Pathmark Stores, Inc.
Mr. Harvey Gutman
Senior Vice President, Retail Development
200 Milik Street
Carteret, NJ 07008


Mr. Harvey Gutman
Senior Vice President, Retail Development
Dear Mr. Gutman:

The Pathmark company is currently in contract negotiations with Penrose properties and the CDC of Franklin, to locate a new facility in the Camner Avenue area on the Corner of Route 27 and Franklin Boulevard.

As a citizen of Franklin, as a friend and neighbor of the residents in this area, and as a Pathmark customer, I am asking you to advise your company NOT to site your store on Camner Avenue.

I have spoken at length with the homeowners and business people currently occupying the lands you will need to bulldoze for your project--I assure you they do not want to sell their homes or give up their community for the sake of a new shopping center.

The residents and property owners in the Camner Ave area enjoy a comfortable and safe lifestyle and have invested in their community both financially and emotionally. They do not wish to leave, and the rest of us in the Franklin community do not feel it is right that they be forced out of their homes through the use of Eminent Domain.

The Camner Avenue homeowners and local supporters have recently been picketing in front of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens and the Franklin Council members homes. This week we will also start picketing Pathmark stores in order to bring attention to the Misuse of Eminent Domain in their neighborhood.

We are not drawing a distinction between the developers who misuse Eminent Domain in their projects, the politicians who endorse it, or the corporate tenants who financially support such efforts. We believe it is morally wrong to be involved in such an unjust and un-American process.

Please understand that we don't have a problem with the products and services your company offers, but we do strongly condemn Pathmark if they allow their stores to be built on such illegitimately obtained property.

We consider this MISUSE of Eminent domain as a violation of our neighbors and as a future threat to all our homes! We will continue to picket Pathmark stores and associate the Pathmark name with Eminent domain until you publicly denounce and discourage the use of Eminent Domain in your expansions.

As a businessman and a homeowner you must realize that the vast majority of people do not approve of the use of Eminent Domain except for the most necessary and vital PUBLIC purposes. Please reconsider your involvement in this project and search for locations where the property is FOR SALE.

Courtney Throckmorton for,
The Somerset Street Business and Community Association

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