Jury Names Value For Bloomfield Property In Legal Battle: Report

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A longstanding, bitter legal squabble between the Township of Bloomfield and the former owner of a plot of land on Lackawanna Place recently took another turn after a jury chopped the “fair property value” of the parcel nearly in half, a report says.

Bloomfield has been wrangling with the Bloomfield Daval Corporation over a plot of land at 14 Lackawanna Place. Bloomfield took control of the property via eminent domain in 2012, and both parties have been trying to reach a fair price for it ever since.

• See related article: Bloomfield May Have Lost $3M In Eminent Domain Battle

After a two-week trial in December 2018, an Essex County jury determined the value of the property to be $1.6 million, slightly more than half of the $2.9 million that a trial jury set in 2016, TAP Into Bloomfield reported.

Both parties have 45 days from the December 19 ruling to agree to terms, TAP Into Bloomfield reported.

“While we are not happy about the final judgment, we are pleased that this matter is behind us and we can move forward with the renovation of this historic train station,” Township Administrator Matthew Watkins said. (Read the full article here)

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Patch file photo