to exchange it for another property that would serve the public.
The town maintained that the transaction served a public purpose as it would permanently preserve open space. However, that reasoning was rejected by the NJ Supreme Court as the condemned properties themselves were not intended for public use. The parcels would actually become a developer’s property and therefore would not benefit the public.
The case was compared to similar federal eminent domain decisions that involved redevelopment plans for public purposes.
According to the court, Jackson had sought to use condemned land and transfer it from one private owner to another outside an integrated public development. This transfer from a private owner to the developer would then raise questions as to a private purpose that was intended.
Allowing such a transaction could invite abuse according to the court opinion and would stray from the Constitutional requirement that private property be taken for public use only.
The Justices were critical of the township officials’ conduct throughout the condemnation process which they said ran contrary to state law that requires officials to act honestly and fairly. It put into question whether the governing body failed to meet that standard as its ordinances and communications with the property owners did not fully disclose that the parcels would eventually be transferred to a private developer instead of being preserved for open space.
The public purpose for the taking of the land was described by the justices as being vague, inaccurate and pretextual at various points in the process.
The NJ Supreme Court has not yet ordered a specific remedy but has instead sent it back to the trial court to decide what relief should be provided to the property owners.
