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The city is applying for a Green Acres grant to purchase the Bradley Cove and the North End beach area, city manager John “Jack” Kelly announced at the May 21 council meeting.

A new round of $100 million in Green Acres program funds was announced earlier this month by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The state-run Green Acres program is dedicated to preserving and creating parks and recreation areas.

The city will apply to Green Acres for the funds to purchase the North End beach area, a .6 acre parcel along the waterfront [shown above]. It is the city’s only designated surfing beach and dog park, and is also a favorite spot among fishermen.

Currently, master waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial — the majority owner of Asbury Partners — owns the rights to develop the stretch of land. The redevloper has approvals to build a 15-unit townhome complex on the site. The name for the proposed development is “Bradley Cove.” Many environmental groups have protested the plans and urged the city to preserve that space.

Because the city accepts transitional funding from the state in its annual budget, it is classified as an urban aid city. As such, 75 percent of the project funds would be gifted to the city through the grant funds and the remaining 25 percent provided through a zero percent interest loan payable over 30 years, Kelly told the Sun.

“The policy of Green Acres is to expand New Jersey’s open space resources and increase public outdoors recreation opportunities, giving attention to natural resource preservation, this area nicely meets that definition,” he said.

Prior to the application submission, a public hearing is required to be advertised and held by the governing body to solicit the opinions of local citizens on whether the land in question should be preserved, said Kelly.

The application is due July 31; individual municipalities are limited to a single application in this round of funding, Kelly said.

“I am happy the City is moving forward on the Green Acres application for funding to preserve a part of the track of land referred to as Bradley Cove,” Councilwoman Amy Quinn told the Sun. “We will be updating the public on the process of the application and eventually asking for letters of support for the green acres funding.”

City officials met with representatives from Monmouth County and iStar in March to discuss the area’s possible preservation, but no solid outcomes emerged from the meeting.

Representatives from iStar have maintained since February of 2012 they will consider selling the development interest provided they receive “fair treatment and just compensation, the same as Asbury Partners is required to provide to other property owners when Asbury Partners must acquire property in the waterfront redevelopment areas.”

Local environmentalist Joe Woerner, a former chair of the Surfrider Foundation’s Jersey Shore Chapter, who led a protest against the development, is pleased the city is maintaining the trajectory for preserving the land.

“Submission of a Green Acres application by the city sends the message that we are serious about preserving the Bradley Cove tract,” he said. “It’s the essential first step in cobbling together funds to purchase the development rights back from iStar.”

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