Holmdel Redevelopment Report On Former Nokia Site Moved To Sept.

HOLMDEL, NJ — A report on the former Nokia Crawford Hill site as an area is need of redevelopment has been moved to Sept. 5 at 7 p.m., according to the Planning Board.

The discussion was originally planned for Tuesday, Aug. 15, but the Planning Board meeting was cancelled and this item moved to the Sept. 5 meeting.

Block 27, Lot 7, the former Nokia Crawford Hill facility at 791 Holmdel Road, is the subject of a study by Phillips Preiss Grygiel Leheny Hughes LLC , Hoboken, regarding creating a potential “condemnation area in need of redevelopment” as defined under the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, the board says.

The site is part of a larger 43-acre property, owned by Crawford Hill Holdings, that is the site of the Bell Labs historic Horn antenna, known for its special place in the history of cosmology for its role in confirming the Big Bang theory.

The Township Committee has already moved to start condemnation of the 34.3 acres at the top of Crawford Hill, the location of the Horn antenna and an open space area.

The study of the separate Nokia parcel will also come under consideration. Nokia had purchased the site from Bell Labs, and it is zoned for research facilities.

An area environmental activist, Kin Gee, said in a post on Better Holmdel that Citizens For Informed Land Use recently sent an email to its members stating that its board “is advocating for acquisition of the entire Crawford Hill property, not just the upper lots. Rezoning and development of the site would be inconsistent with Holmdel’s Master Plan and would limit public access and eliminate the potential to use the existing structure as an educational center or parks building.”