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Getzel Bee is the name of a New Jersey limited liability company caught up in a strange condemnation case.
The New Jersey township of Jackson, in which Getzel Bee owns property, wanted to acquire land from a private developer for a particular public use. Apparently not able to negotiate a transaction with the developer and perhaps being unwilling to take on the developer in an eminent domain action, Jackson entered into a unique arrangement instead. The township would condemn other property - which it would then swap for the developer’s land; the developer would go on its merry way while the swapped land would be used for a public purpose.
Getzel opposed the taking. After winning in the trial court, the township’s appeal was completely blunted by the New Jersey Appellate Court.
Not only did the township’s actions fail to meet the public use requirement, the court ruled, it also found that Jackson misled Getzel and the general public by not disclosing its true intentions until the litigation to halt the Getzel taking was well under way. The court decided that the fact that the township intended to swap the Getzel land for a parcel which it would then devote to open space did not make a difference, because the transparency necessary to support eminent domain activity just did not exist. The issue of compensation for the proposed taking was not addressed since the taking itself was invalidated.
Concern emanates from the township’s management of these matters. Its unwillingness or inability to condemn the developer’s property directly without going through a convoluted approach involving the Getzel Bee site suggests that something was irregular, which understandably turned the Court against the township.
Township of Jackson v. Getzel Bee LLC, Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division (January 31, 2025)
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