“1126 River Road is directly in the path of the new sewer line to accommodate increased sewage demands of Rutgers Stadium,”

[Tango Two]

N.J. town demolishes house after homeowners lose legal fight over sewer line​

N.J. town demolishes house after homeowners lose legal fight over sewer line

Piscataway Township engineers have said the house needed to be torn down so a sewer line can run through the property.

www.nj.com

 

[RUevolution36]

N.J. town demolishes house after homeowners lose legal fight over sewer line​

N.J. town demolishes house after homeowners lose legal fight over sewer line

Piscataway Township engineers have said the house needed to be torn down so a sewer line can run through the property.

www.nj.com

that house is prob worth >$355k or whatever they assessed...but it's certainly not worth $1m like the mayor said that the owners were asking for.

 

[WhiteBus]

N.J. town demolishes house after homeowners lose legal fight over sewer line​

N.J. town demolishes house after homeowners lose legal fight over sewer line

Piscataway Township engineers have said the house needed to be torn down so a sewer line can run through the property.

www.nj.com

Such political bullshit. No the house never needed to be demolished. Hope he wins in his next lawsuit against the town and the mayor as this was a personal issue between the two.

 

[nick614]

Such political bullshit. No the house never needed to be demolished. Hope he wins in his next lawsuit against the town and the mayor as this was a personal issue between the two.

Yeah NJ has so much extra money

 

[DJ Spanky]

The whole thing smells. And given the history in Piscataway of how they abuse eminent domain, I hope this guy nails them in civil court.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

I'm not a fan of eminent domain. City announces a project. Some homes are in the way. Houses get appraised knowing that big project is coming, so property assessed at a lower valuation. Who wants to live near a sewer line, off-ramp, etc?

 

[DJ Spanky]

I'm not a fan of eminent domain. City announces a project. Some homes are in the way. Houses get appraised knowing that big project is coming, so property assessed at a lower valuation. Who wants to live near a sewer line, off-ramp, etc?

Well I really have a problem with an eminent domain issue like this where the authority executing it won't release the plans to prove they actually need it.

 

[DC8690]

Does anyone know how that house fared in Ida? I would have to think it took in a ton of water.

 

[T2Kplus20]

The whole thing smells. And given the history in Piscataway of how they abuse eminent domain, I hope this guy nails them in civil court.

Truth. Wahler may be the biggest piece of political garbage in all of NJ (which is really saying something). With any argument, take the side against him and you are likely right.

 

[Scarlet16E]

It's in Johnson Park. There is nothing around it, just green grass on both sides!

Whats Under the grass?

 

[RUevolution36]

Whats Under the grass?

Jimmy Hoffa.

 

[jmg75]

As if eminent domain wasn't bad enough a previous supreme court allowed it to include any improvement for economic development in the Kelo decision.

Every time I am reminded of Kelo v. The City of New London, my blood boils. A court decision determining that any transfer of eminent domain to a private entity that might produce jobs, taxes and other economic benefits constitutes "public use" is an engraved invitation to government and businesses to legally steal from the public. The New London neighborhood in question was perhaps a little run down, but not really blighted. The New London Development Corporation just wanted the land for a deal they were trying to put together with Pfizer . In the end, they acquired all the land, tore down the houses, but Pfizer never built the facility. Last I heard the site was being used for storm debris storage. I loathe this sort of government overreach and was angry when the courts legitimized it. One of the Supreme Court dissenters called it a reverse Robin Hood maneuver and I couldn't agree more.

 

[Scarlet16E]

I’m no expert but it would seem that the main trunk sewer line to the sewer treatment plant runs through Johnson park, along side the river.
the line from Rutgers stadium runs down Sutphen road to river road. This house is in this precise intersection.

 

[mildone]

I see the $355K the town offered and escrowed. But Zillow lists the house for close to $450K. Or did, I guess it's not worth much of anything anymore. Of course, Zillow doesn't know the actual condition of the home, so perhaps it wasn't in great shape.

The article wasn't explicit about how much the owners received. But I am curious.

 

[HPNJRUfan]

I’m no expert but it would seem that the main trunk sewer line to the sewer treatment plant runs through Johnson park, along side the river.
the line from Rutgers stadium runs down Sutphen road to river road. This house is in this precise intersection.

As I've said before, its my understanding the sewer main from the stadium runs in front of the golf course maintenance building, hooks up to the Pway municipal system and runs down Golf Links Ave to hook up with the County Trunk sewer in the park. I'm also unfamiliar with the exact engineering, but it makes sense that the house is right in the way.

As an urban planning student I certainly have my own feelings on Kelo, but also agree on Mayor Whaller.

