November 26, 2002

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The Halpers of Piscataway have fought the good fight in trying to save their family's dairy farm from condemnation by the township, even putting up a family member this fall to run for the governing body. Unfortunately for them, that race was lost. Worse for the family, the next salvo in their long-running stand against the township looks like a long shot at best.

On Dec. 2, the Halpers will ask Superior Court Judge Robert A. Longhi to decide whether Piscataway can legally wield its power of eminent domain to seize the family's 75-acre homestead, the only large tract of open space remaining in the township and the very reason it is so prized by the municipal government.

It seems unlikely the Halper's will get the ruling they want, municipalities' broad powers of eminent domain being what they are. Nevertheless, that sweeping ability to condemn private property over the objection of a land owner does not always make the deployment of eminent domain a sound or morally above-board practice, especially when a negotiated settlement is possible and therefore preferable.

Piscataway's head-long rush to grab the Halpers' land is one of those instances.

Elected officials say they they want to prevent any development of the Halper farm, but their argument holds less weight because there is no plan by the family to sell or develop the property.

The township's is solely a pre-emptive strike. Plus there are options for both sides. The township, for example, could agree to a right of first refusal, enabling it to match any development offer the Halpers get, if ever one is tendered. The family has offered that much already. Of course, a development offer would likely drive the price of compensation due the Halpers higher, more than the township wants to pay.

So rationalizing officials instead play their heavy-handed strategy -- a scheme that should concern anyone who is a land owner in the township and wants to remain so.

This page has always stressed that government should condemn private property only as a last resort and only when the land in question will serve a legitimate public purpose. Preservation of the Halper acreage certainly would accrue to the public good, but officials still have not proved condemnation is the only way to achieve that end. That is the shame and error in Piscataway's strong-arm ways.

The negotiating table is the better route. And might is not always right -- or smart.

http://www.thnt.com/thnt/story/0,21282,645689,00.html