Margate wins a round in their ongoing battle over seizing beach front land to build sand dunes. A federal judge sided with the town's assertion that the state should not have used an administrative order to obtain easements giving government the right to carry out the work.

According to the Associated Press, "Voters in Margate twice passed a referendum opposing a dune for their town, which wants the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to exclude them in its dune project. Margate argues that its existing bulkhead system is sufficient, and that the worst flooding from Superstorm Sandy came from the bay on the opposite side of town."

The article goes on to say "The judge's ruling does not bar the state from proceeding with the project; rather, it suggests the state condemn Margate's land in state court."

The judge extended a temporary restraining order until December 17.

It's will be interesting to see what bearing if any the Margate case has on a pending case out of Long Beach Township. Residents in an affluent Loveladies community are suing the township for the illegal taking of land contending that a law they used does not apply to their situation.

In a news article written in NJ.com, "the town relied on the Disaster Control Act to take the parcels when it should have followed the requirements of the Eminent Domain Act. He said the Disaster Control Act, adopted after the Great Storm of 1962 sliced Long Beach Island in half, only applies immediately after a disaster - not two years later."

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