Asbury Park plan for 130 apartments gets pushed off again, might have to start all over

ASBURY PARK - The City Council once again tabled an ordinance that would approve a redevelopment plan that plans to construct a five-story residential building consisting of 130 apartments, 20% of which would be set aside for affordable housing, and ground floor commercial space on a vacant piece of property between Fourth and Fifth Avenues on Memorial Drive.

At the city council meeting on May 8, City Attorney Frederick Raffetto said the ordinance scheduled for public hearing and adoption would be tabled for the second meeting in a row.

"In the meantime, and in response to the concerns raised by nearby residents, the council is now entertaining the consideration of adding a second entrance and exit of the proposed development off of Fifth Avenue," Raffetto said.

The proposal would see the project have traffic access and egress from both Fourth and Fifth Avenue.

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"The council is having staff and professionals look into this proposal and to engage in discussions with the developer about it to determine if this proposal is feasible," Raffetto said.

The ordinance and public hearing were tabled to the May 22 council meeting. But if the council decides the extra entrance and exit is feasible, it will have to start the process over again by referring the revised plan to the planning board for review, Raffetto said.

A previous plan called for 126 units in a four-story complex. The additional four units in this revised plan account for the shape of the building changing from a U-shape to a donut shape.

The planning board on March 4 approved recommended revisions to the plan. The revised plan was due to inaccurate building height in the text of the redevelopment plan. Four stories at 48 feet were revised to five stories at 63 feet, according to the city officials.

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The four proposed penthouses would be located on the fifth floor, because from the developer's perspective, those units are needed to support the 20% set aside for affordable apartments.

The current redevelopment plan would see one 437-square-foot retail establishment facing the corner of Fourth Avenue and Memorial, another 500 square feet of retail space in the middle of the project on Memorial, and a third 926-square-foot retail space on the corner of Memorial Drive and Fifth Avenue.

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Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park plan for 130 Memorial Drive apartments postponed again