Waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial is seeking permission from the city council to install 10 new bike racks in the waterfront area.
The item is on the agenda for Wednesday night’s council meeting. Brian Cheripka [right], vice president for land management at iStar, also shared the plan with the city’s Environmental Shade Tree Commission in a discussion Monday night covering landscape improvements in the waterfront.
The bike racks need city approval under the current waterfront regulations, so temporary permission from the council will be sought for the summer season, Cheripka told the commission.
The waterfront redevelopment plan has an approved rack that only fits 2 bikes, while the ribbon-style rack iStar proposes has space for more bikes, Cheripka told the Sun today. Amendments to the overall waterfront redevelopment plan are now being negotiated between iStar and the city, but until they are finalized iStar thought it best to move forward with the temporary approvals for the larger racks, he said.
Responding to commissioners concerned that bike racks often blend too much into the streetscape, and consequently aren’t fully used by bikers, Cheripka said that the racks “will look like bike racks” and they will be painted a blue color that will also increase visibility.
In addition, palm trees are on the way from Florida to be planted on the waterfront, Cheripka said. The trees cannot survive the winter and will be removed at the end of the season.
IStar owns a farm that harvests palm trees in Florida, where the trees will also be planted at the company’s developments in that state, he said. The trees currently in transit to Asbury Park are from the iStar farm.
“I have a picture of them on the truck,” said Cheripka.
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