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A local developer may be open to talks on using undeveloped land as a tempory parking lot.

“iStar is always open to discussions regarding how to improve the Asbury Park experience, including the use of this land as a temporary parking lot,” said Brian Cheripka,  iStar Residential Senior Vice President. “The discussion would need an agreement regarding potential costs and we are willing to have the conversation.”

The land in question [shown above] is an iStar Residential undeveloped lot located across from Kennedy Park on Lake Avenue.

It became the center of talks after Moonstruck owner Howard Rackiewicz recommended it as a temporary parking site during last week’s City Council meeting. Raczkiewicz said they have been fielding customer parking complaints often heard during the height of the summer season.

“We are now at a junction where our visitors are extremely frustrated prior to walking in and its only February,” he said.

While parking has always been a limited commodity here, the recent business resurgence in the downtown corridor has added to the problem.

“They are saying it’s gotten considerably worse,” Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said of business owners’ complaints. “You are starting with very little parking available and then the beer garden [opening] has thrown it into a higher level.”

In the past few months, Old Man Rafferty’s was transformed into Prohibition, Taka re-launched at its new Cookman Avenue location, Cross and Orange opened in the historic Park Overlook building, also on Cookman Avenue, and the Asbury Festhalle and Beirgarten opened on Lake Avenue.

But turning an unpaved site into a temporary parking lot is not an overnight endeavor.

Although local laws outline standards for everything from grading and paving to lighting and landscaping, specific parking stall and drive aisle dimension as well as site entrance and exit requirements would need municipal approval, city planning and redevelopment director Donald Sammet said.

“iStar would need to obtain site plan approval for the interim parking lot, including a review by the Mayor and Council in their role as the redevelopment entity, and [from] the city Planning Board,” Sammet said. “The lot would need to be improved pursuant to the local ordinance standards.”

Quinn said unlike their residential counterparts, business developers are not required to provide an adequate number of parking spaces based on capacity figures. Residential developers like iStar must provide the required parking for each home or pay $3,000 per parking unit if they opt out of building the spaces, Quinn said.

Acting city manager Tony Nuccio said these are businesses within the city and therefore the city must provide public parking. An immediate solution will be to update the municipal parking lot along Main Street.

“I am just about ready to make a move on the parking lot out here,” Nuccio said of the need to pave, restripe and meter the lot before it can be used as a public parking lot. “That will probably be one of the next things we will be bringing to the Council.”

Quinn also said a parking study will shed light on other parking solutions.

And while iStar Residential will provide parking for each of its new homes, it will consider the temporary parking lot for those looking to eat and shop along the downtwon corridor, Cheripka said.

“It is incumbent upon the City to find creative solutions that make sense for both parties, and to take action to support redevelopment and economic growth,” he said. “Today, we have a unique opportunity to work together to grow local businesses and ultimately create jobs for residents. However, none of this can happen without a commitment to partnership and a willingness to support long term redevelopment initiatives.”

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