Appeal will challenge ruling on home's value

Appeal will challenge ruling on home's value
BY KEN WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — The attorney representing a Long Branch homeowner said last week he will appeal a jury's decision that the home is worth about half of the $1.2 million his client is seeking from the city. William J. Ward, of Carlin & Ward in Florham Park, said last week that after some procedural steps, he will file an appeal of a March 4 state Superior Court jury decision that set the value of the oceanfront home formerly owned by Frances DeLuca in the city's Beachfront North Phase II redevelopment zone at $650,000.

In the condemnation trial to determine the value of DeLuca's home, Ward was seeking $1.2 million for the home, which he argued is what the home was worth in 2005 when the city filed its notice to take the property.

Last week, Ward said DeLuca owes the city $100,000, which is the difference between what the city paid her and what the jury said the house is worth. A portion of that amount will be offset because the city owes DeLuca in interest accrued from December 2005 to May 2007.

"I don't know what the final number will be, but I expect it to be around $65,000-70,000," he said.

The next step before filing an appeal, according to Ward, is to file a motion for a new trial. He said this is a strictly procedural move and that it is unlikely that a new trial would be granted. Should the new trial be denied, an appeal will be filed.

Ward said he has until March 20 to file the motion. After Paul V. Fernicola, who represents the city, signs the final judgment, Ward will have 45 days to file an appeal.

"We have to file the motion for a new trial first," Ward said. "We do this so when we file the appeal we can argue that weight of the evidence presented."

Two main points of contention for Ward and DeLuca are the comparable value of her home and a blight study for the area dating to 1995-1996.

"During the trial the jury ignored what we presented about the value of the home comparable to the main location of it," Ward said. "Also, the blight study was done over 10 years ago and we don't feel it is relevant now."

The house is located near the ocean in what has come to be known as the MTOTSA (Marine Terrace and Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue) neighborhood, which Ward called a "solid neighborhood."

The condemnation trial began on Feb. 26 in Freehold before Superior Court Judge Louis F. Locascio. The eight-member jury delivered the verdict March 4, voting 7-1.

"It is significantly less than what we were asking. We were expecting them to come in around $850,000-$900,000. So $650,000 was quite low," Ward said at the time of the verdict. "We were very disappointed."

The city had initially offered to set the value of the home at $557,000 and then increased the 2005 value of the home to $612,000, according to Ward, who said the jury's valuation did come in a bit higher than the city's offer, but it was still much less than the amount sought.

A panel of condemnation commissioners had previously set the value of the home at $750,000.

DeLuca's neighbors have fought the city's legal maneuvers to take their homes by eminent domain and formed the MTOTSA alliance, but DeLuca declined to join and chose to sell her home instead.

Contact Ken Walter at Kwalter@gmnews.com