The case involves a 63-acre piece of property on the DelawareRiver waterfront in Paulsboro, Gloucester County, owned byGallenthin Realty Development Inc., a family business. The propertyis bordered to the south by an industrial facility and to the northby an inactive BP storage site. In 2003, Paulsboro officialsdesignated the site as "in need of redevelopment" based on aconsultant's report that it was "not fully productive."

The Gallenthin family sued the town, claiming officials hadmisused state laws pertaining to redevelopment and eminent domain.Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling overturned trials and appellatecourt decisions that had favored the town.

"Because the New Jersey Constitution authorizes governmentredevelopment of only 'blighted' areas, the Legislature did notintend [the law] to apply to circumstances where the sole basis forredevelopment is that the property is 'not fully productive'," saysthe 42-page decision, written by Chief Justice James Zazzali.Rather, the law "applies only to areas that, as a whole, arestagnant and unproductive because of issues of title, diversity ofownership or other similar conditions. Therefore, the Borough ofPaulsboro's redevelopment classification…is invalidated."