Holmdel might use eminent domain to force purchase of Big Bang Horn Antenna property
HOLMDEL – The township introduced a plan to negotiate the purchase of the land housing the historic Horn Antenna Tuesday, including plans to invoke eminent domain to acquire the property if negotiations fail.
The resolution passed Tuesday would begin negotiations with developer Crawford Hill Holdings, owned by Rakesh Antala, to acquire the land on which an 18-ton Horn Antenna resides on.
The Horn Antenna, which was designated a national historic landmark in 1989, was instrumental in providing evidence of the Big Bang. Physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978 for their work.
In documents submitted to the township, Crawford Hill Holdings and its contract purchaser Burke Contracting LLC have proposed developing 88 townhomes on the site.
On Tuesday, the township passed a resolution approving the start of negotiations with Crawford Hill Holdings to purchase the property, as well as an introduced ordinance allowing $2 million as a starting point to pay for it. But it also introduced an ordinance authorizing the use of eminent domain, which allows government entities to forcibly take property from private citizens, with compensation, under certain conditions.
The property, known as Crawford Hill and located at 791 Holmdel Rd., was part of the old AT&T monopoly. AT&T built two buildings in the 1960s: the Bell Labs facility, which is now the office complex known as Bell Works, and an annex three miles away, which is home to the Horn Antenna.
In the next decades, the annex changed hands from AT&T to Lucent, to Alcatel-Lucent to Nokia and then to Antala for $3.6 million in 2020.
On tax maps, the property is known as block 27, lots 6, 6.01 and 7.
The Horn Antenna resides on lot 6. Both lot 6 and 6.01 consist mostly of open space. Lot 7 contains the former Nokia building.
The resolution and two ordinances
The township committee passed a resolution and introduced two ordinances Tuesday night.
The resolution would kick start “bona fide negotiations” for lots 6 and 6.01 as well as a partial easement, which consists of the road to drive to the Horn Antenna, on lot 7. It was unanimously approved.
According to Mayor D.J. Luccarelli, “if good faith negotiations fail,” the township would use eminent domain to take the property. The first ordinance authorized the use of eminent domain.
The second ordinance is a bond ordinance for $2 million to pay for the property, make a down payment or finance the acquisition process. According to Luccarelli, the $2 million will not result in a tax increase, but comes from the township’s Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund. Residents voted to increase their own taxes for the trust fund in 2022.
The two ordinances were unanimously introduced and would be voted on for final adoption on Tuesday, August 22 at 6:30 pm at Town Hall.
“Under the state’s Eminent Domain Act, the first procedural requirement (for) condemnation proceedings, (is to) engage in good faith negotiations with the property owner to determine if it can be acquired without litigation,” township attorney Michael Collins said. “In the event that those events fail, the next procedural step would be to formally file in Superior Court a condemnation action, which cannot occur until good faith negotiations conclude and good faith negotiations have to run at least 14 days.”
Collins said the land was appraised “based on the highest and best use under the current zoning.”
Gagliano & Company, the Little Silver based appraiser hired by the township, valued the land at $1.92 million.
In its report, it notes that “The demand for office space is declining, and this trend is not expected to slow or stop.”
In a press release dated August 2, Antala questioned the appraisal.
“How do you assess such a unique site? … What price do you put on that? $10 million? $20 million? $50 million?”
He said, “It does not appear that an appraiser budgeted for a modest sum of $7,000 will be able to provide the in-depth and expert analysis required to fairly value this unique site.”
Lot 7
While the township is looking to acquire most of the property under the procedure outlined in the resolution and two ordinances, lot 7 with the former Nokia building will follow a separate procedure.
A blight study conducted by the township planner will look into whether lot 7 would be considered an area in need of redevelopment for condemnation purposes.
Collins said, “The redevelopment law provides a significant tool kit to municipalities to address issues involving blighted properties, older buildings, things of that nature. Only then can the township committee contemplate approving a redevelopment plan, which essentially serves as zoning specific to that lot, which the redevelopment plan authorizes.”
He noted that Bell Works is a result of redevelopment.
The planning board will hear a presentation on the blight study on Tuesday, August 15 at Town Hall. If it votes in agreement with the study, the township committee would then vote to begin looking at redevelopment plans.
“Hypothetically, if the township condemns a property with a building on it, once the condemnation goes through, the township gets titled to the property and the building with all its you know wart or whatever on that property as of that date,” Collins said.
The township could then work with a third party to demolish buildings and construct other structures on the site.
The developer’s view
In a statement, the developer rejected the potential use of eminent domain.
Antala said that his limited liability company has never intended to move or harm the antenna. He said special interest groups have politicized the issue and asked residents to “put aside the irrational fears, shut off the political posturing.”
He said, “We want nothing more than to have honest negotiations with the town officials and open-minded residents — based on facts not fear. We are more than willing to work in good faith as before and develop alternate options where the Horn Antenna is preserved and open space is maintained.”
Resident’s Views
Ralph Blumenthal, vice chair for the township’s zoning board, said, “We’re pleased that you’re making progress with this preservation project.”
Meredith Thomas, a teacher at Indian Hill School, said she approved of the township committee’s action during Tuesday’s meeting.
“Let us not forget that it was on this soil that a groundbreaking discovery occurred,” she said. “A discovery that reshaped our understanding of the universe. In addition to preservation, I also implore you to consider a restoration project for this site.”
Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Holmdel could use eminent domain to take BIg Bang Horn Antenna land
