Borough of Wildwood Crest v. Smith

Plaintiff, Wildwood Crest, and defendants, Cecile Smith and Monterey Motel, Inc., appeal and cross appeal from Law Division orders valuing condemned beach property and setting interest rates for the condemnation award.

As part of a program to acquire all of its beaches, plaintiff condemned unimproved beach property belonging to defendants. Each of the properties is generally similar. They front on the Atlantic Ocean and extend from the bulkhead line well into the ocean.1 The parcels include unencumbered upland property, beach property encumbered by public easement for bathing and recreation…