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A discrepancy between how many exterior style elements should be included on the Vive townhomes has slowed the delivery of certificates of occupancy needed to transfer ownership of some of the finished homes to buyers.

Members of the Asbury Park planning board and representatives of iStar Financial discussed the apparent discrepancy at a planning board meeting held Monday.

Before any of the finished units in Building Two can be delivered to the buyers, iStar must first obtain certificates of occupancy. City officials stopped issuing the certificates when construction officials spotted what they considered a discrepancy between what the planning board approved and what was built.

At issue is whether all the units were to include trellises on the upper porches and Bahaman-style shutters on the windows. The complex is located at the corner of Kingsley Street and Asbury Avenue.

“The dispute lies in the interpretation of a color rendering submitted to the board in 2012 as opposed to a definitive statement as to whether these shutters or trellises would be installed,” said Fredric P. Lavinthal, an attorney for iStar Financial.

It was the planning board’s understanding that all of the units would contain trellises and all of the windows would feature a Bahaman-style shutter.

There are 28 total units within the four-building complex. During the building process, buyers were given the option as to whether they wanted the trellises installed in their units, which have been installed on the upper decks of 17 units so far, said Jay Rhatican, attorney for iStar Financial.

The structures have been built to code and buyers have already moved into some of the units in Building One [shown above], said Lavinthal.

It was not iStar’s intent to mislead or deceive the board or to cut corners, according to Laventhal. The issue was brought to their attention when city construction officers noticed the change and would not issue certificates of occupancy for the second building.

The building design seeks to express a “coastal urban aesthetic” which the current structures achieve, Lavinthal said. In order to gain the needed certificates, iStar requested the planning board members ratify their understanding of the plans so the process can move forward.

“The dichotomy did not present itself until inspections had taken place,” Lavinthal told planning board members Monday.

Several of the planning board members were less than enthusiastic about the apparent misunderstanding.

“We took a long, hard look at the façade,” when the renderings were presented o the board last year, said planning board member James Henry.

As far as Henry recalls, there was never any discussion whether potential buyers would be able to choose if their units came with a trellis, or how many windows they wanted shutters on.

“It was part of all of them,” Henry said.

Planning board memeber Robert Feinstein believes there was “no malintent” but would at least like shutters to be installed on all of the windows that front the streetscape, he said.

“The plans say optional wet bar but do not say optional trellis,” said planning board member Seresa Grillo.

At this point, to install trellises on all of the units would require construction workers to rip off the decking material on the upper floor that has already been installed, and redo the entire deck so that the trellises meet certain standards for hurricane and waterproofing compliance, said Brian Cheripka, vice president of land for iStar Financial.

It was decided the board would adjourn the matter so that all members of the current board could be brought up to speed on the original presentation.

Since the time iStar made the original pitch to the planning board, some of the board members have changed. Planning board attorney Jack Serpico suggested the members of the planning board who were not there for the original presentation take time over the next two weeks to listen to the tape of the presentation before they take a final vote to make sure their participation in the vote will be fully validated. This way, if planning board members do not approve iStar’s understanding of the approved plans and iStar decides to take the matter to court, the court won’t have to spend time arguing procedure rather than the substance of the issue at hand, he said.

They will vote on the matter at the Nov. 4 meeting.

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