Casino Can Steal NJ Man's Home Through Eminent Domain For No Specific Reason, Judge Rules

ATLANTIC CITY — A Hammonton man's fight to keep the Atlantic City home that his family has owned for more than four decades took a hit today as a judge ruled a state-run agency has the authority to take the property through eminent domain.

Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez found that the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has a valid public purpose for seizing the brick walkup on Oriental Avenue, which is owned by Charles Birnbaum and his wife, Lucinda. The agency has targeted the property, which sits in the shadow of the now-shuttered Revel Casino Hotel, as part of a mixed-use development project in the city's tourism district.

Birnbaum’s lawyers have said that the agency had failed to provide sufficient detail about why the property is needed and how it will be used. Lawyers for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, however, contended that the agency does not need to identify exactly what will go on the property before acquiring it through eminent domain, saying the agency is seizing the land as part of its legislative mandate to create a tourism district in the ailing resort town.

Mendez wrote in his decision today that the state’s “effort to promote tourism in Atlantic City and assist the ailing gaming industry is a valid public purpose to justify the taking of the Birnbaum property.”

Further, Mendez found that the CRDA is “not required to produce plans identifying specific uses or structures for the property. The court agrees that like most large development projects, the process begins with the assemblage of land for a public purpose.”

Stuart Lederman, the attorney representing the agency, said the decision allows the “CRDA to continue it's mission to revitalize Atlantic City."