 

[czxqa]

I see the $355K the town offered and escrowed. But Zillow lists the house for close to $450K. Or did, I guess it's not worth much of anything anymore. Of course, Zillow doesn't know the actual condition of the home, so perhaps it wasn't in great shape.

The article wasn't explicit about how much the owners received. But I am curious.

They paid $394,000 for the house in 2005. Not sure how offering them $40k less than they paid 16 years ago is "fair market value."

 

[Knight Shift]

Every time I am reminded of Kelo v. The City of New London, my blood boils. A court decision determining that any transfer of eminent domain to a private entity that might produce jobs, taxes and other economic benefits constitutes "public use" is an engraved invitation to government and businesses to legally steal from the public. The New London neighborhood in question was perhaps a little run down, but not really blighted. The New London Development Corporation just wanted the land for a deal they were trying to put together with Pfizer . In the end, they acquired all the land, tore down the houses, but Pfizer never built the facility. Last I heard the site was being used for storm debris storage. I loathe this sort of government overreach and was angry when the courts legitimized it. One of the Supreme Court dissenters called it a reverse Robin Hood maneuver and I couldn't agree more.

Agree with you.

While not my area of practice, I followed eminent domain cases, mainly those litigated by a libertarian pro-bono, non-profit law firm called the Institute for Justice, funded by one of the Koch brothers. IJ litigated the Kelo case on behalf of the property owners. Contrary to what many lay people may think, the conservative block of Justices (Justice O'Connor, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Thomas) dissented from the majority opinion, and the liberal block voted in favor of the use of eminent domain. The vote by the various members of the Supreme Court in the case may surprise a lot of people because the conservative block voted against the interests that are obviously in favor of big business, but is a good example of how it can be difficult to predict how the Supreme Court Justices may or may vote on a variety of issues. This is one reason why it may be difficult to paint a nominee to the Supreme Court into a corner as ruling a certain way on certain issues.

 

[jmg75]

Agree with you.

While not my area of practice, I followed eminent domain cases, mainly those litigated by a libertarian pro-bono, non-profit law firm called the Institute for Justice, funded by one of the Koch brothers. IJ litigated the Kelo case on behalf of the property owners. Contrary to what many lay people may think, the conservative block of Justices (Justice O'Connor, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Thomas) dissented from the majority opinion, and the liberal block voted in favor of the use of eminent domain. The vote by the various members of the Supreme Court in the case may surprise a lot of people because the conservative block voted against the interests that are obviously in favor of big business, but is a good example of how it can be difficult to predict how the Supreme Court Justices may or may vote on a variety of issues. This is one reason why it may be difficult to paint a nominee to the Supreme Court into a corner as ruling a certain way on certain issues.

Good stuff.

 

[RUSK97]

Don’t know about the legal battle, but drove by yesterday as an excavator was taking down the cinder block foundation. Today it’s as though the house never existed. Dirt has been dumped over the excavated site and leveled.

I wonder if Ida had flooded the house? It’s a terrible location to situate a house.

 

[nick614]

2005 was quite the bubble year

 

[RUnTeX]

They paid $394,000 for the house in 2005.

There were some pretty high and climbing housing prices during the run up of the housing bubble in the mid-2000s so it may have sold higher back then than it really should have.

 

[WhiteBus]

Whats Under the grass?

Dirt

 

[hoquat63]

Needed the connection so stadium csn now install (no pun intended) additional restrooms?

 

[Bleem Phuppert]

This house was clearly divided against itself.

 

[Scarlet16E]

Dirt

Actually the County's main trunk sewer line runs under the grass, and probably other utilities as well.

 

[WhiteBus]

Actually the County's main trunk sewer line runs under the grass, and probably other utilities as well.

Also runs on both sides of the property too. There was zero real reason to take that property. It was personal with the Mayor. Long history between the two.

 

[GORU2014]

The whole thing smells.

That’s why they’re building the sewer line

 

[DJ Spanky]

That’s why they’re building the sewer line

Thank you folks, isn't he great? He'll be here through Saturday night. Try the veal.

 

[Tango Two]

Judge Denies Reviving Homeowner's Appeal; Piscataway House Demolished for Sewer Project

PISCATAWAY, NJ — Piscataway officials moved forward with demolition of a River Road house at the center of a case filed by the homeowner who said the township illegally used eminent domain laws to...

www.tapinto.net

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Not sure why this thread popped up for me during the discussion of a walkway over River Road.. but I read some of this and wondered what ever happened to the Halper Farm at Metlars and South Washington.. next to the Catholic school... here it is 14 years after they got final judgment and it looks like the only thing the Town did was demolish the Halper's buldings. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5461726,-74.4379743,843m/data=!3m1!1e3

Last year they said a park is finally on the way after a settlement..

 

[srru86]

Of course there was increased sewage demand through 2018, Ash had the team gorging on kale smoothies.