Image Credit: WaterfrontAlliance.org

Owner claimed de facto taking when City installed storm drains that flooded land designated as a wetland. The firm 594 Associates, Inc. acquired vacant land on Staten Island in 1985. The land was designated freshwater wetlands or wetlands adjacent area, and therefore development was not permitted. On September 26, 2005, the City constructed a headwall on the property’s border with an adjacent street. The headwall contained an outlet for one of the adjacent street’s storm drains and a second overflow outlet. These devices caused storm-water to accumulate on the 594 Associates land during storms. In October 2010, the City of New York acquired the land under eminent domain as part of its South Richmond Bluebelt, Phase 3, Project. (more…)