Island Venture Associates v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

We must decide whether the property owner in this case is bound to a restriction on its land that was imposed by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as part of a coastal permit issued to the owner’s predecessor in title. Because the restriction could not be found by a diligent search of record title, and for the other reasons expressed below, we hold that the property owner is not bound by the restriction.

I

We derive our summary of facts largely from the record established before the administrative law judge (ALJ), whose decision the DEP ultimately adopted. In 1988, High Bar…