Atlantic Coast LEH, LLC v. Township of Little Egg Harbor

26 N.J. Tax 151
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedJuly 26, 2011
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 26 N.J. Tax 151 (Atlantic Coast LEH, LLC v. Township of Little Egg Harbor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atlantic Coast LEH, LLC v. Township of Little Egg Harbor, 26 N.J. Tax 151 (N.J. Super. Ct. 2011).

Opinion

DeALMEIDA, P.J.T.C.

The question before the court is whether plaintiffs approximately twelve-acre, mostly vacant plot of land, on which is located a 290-foot, income-generating, cellular communications tower, qualifies for farmland assessment pursuant to the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.1, et seq. The property is put to dual uses. In addition to collecting rent from the operation of the cellular tower, which occupies less than an acre, but stretches approximately 25 stories into the sky, the property owner pays an out-of-state beekeeper to maintain beehives on the property for the production of honey, wax and other products. The bees forage on plants scattered throughout the lot. The beekeeper purchases from the property owner all the apiary products the bees make on the property for amounts just above the statutory minimum for farmland qualification. The small amount collected for the bees’ products consistently results in a financial loss to the taxpayer. After a careful consideration of these facts, the court concludes that the predominant use of the [153]*153property is the generation of income from operation of the cellular tower. Because the apiary activities are subordinate to the taxpayer’s non-agricultural exploitation of the property, the tax assessor correctly denied plaintiffs applications to assess the property as farmland during the tax years in question.

I. Findings of Fact

This opinion sets forth the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law on the parties’ motions for summary judgment. R. 1:6—2(f). The court’s findings of fact are based on the certifications and exhibits submitted by the parties on the motions. R. 1:6—2(d).

Plaintiff Atlantic Coast LEH, LLC (“Atlantic Coast”) is the owner of real property in defendant Little Egg Harbor Township. The property is designated by the township as Block 63, Lot 6 and is located on Poorman’s Parkway in the vicinity of the Garden State Parkway. Despite its proximity to the highway, the property is remote. The parcel is a predominantly vacant, triangular plot of 12.24 acres.

In January 2000, Atlantic Coast Communications, Inc. (“AC Communications”), an entity related to plaintiff, was a contract lessee of the property, which was then owned by Harbor Group, a New Jersey partnership. On January 12, 2000, AC Communications secured a use variance from the Little Egg Harbor Township Zoning Board of Adjustment to permit the construction of a 290-foot tower on the property to facilitate wireless communications for cellular telephones. At the time of the application, AC Communications was licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate and own seventeen cellular communications towers in New Jersey and elsewhere. AC Communications intended to license space on the tower to various carriers, including Bell Atlantic Mobile, Sprint, Omnipoint, and Nextel.

The intended use required multiple variances, including a use variance, a variance for the height of the tower, proposed at twice the height permitted by the zoning ordinance, a variance with respect to the size of a side yard setback, a variance related to the size of the accessory use structures, and a variance with respect to [154]*154the distance between the cellular tower and a nearby residence. All of the variances were granted by municipal zoning officials. Commercial beekeeping at the property was not mentioned as an intended use during the variance process.

On December 27, 2000, after issuance of the variances, Michael W. Schmidt, Managing Member of Atlantic Coast and President of AC Communications, purchased the property from Harbor Group for $230,000. On July 16, 2002, Mr. Schmidt sold the property to Atlantic Coast for $100.

Atlantic Coast thereafter leased a portion of the property to AC Communications for construction of the cellular tower. The lessee erected the tower, which is approximately 25 stories in height, near the center of the property, as required by the variances, along with two twenty-feet-by-forty-feet concrete equipment slabs that flank the base of the tower. The tower and pads are enclosed by a chain-link fence in an area encompassing 14,962 square feet, or just over a third of an acre. A gravel driveway covers a portion of the property to provide access to the cellular tower from Poorman’s Parkway. The remainder of the property, nearly twelve acres, is vacant. The cell tower is not staffed by personnel. Occasionally, maintenance workers tend to the tower.

On or about September 15,2008, AC Communications’ stock was acquired by Crown Castle USA, Inc. (“Crown Castle”). At that time, a ground lease was executed between Atlantic Coast and AC Communications for the cellular tower, the ancillary structures, and the 14,962 square feet of land enclosed by the chain-link fence. According to the ground lease, AC Communications, not the property owner, is responsible for 100% of the real estate taxes due on the subject property, including the portion of the property outside of the leased area containing the cellular tower and related structures.

During all of the years in question, Atlantic Coast realized rental income related to the lease of the cellular tower and supporting structures to AC Communications, the details of which are summarized as follows:

[155]*155_2006 2007 2008 2009
Revenue from rental of cellular tower and accompanying land N/A1 $6,000 $4,500 $12,000

The record contains no evidence with respect to the income realized by AC Communications through its issuance of licenses to wireless telephone communications companies to use the cellular tower.

In 2003, Atlantic Coast contacted Wilson’s Honey, LLC, an apiary farming entity located in upstate New York, to initiate beekeeping operations at the subject property. After Walter Wilson, the proprietor of Wilson’s Honey, examined the property he authorized his company to construct eight beehives which were placed inside the fenced-in area with the cellular tower. It was necessary to place the beehives within the fenced-in area to provide protection from bears that roam the subject property. In a certification that was not refuted by the township, Mr. Wilson attested to seeing the bees foraging on blueberry bushes, clover, and knapweed throughout the 12.24 acres that comprise the subject property.

Atlantic Coast pays Wilson’s Honey annually for the care and maintenance of the bees on the subject property and for harvesting honey, beeswax and other products. The record contains no evidence with respect to how often employees of Wilson’s Honey travel to the property from New York to tend to the bees and collect bee products. From 2003 to the present Wilson’s Honey purchased from Atlantic Coast all the products generated by bees on the subject property at amounts that barely satisfy the statutory requirements for farmland assessment. There is no indication in the record that Wilson’s paid market rate for the apiary products, how the sales price was negotiated, or whether Atlantic Coast offered the products for sale to any other entity. The financial transactions between Atlantic Coast and Wilson’s Honey are detailed as follows:

[156]*156_2006 2007 2008 2009
Expense to maintain bees, including payment to bee-keeper_ N/A2 $1,900 $1,600 $1,550

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 N.J. Tax 151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atlantic-coast-leh-llc-v-township-of-little-egg-harbor-njtaxct-2011.