News
Park Service Grants Developer Another Extension Fort Hancock has another year to show proof of financing
By John Burton
SANDY HOOK - Four years after the National Park Service approved a lease agreement allowing a private developer to renovate and rent out a minimum of 36 buildings at Fort Hancock for commercial use, and four years into a legal challenge to that agreement, the NPS has granted another one-year extension of time for the developer to find the necessary funding for the project.
Brian Feeney, a spokesman for the National Park Service (NPS), said this week, the park service was granting the extension because of the ongoing lawsuit. "While the lease is under a legal cloud, it is impossible for him (the developer) to get the financing."
The extension granted is for one year, with the stipulation that if the lawsuit is dismissed before the year is up, the developer would have 90 days from that point to provide documentation of financing for the multi-million dollar project.
Those who oppose the lease agreement say that the government's claim that the lawsuit is responsible for the developer's inability to obtain financing has always been a specious argument.
They charge that the NPS violated the federal government's own criteria in awarding the development contract without proof of financing. "That's what sticks in my craw," said James Coleman, one of the officers in Save Sandy Hook, the group that has brought the federal suit against NPS and the developer.
"I definitely dispute that," said U.S. Representative Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), who, like the members of Save Sandy Hook, has long voiced opposition to the plan to grant the developer, Sandy Hook Partners, a 60-year lease for the use of buildings at Fort Hancock, a former military base located at the northern tip of Gateway National Recreational Area at Sandy Hook, a federal park.
"They (NPS) shouldn't have given the lease out without the financing up front," Pallone said.
Acting on a federal plan to arrange the adaptive reuse of park buildings via a public-private partnership, the park service issued a call for proposals for rehabilitating the buildings at Fort Hancock in the late 1990s.
In 2000, the park service selected Sandy Hook Partners, LLC, headed by Rumson resident James Wassel, as the preferred developer for plans to restore 36 of the fort's approximate 100 buildings.
In exchange for the restoration, Sandy Hook Partners would be granted a 60-year lease on the buildings, which the developer would then sub-lease to a variety of commercial, not-for-profit and educational entities.
Sandy Hook Partners has said in the past that potential tenants could include hospitality businesses such as restaurants and lodging facilities, a hyperbaric chamber, research and educational facilities, a mock trading floor and office space.
Proponents, including some historic preservation advocates, saw the plan as a means of preserving the buildings at the historic site, which have deteriorated over the years, while under the charge of the National Park Service.
Opponents have raised concerns over the federal government allowing public lands intended for recreational use, to be designated for private and for profit purposes, as well as what any development would mean for Sandy Hook's fragile ecosystem and for the quality of life for those who live in the area.
In addition, the objectors have charged the federal government has violated its own rules in awarding this lease, by not having the developer show he has the wherewithal to deliver the project.
The federal government has granted six to eight extensions since Sandy Hook Partners was selected as the designated developer.
The park service selected Wassel's group from among 23 proposals in 2000, signing a formal agreement with the developer in the summer of 2004. Save Sandy Hook filed their lawsuit in federal court in December of 2004.
Feeney said this is the fourth extension given to Sandy Hook Partners.
Pallone and Save Sandy Hook disagree, saying, respectively, this is at least the sixth or seventh extension granted the developer since Sandy Hook Partners were selected in 2000. The opposition has always maintained Sandy Hook Partners had more than four years prior to the suit to find backers.
But Feeney dates the number of extensions from when the lease was signed, four years later. "The issue is until the lease is signed the terms for the lease are not firm," Feeney said. "Then with the signed lease in hand, at that point he (Wassel) could go out and find financing."
"From the very beginning, they (Sandy Hook Partners) did not show any proof of financing and show the actual ability to do this project," Pallone countered.
Pallone has from the onset said he was against what he called the 'commercialization" of the locations. Now with this extension, "Enough is enough," he said, adding that it is time for the park service to go back to the drawing board and, "find a group of non-profits that would come in and restore the buildings without the commercialization," he said.
Prior to issuing its Request for Proposals for redevelopment, the park service negotiated deals with Brookdale Community College, in Middletown, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and with the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (M.A.S.T.) among others, to lease buildings at the fort for non-commercial uses.
Sandy Hook Partners has refurbished two of the structures included in the lease, the chapel and auditorium, which are now available to rent for weddings and parties, with Merri-makers Caterers providing services for functions rented through Sandy Hook Partners.
Pallone last year formally requested that the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior conduct an investigation into the park service's actions in awarding this contract. The outcome of that investigation is still pending, Pallone said.
Save Sandy Hook has had its suit dismissed twice in federal court. The group has taken the suit to the federal Appellate Court, and anticipates that it may be heard in September by the three- judge panel in Philadelphia, according to Coleman.
Coleman, a Middletown resident and former judge, county prosecutor, and state legislator, said the group is continuing the fight because, "Fair is fair. And as citizens we have the right to hold our government's feet to the fire and to do the right thing. And they didn't do the right thing."
Wassel did not return calls seeking an interview for this story.
