By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – Hailed by some residents as the “greatest” first move, the township committee voted unanimously to authorize the appraisal of the legendary Horn Antenna property atop Crawford Hill at 791 Holmdel Road, as a first step in potentially acquiring it by eminent domain.
Eminent domain is a right granted to municipalities under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to acquire qualifying properties for public use in exchange for fair market value, determined by the town’s appraiser.
The committee’s unanimous vote at the June 13 meeting has now authorized township appraisers Gagliano & Company to submit a report for the Horn Antenna property that would enable Holmdel to begin formal negotiations toward legally securing the legendary antenna at its existing location.
“After many conversations, I believe it now makes sense for the township committee to move forward with seeking an appraisal of the Crawford Hill property, so it can evaluate it for a potential acquisition under the eminent domain act,” Mayor DJ Luccarelli said at the Tuesday meeting. “I do not take the potential use of eminent domain lightly, but I believe it makes sense for the township to use this power – that it has under state law – to condemn for open space, recreation and historic preservation purposes.”
A second resolution authorized by the committee at the Tuesday meeting remodified the redevelopment investigation of the Crawford Hill property, separating the three lots that make up the site’s 42 total acres.
Lots 6 and 6.01 are authorized for appraisal and include the Horn Antenna and 34 acres of green space which will be considered for a potential park. Lot 7, which currently houses the vacant 50,000-square-foot Nokia building, will not be included in the eminent domain process and stay under continued redevelopment investigation.
Residents applauded the governing body’s strategy in dividing the parcel to preserve Lots 6 and 6.01: “34 acres of pristine parkland with the Horn Antenna untouched,” said resident Patrick Trischitta, noting that the area can be accessed through an easement on Lot 7 or from the Garden State Parkway which borders it. Lot 7 with the Nokia building “is really eight acres with a pond and a dilapidated building,” he added.
According to Resolution 2023-168, the township authorized acquiring the property through “potential condemnation” based on findings which were consistent with the township’s Master Plan goals in protecting open space for historic preservation. The Horn Antenna property has unique value as a national landmark site situated on the highest peak of Monmouth County.
The township also acknowledged a groundswell of public support for preservation of the property that came in the form of public participation at meetings and worldwide signatures on a petition launched by grassroots local organizations from within the township.
From “thrilled” and “extremely grateful” to “I can’t believe this is happening,” residents were relieved after incessantly opposing the redevelopment of the property that houses a piece of equipment instrumental in proving the Big Bang theory of the birth of the universe.
“This act of preserving Crawford Hill and the Horn Antenna as a park that will be accessible to not only residents of Holmdel but all of New Jersey, the country, is the single greatest act that the township committee has done in my 30 years here of living in Holmdel,” said resident Elise Donovan.
A few residents even suggested resources to help acquire and refurbish the property. Bill Kastning, a Holmdel resident and executive director for the Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF), suggested “some well-heeled funders” could help rehabilitate the Horn Antenna and offered fundraisers through MCF.
Resident Ralph Blumenthal, an environmentalist and former physicist at Bell Labs, recalled the efforts of environmental groups Citizens For Informed Land Use (CILU), Friends Of Holmdel Open Space, Preserve Holmdel and others who “lobbied” to save the Horn Antenna property. Blumenthal suggested the township work with the Monmouth County Park system to acquire the funds needed to purchase the property. He said the MCPS has publicly stated it is willing to contribute “up to $5 million” to municipalities for acquiring parkland.
The attorney Collins explained the “intricate process” for acquiring the property through “potential condemnation” or imposing eminent domain in the forth coming months:
The township will hold another public meeting after reviewing the appraisal and attempting to acquire the property in “good faith negotiations” with the current owner, Crawford Hill LLC. If those negotiations fall through, then the township has the power to condemn the property through an ordinance. If that ordinance were adopted the township could then initiate the superior court proceedings to enforce condemnation action.
Former Bell Labs physicist Robert Wilson, also a Holmdel resident, was at the meeting applauding the township’s move toward preserving the historic character of the area. Wilson, with physicist Arno Penzias, utilized the Horn Antenna to detect the cosmic microwave radiation that provided irrefutable evidence of the Big Bang. Both Wilson and Penzias earned a Nobel Prize in Physics for this research in 1978. The Crawford Hill Property has been home to the Holmdel Horn Antenna for decades. In addition to confirming the Big Bang, the large microwave horn antenna was used as a satellite communication antenna and radio telescope during the 1960s at then-Bell Telephone Laboratories.
The article originally appeared in the June 22 – 28, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
