Woerner: Clarifying the facts on Asbury’s North End beach
'We are hopeful that the county freeholders are open to a partnership'
Editor, Asbury Park Sun:
The Rally to Save Asbury Park’s north end beach from development will be held Thursday, June 26th, 7 pm at Asbury Park City Council chambers.
Freeholder Burry recently sent an email to all who submitted comments in support of the county’s involvement on the Bradley Cove issue. She claims in the email that there is “a lot of misinformation out there.”
In the spirit of honest communication we will clarify each of the “facts” Freeholder Burry states.
1. “the area involved in the development debate with iStar consists of approximately ½ acre of land, currently being used as a public street, owned by iStar”
The land is not owned by iStar, but they do own the development rights to build 15 townhomes on the site. The half acres she mentions runs from south of the Asbury Tower to north of the triangle property. This long, narrow strip slices through the area, is flooded by lake and ocean waters, encroaches on public lands used for recreation, and walls off the beach and ocean.
At our first rally we outlined the footprint of the Bradley Cove Development with supporters and took a picture from Asbury Tower [above]. We have publicized this picture widely and use it as the background of our Save the North Beach of Asbruy Park Facebook page.
2. “…Monmouth County, the Parks & Recreation Commission was the agency that retained an appraiser who drew the conclusion that there are too many variables affecting the property that influence its value, to finalize the appraisal and certify the value.”
This was discussed at both the Freeholder and Recreation Commissioner level. The solution, a two-tiered appraisal, is used fairly often in land acquisition deals. The first tier assumes the developer receives no special approvals, setting the price floor. The second tier assumes all special approvals are obtained, setting the price ceiling.
3. Her third fact states, “the appraiser has put the value of over $3 million on this ½ acre, without improvements.”
Considering the appraisal was of the development rights to build 15 townhomes, and the City of Asbury Park still holds the title to this land, it is impossible that the tract could be appraised “without improvements.” Furthermore, the appraisal was done prior to Superstorm Sandy that inflicted millions of dollars in damage to the area.
Freeholder Burry closes with the argument that “this property can be protected through negotiations between the city and iStar as part of a revision to the city’s redevelopment plan.”
In that she is correct, but realistically a city on state Transitional and School Development Authority aid cannot go it alone on this project any more than the county should. This is particularly the case when the taxpayers of the area contribute over $1.5 million to the county open space fund each and every year; money specifically intended for projects like this one.
We are hopeful that the county freeholders are open to a partnership that will preserve this land as a regional recreation hub and storm buffer.
Joe Woerner
Campaign Coordinator, Save Asbury Park’s North End Beach
[All letters represent the opinion of the writer and are not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]
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