County planners seek answers on fort project
Board concerned with
habitat destruction, traffic related to proposal

The Monmouth County Planning Board has called for a traffic impact analysis and other environmental impact studies before the National Park Service goes ahead with plans for the proposed redevelopment of Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook.

"Our opinion is that a traffic analysis should be done," Robert Clark, director of the Planning Board, told Greater Media Newspapers last week.

In comments on the park service’s environmental assessment of the redevelopment plans, Clark said the board found the assessment failed to take a comprehensive look at traffic and at the impact of a permanent ferry dock and irrigation plans.

A spokesman for Rep. Frank P. Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), said Pallone has also asked the park service to conduct a traffic impact analysis for the redevelopment proposals.

"Overall we support the plan," said Clark, "but we do have these concerns."

The Planning Board doesn’t have jurisdiction over the federal site, Clark noted, so the park service wasn’t required to submit development plans for the historic buildings and Proving Ground on Fort Hancock.

The park service made a presentation on plans for the redevelopment of Fort Hancock, which include a private development, before the Planning Board in March.

In a letter to Sandy Hook Superintendent Russel Wilson, the Planning Board took issue with the environmental assessment’s finding that traffic impact did not require further analysis.

"It is our opinion that, given present traffic problems associated with Sandy Hook, a detailed traffic impact analysis must be provided," it said. "At a minimum, the traffic analysis must address traffic impacts of the proposed project on roadways outside the park as well as on roadways within the Fort Hancock area." The board recommended the analysis look at circulation management as well.

In addition, the county board said the assessment failed to look at the effect of a permanent ferry dock and a 7-mile multiuse pathway proposed for the park. It asked for information on location and construction of the dock and path, their impact on endangered species, and on "the overall role of the ferry service, markets to be served and how the ferry service relates to the redevelopment area."

The comments asked the park service and private developer Sandy Hook Partners, LLC to cooperate with the Army Corps of Engineers in the disposition of the old ordinance at Fort Hancock.

Other areas it said need further study include protecting piping plover nests from the effects of utility installation along Hartshorne Drive, and habitat restoration of parking lot K.

The letter criticized as "misguided" plans for a turf irrigation system for the redevelopment project during a drought period and at a site known "for its beach/maritime ecosystem," and recommended use of drought-resistant plantings. In addition, it called for better management of stormwater runoff from six new parking lots and other paved surfaces.

— Gloria Stravelli