A federal judge appeared to favor a Jersey shore town's arguments that New Jersey can't proceed with a plan to widen beaches and build protective sand dunes without letting them challenge the proposal.
Judge Renee Marie Bumb will issue a ruling later Thursday on Margate's challenge to New Jersey's coastal protection plan.
The affluent shore town south of Atlantic City doesn't want dunes, saying they are unnecessary and will destroy the aesthetics of its popular beach.
The town and a beachfront couple sued the state saying they had no mechanism to challenge the legality of New Jersey's use of an administrative order seizing private land for the project without undergoing condemnation proceedings.
Bumb appeared to agree, saying the state's attitude amounted to ``sue me if you don't like it.''
