Fight against eminent domain goes to Atlantic City City Hall
By MICHAEL CLARK
Staff Writer, 609-272-7204
Published: Friday, March 21, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY - An effort by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. to expand its property is another sign that the resort's small business industry is facing extinction, local business owners say. But they're not going quietly.A group of store owners in and around the area targeted for redevelopment stormed over to City Hall on Thursday with signed petitions in hopes of halting a process that could lead to the use of eminent domain."You don't have to get rid of little businesses; we're what makes this city complete," said Audrey Anderson, owner of Ms. Audrey's Human Connection, a tailoring and thrift store on Atlantic Avenue. "People that have that income and have a car say get rid of them, because they can drive to the mainland. But what about the people that like walking around their town and using the local businesses?"The city's Planning Board has been holding redevelopment hearings since December to determine whether the area around the old Sands Casino and Hotel site is a blighted area. The potential designation could open up targeted business owners to eminent domain and has faced strong opposition.Pinnacle has decided to proceed with its plans for redevelopment, even after a recent delay in construction of its proposed $1.5 billion megaresort and the possibility that it might abandon the project altogether if the credit markets don't improve.
Nael Zumot, owner of the Center City Deli on Atlantic Avenue, has been through all of this before. His deli was once located about two blocks east at 1503 Atlantic Ave."Now Kentucky Fried Chicken is where I was," said Zumot, who fought the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in 1993 from taking his business until he conceded and was paid $110,000. "It was a big loss, very big loss."But some property owners petitioning the city are not the target of Pinnacle's property plans, which reach from the Boardwalk between Kentucky and Indiana avenues up to Atlantic Avenue between Indiana Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.The current plans do little to ease concerns."It will just gradually keep coming down," Anderson said. "They'll get us too.""It's like domino effect," added Michael Abdullah, a Providence Avenue resident and supporter of the group.Abdullah, a fashion designer with an online business, doesn't have a business in Atlantic City but has aspired to start one for years. He represents one of many people wary of investing money in a business that could be stripped from them."I know these people out here that are being threatened with losing their business, I know them personally," he said. "This is all they have. I don't want to end up in that same situation."Mayor Scott Evans joined the group as they petitioned the city, offering his support for their concerns.But the issue leaves Evans in a difficult position, challenged with siding with the residents who will be going to the voting booth less than three months or supporting casino development.In the end, the mayor chose both sides."At this time, I wholeheartedly support the business owners on Atlantic Avenue," he said.He later added: "I'm not against Pinnacle; they definitely have the right to increase their footprint."Evans, who holds a seat on the Planning Board, has not attended many of the redevelopment hearings and has not publicly raised any opposition or concern about eminent domain."There's still a long process ahead of us," he said.In the end, however, Anderson intends to come out on top."I wouldn't do any of this unless I knew I was going to win," she said. "I always win everything I fight for."To e-mail Michael Clark at The Press:Michael.Clark@pressofac.com
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