Calif Town Offers Glimpse of Where Public Debt Can Lead

"California's Potholed city presents view of the Future" writes Richard Waters -
Before tonight's council meeting, please read this Financial Times article about the little town of Vallejo that buckled under the weight of its own overhead and declared bankruptcy.
    Before we sell nearly $3 million in bonds for a senior center and $250,000 for legal fees to fight the waterfront master developer in court, take a look at how we may have to pay for it. The seniors just need a safe, clean place to enjoy themselves. Most wouldn't want the city to plunge into 20 or 30 years of debt to pay for it.

Resident: Planning Board "Totally Uninformed"

M. Berman, S.A.Towery, City Mgr Terry Reidy, Chair D. DiBenedetto, Councilmember J. Loffredo, Vernice McGriff, Dave Parreott.

Planning Bd member Sara Anne Towery

Drawing shows gate across access point to beach and replacement boardwalk. Planners say this was in error.

A seemingly innocuous three questions posed by Asbury Tower resident, Mickey Schwartz, dressed in purple and sporting a flower in her hair (pictured) (Was there an environmental study done? Was it published? And, can I have a copy?) erupted in an angry accusation that the board is "uninformed" about the details of its plans to build 15 town houses on Ocean Ave.
When Schwartz, an art instructor at the Tower, asked the questions, planning board (PB)members did not respond. Board Chair Dan DiBenedetto and councilmember John Loffredo exchanged puzzled looks.

Then CMX (formerly Shoor DePalma) engineer, Bob Curley, advised that the board that an environmental impact study would have been done at the time the plans were originally presented to the Department of Environmental Preservation (DEP).
The board had reopened the public portion to allow Schwartz to speak. Then another resident, Carole Gorman, came to the mic to ask if the fact that the board did not know the answer to whether the study was done had been recorded. Hear sound file from that portion of the meeting.

The planning board approved the application by unanimous vote. Application proceeds now to DEP's Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) division, which is responsible for coastal land use. (Hear the DEP's Mark Mauriello's interview on Asbury Radio in 2003, prior to the division's review of the waterfront building permit, below. Mauriello was asked how the fact that the waterfront plan's chief negotiator, former city manager Terrance Weldon, had pled guilty to extorting developers in return for greater density in their Ocean Twp projects, would affect the DEP's review process.)

Another flare up occurred when PB member Sara Anne Towery told the audience that if she lived in Asbury Tower, which is a few yards from the planned site, she'd be happy to have the development there. Some audience members vowed to retaliate at the polls this May when the city council is up for re-election. Click to PB Comments. Click to hear PB Vote.

Larry Fishman, COO of Asbury Partners, his representatives attorney Alfred Faiella (hear on CAFRA), John Clarke of Caton Clark and Hintz, and Curley, showed new drawings of a widened corridor between the buildings, which members of Oceanfront Preservation say is still not up to the DEP's minimum for a view corridor, and a wider turnaround for vehicles on Ocean Ave., which will be reconfigured and greatly narrowed to make room for the development.

Additional sound from the meeting: Opening; Resident Roger Krause; View Corridor Discussion; and Public comments including Joe Woerner, science teacher representing Surf Riders Fdn. and the Littoral Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to water quality. Please share your comments on this board.

Planning Board Hears Developers and Public on Homes for Beach East of Asbury Tower

The Planning Board meeting has been postponed until January, due to the death of Councilmember John Loffredo's sister. We wish John and his family our sympathy.

From Joyce Grant - Citizens for Oceanfront Preservation
TONIGHT -
Friends:
The continuance of the Public Hearing on the Bradley Cove Development before the Asbury Park Planning board is tonight - Monday, Dec, 8, 2008, 7 pm, City Hall in Asbury Park.
The plan is to build 15 Bradley Cove Townhouses on Ocean Avenue and a public beach area in front of Asbury Tower, a 26-story, 300 to 400 Senior affordable housing complex limiting public and handicapped access for Seniors and public alike, blocking scenic vistas, and in violation of many CAFRA land use regulations. Hope to see you at the planning board meeting.
Please bring other friends and supporters. There is a lot of community support, not only from Asbury Park but also Neptune, Loch Arbor and Interlaken to preserve this last remaining natural resource area and vista on the oceanfront.
City Hall, Bangs and Main St. Entrance door is opposite post office. 7 pm
Dept of Environmental Protection - 609-292-0060 - Please site CAFRA plan Permit# 1303-03-0001.2
Issuance date March 26, 2004 effective date; expiration date March 26, 2009