City tries to use eminent domain to knock down tavern for Catholic school's athletic fields

Jersey Journal
Sep. 21, 2005

Can Jersey City use its power of eminent domain to force a property owner to sell to a private, Catholic high school?

The question has become more heated since the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial June decision reaffirming the government's power to take property as long as the owner is compensated.

In the case of Cheng "Terry" Tan and the Golden Cicada, Jersey City must prove that the taking of the property provides for a greater public good, according to Stuart Deutsch, dean of Rutgers Law School in Newark.

"It has to be for a public use. As long as there is a valid public purpose in terms of economic growth, job growth, it's OK for an entity to take away property and transfer to another owner," he said. "What (the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency) is talking about seems less clear, but the courts don't spend a lot of time looking over the formal findings of a government agency."

From the towers at Newport to the Martin Luther King shopping center, the JCRA has long used its power of eminent domain to transfer property between private owners. But Tan's case is unique in that his property does not fit the definition of classic urban blight - a condition previously used in justifying seizure of private property.

The Golden Cicada is listed in "good" condition, according to Tidewater Basin Redevelopment plan records.

But deteriorating structures are not the only criteria used to justify the taking of property, says Robert Cotter, director of the city's planning department.

And the city has declined to get involved in two high-profile eyesore cases, that of a dilapidated block of Journal Square and the former artists' enclave in 111 First St., which was riddled with code violations.

In Tan's situation, Cotter said he would argue that the need for St. Peter's Preparatory School to complete its athletic field outweighs the current use of the building as a tavern.

"A lot of people who send their kids to school may not be able to stay in Jersey City if not for the school," he said. "A school, whether public or private, is considered an inherently beneficial use."

However, of the 934 students enrolled at St. Peter's Prep, just 185 live in Jersey City, according to school officials.

Jersey City residents did make up more than half of the 217 boys enrolled in a six-week Higher Achievement Program that used the field over the summer, according to Jim Horan, Prep's vice president of planning and external affairs.