Forest City Daly Out As Redeveloper, Officials Say

…The removal of Forest City Daly formally ends the redevelopment plan that has been in the works since 2003. The plan had come under fire from a core group of six property owners who had claimed they had not been notified – or in some cases, were intentionally misled – by the town that their properties would be seized by eminent domain. After a couple of small legal victories, Judge Patricia Costello ruled in the August 2005 first condemnation case Township of Bloomfield v. 110 Washington Associates that the town had not properly proven that the property to be taken was blighted….

Accordingly, the latest announcement has brought some calm to those who have been fighting the town for years. “This is good news for the property owners threatened by eminent domain,” said Bill Ward, the attorney for the holdout owners. “It will give the township a lot more flexibility about the plan to redevelop, and whether or not they need to condemn property to accomplish the plan.” – By Seth Augenstein, Staff Writer