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BREAKING NEWS

December 5th, 2006

Claim lease deal violates U.S. law,National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Park Service Organic Act

Fort plan foes want challenge reopened
Claim lease deal violates U.S. law

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/5/06

BY KEVIN PENTON
KEYPORT BUREAU

Opponents of a commercial lease of Sandy Hook's Fort Hancock will ask a federal judge if they can file an amended complaint against the project's developers and the National Park Service, alleging the deal violates several federal acts.

The opponents, Save Sandy Hook, allege the redevelopment deal between the government and Sandy Hook Partners, led by Rumson developer James Wassel, violates the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Park Service Organic Act, which created the parks system, according to court documents.

Save Sandy Hook's new attorney, Lawrence Luttrell of Highlands, expects to ask U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper Dec. 18 to refile the case, according to the documents.

Luttrell could not be reached for comment Monday.

In July, Cooper threw out Save Sandy Hook's previous challenge to the redevelopment, saying she had not seen sufficient information to determine whether her court had the jurisdiction to decide whether the lease deal caused harm to members of the nonprofit organization.

Cooper gave Save Sandy Hook 60 days to reopen the action or file an amended complaint, but the organization's previous attorney, Paul Josephson, stepped down from the case only days before the deadline.

Cooper gave the organization more time in October, after Wassel had announced that after years of delays, he had secured the financing for the project, estimated by his investor and loan company, Palisades Financial LLC, to cost between $40 million and $50 million.

Wassel and Palisades Financial are supposed to submit the terms of their financial agreement to the federal government for review, but that has yet to happen, said Richard Wells, Sandy Hook's superintendent.

Wells declined to comment on the issues raised by Save Sandy Hook in its amended appeal, but said Wassel and Palisades Financial may be waiting for the court case to be decided before submitting the loan documents.

"If the court reopens this, we would take a step back," said Wells, who believes the government's deal with Wassel is the best way to rehabilitate the long-unused buildings at historic Fort Hancock.

Wassel could not be reached for comment Monday.

Gist of the plan

Wassel and Palisades Financial officials have said they envision converting 36 buildings near the northern end of Sandy Hook into bed-and-breakfast inns, small conference centers, college classrooms and spas.

The National Park Service selected Wassel's redevelopment proposal out of 22 submitted in 1999, agreeing to begin the 60-year deal in 2004.

But if Wassel defaults on his loan agreement with Palisades Financial, the Englewood Cliffs-based real estate lending and investment firm would take over the lease, Wells has said.

Members of Save Sandy Hook are concerned the redevelopment would limit public access to parts of Fort Hancock.

James M. Coleman, a Middletown resident who heads the organization together with his wife, Judith H. Stanley Coleman, declined to comment on his group's court submission.

"We'll say what we have to say in court," Coleman, a retired Superior Court judge, said.

ON THE WEB: Visit our Web site, www.app.com, and click on this story for a link to Gateway National Recreation Area

Kevin Penton: (732) 888-2617 or kpenton@app.com

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/NEWS/612050301

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