Appeals court clarifies eminent domain law

The New Jersey Supreme Court Appellate Division declared Monday that property owners are entitled to proper notification under eminent domain procedures.

The justices said property owners are entitled to 45 days notice before property can be seized by a municipality.

The case involves three Harrison, N.J., business owners whose properties were designated as blighted in 1997.

The town, however, didn't notify specific owners their properties would be seized. Six years later, the municipality notified the property owners and refused to allow for any appeal because the 45-day notification period had ended, The Star-Ledger newspaper in Newark, N.J., reported.

In the ruling the court called the town's notification procedure constitutionally inadequate.

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