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An elderly New Jersey couple has
accepted $1 to settle litigation over the building of sand dunes
that blocked the panoramic beachfront and ocean view from their
home, the state said on Wednesday.

Governor Chris Christie separately issued an executive order
directing Acting Attorney General John Hoffman to begin legal
action to acquire roughly 1,000 easements, paving the way for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build dunes that would help
to protect communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

Christie also created an Office of Flood Hazard Risk
Reduction Measures within the state's Department of
Environmental Protection to help acquire necessary property.

The $1 settlement with Harvey and Phyllis Karan was
announced after the New Jersey Supreme Court on July 8 had
overturned a $375,000 jury award in their favor.

In 2008, the Karans had rejected a $300 offer from the
Borough of Harvey Cedars as compensation for their lost land and
view when building a 22-foot (6.7-meter) high dune on part of
their property to replace a 16-foot (4.9-meter) dune.

They said the construction reduced their property's value by
$500,000. But the Supreme Court said the trial jury should also
have been allowed to consider whether the benefits of a higher
dune offset any loss of property value.

"The impact of that court ruling should now be clear to
anyone who thinks they were in line for a big government check,"
Christie said in a statement. "Sandy changed everything."

New Jersey said Harvey Cedars agreed to reimburse $24,260 to
cover the Karans' litigation costs, but not legal fees, and that
no post-Sandy cases will be treated similarly.

"Our clients are an elderly couple who were exhausted by
years of protracted litigation," Peter Wegener, a lawyer for the
Karans, said in a phone interview. "They are somewhat
disappointed that the system of justice in a sense let them
down, and not up to going through it all over again."

Sandy struck the state's 127-mile (204-km) coastline last
Oct. 29. It destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes,
leveled or washed away boardwalks and theme-park rides, and cost
an estimated $37 billion statewide.

Harvey Cedars is about 65 miles (105 km) east of
Philadelphia.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Scott
Malone)