Brownfield Committee Being Formed
Task: Prioritize remediation to make way for redevelopment
The Asbury Park City Council will look to create an advisory committee comprised of residents, business owners and city officials Wednesday to help vet its ongoing survey of Brownfield sites, particularly those on its main thoroughfares and along Springwood Avenue.
US Congressman Frank Pallone [D-NJ] announced in August that the city had become the recipient of two EPA grants totaling $400,000 to help assess former industrial/commercial sites where development may be stalled due to environmental contamination along Springwood Avenue, Memorial Drive and Main Street.
Brownfields Award
“This is a key tool to redevelopment, which may be hampered by unknowns such as contaminants,” said Director of Planning and Redevelopment Michele Alonso [at right] during the August announcement at the Springwood and Sylvan avenues site, which has remained dormant for 35 years. “This gives us a helping hand in getting many of the vacant sites that you see here today developed.”
Once a hub of business activity, the Springwood Avenue corridor is among the west side community areas next in line for revitalization. The completion of the park last year is coupled with plans to rebuild the long vacant Boston Way Housing Authority project and Interfaith Neighbors Turf Club – an owner occupied town home complex that gives each buyer an adjacent income property.
The Brownfield Hazardous and Petroleum assessments calls for the formation of an advisory committee, which will be charged to prioritize remediation projects to make way for redevelopment. The Committee would consist of:
Angela Brown, Resident
Aimée McElroy, Resident/Business Owner
Eric Cohen, Resident
Derrick Griggs, Affordable Housing Alliance
Jesse Kendle, Councilman
Russell Lewis, Resident/Business Owner
Maureen Mulligan, Habitat for Humanity
Paul McEvily, Interfaith Neighbors
David Parreott, Resident
Michael Capabianco, City Manager, Asbury Park
Michele Alonso, Director of Planning and Redevelopment, Asbury Park, Committee Chair
For more about the grant, click here.
——————————————————————–
Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.
