Extension for Sandy Hook Partners draws criticism
Developer will hold informational meeting on project
BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer

The National Park Service is being criticized for giving a private developer more time to line up financing for a development project at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook.

Last week the park service announced it was extending its Letter of Intent to Sandy Hook Partners LLC for another six months. The Letter of Intent gives a 60-year historic lease for 36 buildings at the fort.

In a formal statement released this week on the park service’s action, Rep. Frank Pallone called the extension "a mistake." He said Sandy Hook Partners has had ample time to demonstrate that its proposal is viable and that financing could be secured.

"They continue to get more time, yet we don’t have the details about what they’re proposing and how they’re going to pay for it," Pallone said.

"They’ve had enough time. There were other proposals out there and this was chosen to have the opportunity. There may be others who will come forward. Maybe it’s time to give someone else a chance," he said.

"The people opposed to it are justified in saying, ‘Why do they continue to extend this time period when they’ve had plenty of time?’ I question at this time whether they (Sandy Hook Partners) are going to come up with a detailed proposal and have the financing for it," Pallone said.

"When does it stop? They’re just extending this and extending this," said retired Superior Court Judge James Coleman, a member of the board of Save Sandy Hook, a grassroots organization opposed to the commercialization of the national recreation area. "It’s so obvious that they’re carrying Sandy Hook Partners along. They’ve done everything to help Sandy Hook Partners, and we get accused of being obstructionists when all we’ve asked for is a few simple facts — how much is the first phase, how many cars," he said. "I’m getting tired of these people making the ground rules up as they go along."

Coleman said the group is ex­ploring seeking an injunction to stop the process from going forward and forcing the park service to make public the details of the pro­posal, including the lease agree­ment.

Last week James Wassel, presi­dent of Sandy Hook Partners, an­nounced a Dec. 6 meeting "to ad­dress the misinformation regarding the historic rehabilitation of Fort Hancock."

Wassel said Tuesday the presen­tation at 1 p.m. in the Post Theater will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

"We will present what we’re planning to do out here," said Wassel.

Wassel said the presentation "will be very detailed, including exactly how the buildings will be used. And we will talk about fi­nancing."

Pallone is continuing to lobby for the park service to sit down with the plan’s opponents and work out a compromise.

"From the beginning I’ve said the National Park Service should sit down with the opponents and hear their point of view. I think that’s where we should be at this point. I seriously doubt Wassel’s ability to finance it (the plan) and I don’t want this to extend another six months."

He called on the park service to take a more active role and to be more open about details of the pro­posal.

"Nothing will happen unless the National Park Service plays a more proactive role," he said. "Maybe if they sit down with op­ponents and give them more infor­mation, there’s still the opportunity for some kind of compromise.

"Not enough information was given out," according to the con­gressman. "The process is not one that allows for a lot of openness. This extension will only fuel this concern and may result in a law­suit."

Pallone said he is concerned that legal action would further de­lay the process and result in con­tinued deterioration of the fort’s buildings.

According to the park service, the extension gives Sandy Hook Partners more time "to demonstrate that it has secured commercially reasonable financial commitments to fulfill its obligations under the terms of the proposed lease."

The park service said the latest extension is "fair and necessary" because federal investigations into the selection of Sandy Hook Partners occurred during the post-FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact) six-month time period.

The extension is the second the park service has given Sandy Hook Partners. The original Letter of Intent, signed in November 2001, expired after one year and the park service gave Sandy Hook Partners another year to line up tenants and obtain financing for the project. The private developer estimates it will need a $75 million investment to adaptively re-use 36 buildings at the fort.

The initial one-year extension was granted, the park service said, due to an extended public com­ment period resulting from contro­versy over the selection of Sandy Hook Partners’ proposal.

Two investigations relating to Sandy Hook Partners were initi­ated in response to complaints about irregularities in the park service’s selection process.

The Office of Acquisition and Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior investi­gated charges that the procurement process for the Fort Hancock rede­velopment didn’t comply with fed­eral regulations. In September, the office released its findings, saying the park service complied with procedures to lease historic prop­erties under its authority.

A separate but concurrent inves­tigation resulted when a competing developer charged that a prior re­lationship between James Wassel, president of Sandy Hook Partners, and a park service official influ­enced the outcome of the redevel­opment plan selection process.

Although investigators from the Inspector General’s Office of the DOI have interviewed local resi­dents about the charges, a spokeswoman refused to confirm that an investigation is under way when contacted this week.