Demolition begins on Seaside Park motel after yearslong court battle
The former Desert Palm Inn is coming down after a four-year legal fight over the borough's acquisition of the property through eminent domain.
Demolition began Monday on the former Desert Palm Inn in Seaside Park, ending a yearslong legal battle over the borough’s acquisition of the property through eminent domain.
Crews began tearing down the former motel Monday morning, with the building largely demolished shortly after 11 a.m. The demolition work is expected to continue for several weeks.
Seaside Park acquired the property through eminent domain after years of problems at the motel, including numerous code violations, unsafe conditions found during inspections and hundreds of police calls.
The former property owner challenged the borough’s acquisition, leading to a four-year court battle that reached the New Jersey Supreme Court.
One of the issues raised in the case was whether Seaside Park was required to identify its intended future use of the property when it moved to acquire it. A court ultimately ruled that state law did not require the borough to specify how the property would be used, clearing the way for demolition to move forward earlier this summer.
Several dozen people gathered Monday to watch the motel come down, with some cheering as demolition crews worked.
“I am going to be cheering. I am going to be cheering because it’s something really good for our town and the people that live here and the people that visit, the tourists that visit,” Seaside Park resident Joanne Penn said. “It’s important. It’s right on the oceanfront. I mean, my goodness, we’ve got other places to stay. This needs to be torn down.”
The borough is considering using the oceanfront property for additional parking and the construction of a new well.
Mike Curry lives right behind the motel.
"It's been a complete nightmare. Every morning I wake up, you see all of this tar paper, what's left of it, what's not left of it was on my property," said Curry. "Cops were here all of the time, people were climbing in and out of these windows, drug dealing going on. It turned pretty crazy."
With plenty of beach time left this summer, crews are taking extra steps to protect the public.
"Dust is the main concern, so we have a fire hydrant hooked up ready to go that's going to suppress any dust," said Greg Lertch, of Greg Lertch Demolition.
Seaside Park Mayor John Peterson says guidelines under the eminent domain policy require the future use of this land to be put for the good of the public. And in this case, all plans still call for the land to be turned into a parking lot with a portion of the property to be used to construct a well.
"We've identified a critical need for public parking, more public parking in this area that remains dire," said Mayor Peterson.
