Point Beach May Get Amethyst Beach Motel Through Eminent Domain

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – The Point Pleasant Beach Council may acquire a motel property through eminent domain.

The council plans to acquire the Amethyst Beach Motel property at Arnold and Baltimore avenues, and the governing body planned to introduce the eminent domain ordinance during its Tuesday night meeting at 7:30 p.m.

The council will introduce an ordinance on Thursday night to acquire the property for "the purpose of planning and developing," according to borough records.

The property owner was asked to meet with the borough's appraiser in the fall of 2020 and again in December of 2020, and most recently in the beginning of 2021, according to borough records.

The borough says it plans to continue negotiating with the owner, but John Fernicola told nj.com that the borough is punishing him for police calls to the property in the last year.

Fernicola told the publication that he's tried to evict people from his property, but he was told the governor’s eviction moratorium prevented him from doing what he needed to do.

The Fernicola family has started a petition to try to stop the council from moving forward with eminent domain.

"We do not force people out of their businesses and homes during times like these let alone at all," the petition says.

"Property rights are a sacred right provided to us by our founding fathers and the constitution. It appears Point Pleasant Beach fabricated the taking for a public purpose as punishment and retribution for difficulties faced by the property owners during the lockdown last spring forcing them to house homeless persons without compensation who acted out and created turmoil for the owners, the local police creating the retribution now being levied on a family of 60 years facing the taking of their livelihood."

Mayor Paul Kanitra offered a response:

"While the Fernicolas' efforts to secure petition signatures from hundreds and hundreds of non-residents of Point Pleasant Beach are impressive, their dishonesty and misinformation in all aspects of this process are not. The governing body is not usually unanimous in most of our decisions. The fact that we are all united on this front should speak volumes for our justification of moving forward on behalf of the residents of this town."

The eminent domain effort comes after the motel operators were charged nearly a year ago for violating Gov. Phil Murphy's emergency order by forcing renters to pay amid the coronavirus crisis.

The incident happened when officers responded to the Amethyst Beach Motel at 202 Arnold Ave. on a report of a dispute between management and occupants of several rooms, police said.

Upon arrival, officers separated the individuals and learned that the dispute started when the manager began demanding tenants pay their rent or leave, police said.

The tenants also reported having their power shut off to several rooms for not paying their rent on time, police said.

An investigation showed a pattern by management and the owner of the motel where power and cable were shut off repeatedly in rooms where occupants were late on their rent, police said.

At the time, police said they had responded to the motel several times a day for various incidents, including disputes, assaults, disturbances and threats. During the first few weeks of the outbreak, police had not received any other reports of landlords or motel owners reacting in this manner by forcing people to pay their rent, police said.

The lack of cooperation from the motel diverted resources on numerous occasions for matters "exacerbated by their actions and attitudes," police said at the time.

"These are trying times, and people are obligated to work with each other in order to pay their rent. However, using these tactics to force or threaten compliance will not be tolerated," Chief Joseph Michigan said in April 2020.