[JURIST] New Jersey Governor Chris Christie [official website] on Thursday filed [press release] an eminent domain action against the small coastal city of Margate, New Jersey. The residents of Margate have stalled attempts by Christie to construct protective sand dunes along the coast; which were proposed by the executive office of NJ in order to safeguard the coastline against damage from future hurricanes. The action is seeking to take control of 87 city lots in order to allow the US Army Corps of Engineers [official website] to finish construction of sane dunes that would be approximately 13 feet high and 25 feet wide. The state has threatened [Philly.com report] to file such an action against Margate since January, after a federal judge informed the state that eminent domain would be proper. Representatives of Margate, an affluent city with a high percentage of upper-class residents, have stated that their hesitation with the action is not due to a desire to preserve oceanfront views. Rather, the residents are concerned that the dunes will be costly, unsightly, and ultimately ineffective in protecting the area from storms because most of the flooding from previous storms has allegedly occurred from the back bay and not the ocean.

Hurricane Sandy, a late-season hurricane [LiveScience backgrounder] that hit the Atlantic coast in October 2012, was the second costliest hurricane in US history. The economic damage caused by Hurricane Sandy has prompted Governor Christie to take executive action to protect New Jersey from future disasters. In the press release from Christie’s office, it was noted that Margate and other similarly situated cities suffered extreme losses and destruction during the storm. In particular, cities such as Longport and Margate suffered significant overwash of its beaches and damage to its bulkhead in Sandy’s wake, which required Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [official website] funds for the cleanup. The Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection [official website], Bob Martin [official profile], stated, “… we are very disappointed that the elected officials in Margate are forcing the state to protect their own citizens through the courts, as well as the citizens of Longport and Ventnor. We will continue to be very aggressive in using eminent domain as a tool to obtain the easements we need from those who continue to delay our efforts to safeguard our coast.”