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It’s been three years, and at least as many variations, since a of a local developer first introduced plans to rehabilitate property along Main Street between Third and Fourth Avenues where a long shuttered Getty service stations sits.

When preliminary Planning Board approvals were granted in Dec. 2013, no definitive tenant for the proposed 10,000 square foot commercial building was put forth. At the time, project officials said they sought to bring a Whole Foods/Dean’s Natural Food Market type store, or a five-and-dime/Dollar Tree type store to the Main Street corridor.

Since then, the north Main Street neighborhood has seen a spark in resurgence with the addition of new businesses like Dark City Brewing Co., Chocolate Sage, the recently opened Medusa Stone Fired Kitchen, and soon to reopen Asbury Park Cyclery nearby.

Last year, local developer Pat Fasano returned with a $2.9 million plan to revamp the entire block. The design included placing a Dollar Tree Store on the site of Getty service station and adding apartments atop the mattress store, located at the northwest corner of Main Street and Third Avenue. The building, which also houses a small grocery store, was to be refurbished.

After parking concerns and the addition of an off-street unloading zone was ironed out before the Planning Board, the project stalled before the City Council, who acts as the municipality’s redevelopment authority.

Fasano sought a tax abatement to help bring the project into fruition but when discussions with the governing body tarried, he temporarily pulled the project.

Since 2015, the City Council has asked developers to put forth a workforce development component to any Payment in Lieu of Taxes [PILOT] request. A city with one of the state’s highest unemployment rates, the governing body has said it is an avenue to ensure its residents have an opportunity to compete for jobs brought through development.

A PILOT or five-year tax abatement plan is commonly used to defer the property taxes as an incentive for constructing projects benefitting the public interest. The agreements are a part of the waterfront and boardwalk redeveloper agreements and have been issued for smaller development projects like The ShowRoom and the current Lakehouse Music Academy expansion.

The structured tax abatement program permits reduced taxes during the initial years of an agreement, which increase exponentially each year during a five-year time frame.

This month, the plan returns to the drawing table with a revamped layout and design, and a metered workforce development plan.

The new proposal is slated to come before the Planning Board on Oct. 17.

Poor soils at the Getty service station, a costly steel structure needed to support the old plans, and a reduced floor plan to accommodate an unloading zone contributed to a shift in plans, said William Stuckey, Fasano Properties Vice President of Development.

The Dollar Tree will be located at the current mattress store location, which will shutter at year’s end, Fasano said. The adjacent small grocery store will relocate further south along Main Street, and through an agreement with a neighboring property owner, parking and off-street unloading will be provided.

At the Getty service station site, a proposed mixed use building is comprised of commercial space on the ground floor and the previously proposed four market-rate apartments on the second floor now includes outdoor space.

If all final approvals are given, Fasano Properties would enter into a 22-year lease agreement with the Dollar Tree, Stuckey has said. Thirty jobs will be created with tax revenue rising from the current $85,000 annual tax bill to $404,000 over the next 20 years. So, instead of the current anticipated $350,000 tax collection over the next 22 years, the taxes would almost double to $600,000 if the abatement is granted and the project is approved.

But the question the City Council is most likely going to ask, as it has with past developer’s seeking tax abatements, is whether or not they would move forward with the project if the tax abatement is not granted.

And since Fasano Properties is requesting the five-year abatement to alleviate tax requirements during the first five years, a workforce development component will be included, Stuckey said.

“I am committed to an action plan to make as many residents of Asbury Park aware of the fact that Dollar Tree is hiring to staff its new store in Asbury Park,” Stuckey said.

Since Dollar Tree only accepts managerial position application via its website, Stuckey said he will take on the responsibility of informing the public 60 days prior to the Dollar Tree’s acceptance of applications that the national corporation will be hiring hourly paid employees. This includes meeting with Brian Stokes, head of the school district’s College and Career Readiness Institute, The Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Doug Eagles, Interfaith Neighbors, Rev. Derinzer Johnson of the Asbury Park Community Action Network, and Chelsie Kay of the Community Development Initiative.

Stuckey said he will distribute blank applications, define the hiring timeline, and return to collect the completed applications from each of the aforementioned organizations. His plan also includes placing ads in the local newspapers and meeting with the store manager to ‘impress upon them the importance of giving preference to local people applying for jobs.”

Stuckey said construction could begin in December if the plan is approved and abatement granted. The target opening date is November 2017.

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