Letter: Save Asbury’s Waterfront On Beach Club Oceanfront Site Plans Slated For May 29 Planning Board Meeting

By Asbury Park Sun

Editor, the Asbury Park Sun,

Asbury Park’s waterfront developer iStar Financial, Inc. will present its plans for a membership-based beach and pool club 6 pm May 29. The beach club is being marketed as an amenity to the recently developed high-rise luxury condo and hotel, The Asbury Ocean Club.

Hundreds of concerned residents, environmental advocates and community leaders attended the February 13 City Council meeting and spoke out in opposition of iStar’s plans for a membership-based pool club, which is slated to be built east [side] of Ocean Avenue between Sixth and Seventh avenues.

Many are concerned this club will be unaffordable for residents and will discourage public access to and enjoyment of the waterfront. Additionally, the property slated for the proposed club is located within a FEMA VE Zone [defined as a flood zone subject to high-velocity water]. And although significant changes have occurred to the area, including Superstorm Sandy, the return of nesting shorebirds and wildlife, and an explosion in the number of annual visitors to Asbury Park’s beaches, an Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] has not been conducted on the area since 2003.

Nearly 6,400 people have signed an online petition requesting iStar to stop and reevaluate its plans for the northern waterfront. A survey completed by 441 Asbury Park residents and visitors showed that the vast majority of people do not want a beach and pool club on the northern waterfront; instead, they want an oceanfront park.

The public will have the opportunity [to] ask questions and voice their comments and concerns during a public presentation to the Planning Board scheduled for 6 pm May 29. The meeting will be held in City Council Chambers located at One Municipal Plaza, Asbury Park.

The coalition Save Asbury’s Waterfront [SAW] advocates that Asbury Park’s waterfront remain open, public and inclusive, benefiting both the waterfront redeveloper as well as Asbury Park’s current residents and visitors.

For more information, please contact Kathleen Mumma at [email protected]

Save Asbury Park Coalition

[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to [email protected] for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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May 09, 2019