Mayor Proposes Use of Eminent Domain To Acquire Park Land

Mayor Dawn Zimmer is asking the City Council to allow the city to use eminent domain while negotiating the acquisition of park land in the Fourth Ward, according to a memo she sent on Wednesday to all members of the city council.

A resolution about this has been put on Wednesday night's meeting's agenda.

The city has been looking to acquire a piece of land in the Fourth Ward for quite some time now, but, the mayor wrote in her memo, "we have found no willing sellers in the Southwest."

The city has the option of asking to go toward a Fourth Ward park. But, the mayor wrote, the only way to do that is to guarantee that the city will be able to purchase land.

If the council doesn't vote to allow eminent domain, the $3 million will be reprogrammed toward Sinatra Park, Zimmer wrote in her memo. The city has to ask the county to reprogram the funds no later than Thursday.

"This legal option would enable Hoboken to acquire land for park space," Zimmer wrote. Zimmer wrote also that eminent domain will be used primarily as a negotiating tool, to encourage property owners to come to an agreement with the city.

Using eminent domain allows a governmental entity to take over a privately owned property, after proving it's in the best interest of the community, Council President Ravi Bhalla explained. In her memo, the mayor said that eminent domain would only be used after regular negotiations have failed.

Zimmer further explained that due to "property owners' inflated expectations" no deal has been reached so far.

Bhalla said on Wednesday afternoon that he would vote in favor of the resolution to allow the city to use eminent domain.

In an email, Fourth Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti wrote, "Mayor Zimmer has my full support on the creation of a Southwest park, however, I have serious reservations with the carte blanche use of eminent domain as the city has yet to provide any relevant documentation to warrant it's use at this time."

Occhipinti declined to say how he planned to vote on the issue.

"Absolutely not," said Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo when asked about the issue. "To take somebody and put them out of their business or their home, is just not my style. That’s something that I don’t agree with."

Five votes are needed for the resolution to pass during Wednesday night's meeting,  

"It’s a $3 million decision," Bhalla said, "that has to be made tonight."