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Mayor John Moor announced via social media that Asbury Park was granted a Transit Village designation and it immediately went viral [locally that is].

“…I am pleased to advise you that the City of Asbury Park has been designated New Jersey’s next Transit village. This is years of policy decisions and staff work that is unbelievable. The best news of the year, and we have already received numerous accolades. Again thank you council and staff, without your work this could not have happened,” he wrote.

The media response signifies the synergy being made to move the city’s revitalization west.

“It just opens up so many doors,” Moor said Wednesday of the distinction. “There’s nine agencies involved that will help us with the next steps. It opens up the door for grants to bring our vision to reality.”

According to the State’s website, Asbury Park will be the 33rd community to receive the designation since it began in 1999.

In order to qualify, municipalities must demonstrate a commitment to revitalizing and redeveloping the area around their transit facilities into compact mixed-use neighborhoods with a strong residential component, attention to jobs, restaurants, arts and entertainment, while preserving the architectural character, according to the website.

“We applaud Asbury Park’s careful planning efforts and the proactive approach that has been taken with respect to redevelopment,” State’s Transportation Commissioner Richard Hammer wrote in the announcement letter to Mayor Moor.

A transit village is defined by the state as an area that encompasses a ½ mile radius around a transit station. In the city’s case that will include parts of Main Street, Memorial Drive, Springwood and Cookman avenues [see map above right].

“The vision for the area is a pleasant, walkable, bikeable vibrant community around the train station –both east and west side,” the City’s Planning and Redevelopment Director Michele Alonso [at right] said. “It falls in line with the city initiatives to revitalize the area around the train station.  This designation will give us additional resources to implement improvements in the public realm.”

The benefits include priority funding technical assistance, grant eligibility, and coordination with the nine agencies represented within the Transit Village Task Force.

Projects planned within the new designation include the 63-unit Renaissance from the Michaels Group, Interfaith Neighbor’s 26-unit Turf Club duplex and income property, the 104-unit Boston Way project, a 40-rental unit sustainable project at 201 Memorial Drive, the recently completed gallery/gallery and 5-unit artist work/live space at 301 Memorial Drive and its planned 76 rental unit project, and Interfaith Neighbors previously proposed 47,000 square foot JAMS Performing Arts Center on Springwood that would feature a 200-seat performance/lecture hall, gallery space, theater, lounge and restaurant.

Alonso said The Renaissance, The Turf Club and Boston Way should be completed next year, while the Memorial Drive units should begin construction this year. The long awaited JAMS project may take two years to begin construction.

The award falls in line with the city’s recent Road Diet Pilot Program participation for the Main Street corridor, a $237.000 streetscape TAP grant for the state owned roadway, its recent NJDOT Local Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program, and its West Side Choice Neighborhoods Transformation Plan funded by a $500,000 Housing and Urban Development [HUD] grant to help revitalize the southwest quadrant.

Alonso said funding applications for the following projects can begin in 2018:

Bicycle/pedestrian paths and lanes

Bike route signs

Bicycle parking and storage

Way-finding signage

Improvements to transit stations

Information kiosks with transit info

Construction of a modern roundabout

Traffic Flow Improvement/Signal Synchronization

Traffic calming measures

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