Save Sandy Hook.org

BREAKING NEWS-Save Sandy Hook Files Motion To Stop Work At Fort Hancock

July 13th, 2007

Developer must wait until lawsuit is settled, opponents state

TWO RIVER TIMES
WEEK OF JULY 6 -13, 2007

Save Sandy Hook Files Motion To Stop Work At Fort Hancock
Developer must wait until lawsuit is settled, opponents state

By John Burton

SANDY HOOK - Work begun on three buildings at the historic Fort Hancock, part of a proposed restoration and redevelopment project at the site, should stop while the federal lawsuit seeking to void the lease is pending, according to the lawyer representing groups opposed to the lease agreement between a private developer and the National Park Service.

Lawrence W. Luttrell, the attorney for Save Sandy Hook, a group opposed to an agreement between the National Park Service (NPS) and Sandy Hook Partners, LLC, the group seeking to renovate and develop 36 buildings at the former military installation, last week filed a motion in federal court seeking to enjoin the developer from continuing the work on three of the fort structures begun last month.

"If the park service wants to pay to fix it with government money, fine," Luttrell said this week. "But we don't want somebody sneaking their way in if the lease gets thrown out." In mid-June, James Wassel, a principal in Sandy Hook Partners, announced his group had begun what he labeled at the time a "preservation maintenance phase" for the site's Post Chapel, Post Theater and Post Headquarters.

In an interview with The Two River Times conducted on June 12, Wassel said the work on the three structures will be privately financed and cost approximately $1 million. Wassel said he hoped to have the work completed by October.

The motion to stop the work is intended to prevent the developer from seeking financial or legal redress, depending on the outcome of the lawsuit.

Should the developer continue he could make the legal argument for estoppel, arguing he did work in good faith and that should be taken into consideration in the final evaluation for Wassel's group and any potential investors, Luttrell explained.

Luttrell's motion was filed in federal court in Trenton on July 3 and U.S. District Judge Mary Little Cooper is expected to hear oral arguments on this motion, as well as counter motions for summary judgment in early August.

Luttrell said he was unaware if work on the fort structures had stopped after the developer was notified of the motion. Technically, the developer could continue, "but they do it at their own peril," Luttrell said.

"I can only assume that they were prudent and stopped," he said. "But if they continue they do it at their own risk."

Wassel was unavailable for comment on Wednesday. Richard E. Wells, superintendent for Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook, which encompasses Fort Hancock, said on Wednesday he had no direct knowledge concerning Luttrell's motion and could not comment on ongoing litigation.

Wells did say, however, that work on the three structures is continuing.

The park service entered into a 60-year lease agreement with Sandy Hook Partners in 2004. Sandy Hook Partners would renovate and rehabilitate 36 buildings at the fort, located at the end of the federal park located in Middletown. In exchange the group will lease out the spaces for commercial and educational uses. Plans called for the site to be used for office space, hospitality and various not-for-profit groups.

Save Sandy Hook, a group opposed to this lease agreement and to leasing public lands for private, for-profit uses, filed suit in federal court in 2004.

Save Sandy Hook consists of area residents, environmental activists and those who use the gateway national park for recreation, which has argued the development proposal will have a detrimental effect on the park's ecology and impinge on the quality of life for the area.

The objectors also have argued that Sandy Hook Partners, LLC, has not shown the ability to acquire the necessary financing to pursue its project and have criticized the NPS for offering Wassel and the group time extensions to seek the funding.

Last week the NPS again provided an extension. In the past NPS spokesman has said in the past the extensions were granted because the ongoing litigation has impeded the developer's ability to find investors.

http://www.tworivertimes.com/071307/news3.php
http://www.savesandyhook.org/news.php?section=theysay&id=287

Press Releases :

November 13th, 2008

Save Sandy Hook will continue to figh...

...commercialization was never envisioned by the founders of the National Park Service