---

Local Developer Pat Fasano this week crossed the first hurdle needed to open an outdoor barbeque area, complete with smoker, at Asbury Lanes.

The City Council, which must approve Fasano’s plans before they advance to the Planning Board, voted Wednesday to approve an escrow account to cover municipal costs associated with the project.

The project includes placing two self-contained food trucks, a shipping container bar and picnic tables in the outdoor space adjacent to the Fourth Avenue venue.

The outdoor area would be managed by the Bob and Chris Fahey, owners of Cross and Orange, who have managed Asbury Lanes for the past three years, Fasano said.

But with Memorial Day, the unofficial start to the summer season, a month away, Fasano is in a race against the clock to get the necessary approvals needed to develop the area.

“The goal is to get the restaurant up and running by May 15 but no later than Memorial Day [weekend],” Bob Fahey said.

Fasano, who leases the property from waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial, said the temporary venue would serve as a gauge for a future venture.

“The long term hope is to develop the land that we own on Kingsley Avenue across from Porta,” Fasano said. “We’d like to develop that into a restaurant sometime in the future.”

So for this summer, the outdoor barbeque venue would serve as a test run for the family-friendly barbeque restaurant concept, Fasano said.

“While it’s only for fourth months, it’s an important four months as we all know as beach dwellers,” Fasano said.

The temporary palcement of food trucks, a container bar and picnic tables would require no utilities or land construction.

Fasano said all temporary improvements would be removed from the site within 30 days of their lease termination or by Oct. 15.

————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

---