Home - Loch Arbour Speaks Out on Asbury Redevelopment Plan

The trustees of this tiny shore community bordering Asbury Park to the north have shown they can rise to mammoth proportions when necessary. In commenting on Asbury's joint CAFRA permit application to the Department of Environmental Protection's Land Use Regulation Department in writing, they’ve carved out their objections loud and clear, quoting chapter and verse from NJ's state statute code.

Ex: "The Waterfront Redevelopment Plan for the North Shore area allocates 1.5 on-site parking spaces per unit where 2 are required. The plan calls for using on-street parking to address this shortfall. This approach violates the provisions of N.J.A.C. 7:7E-7.5(d)." It goes on…

But "first and foremost, the density of the proposed project cannot be sustained by the current infrastructure," the Oct 6 letter asserts. A lack of timelines is noted in several sections.

The trustees call for the applicant to "submit a comprehensive watershed management plan" and implement storm drainage improvements with recharge and detention facilities, in its lengthy description of the potential impact on Deal Lake, explaining in great detail the flume and its function. Due to its location, the Loch Arbour statements chiefly addressed the north end of the proposed development.

They criticized the apparent lack of a traffic impact study, questioned a possible increase in air pollution from an estimated 6,000 more cars. The trustees also make short work of the proposal’s conciliatory plan to build a parking lot on the beach for both resident and visitor parking: "these two uses are inherently in conflict, as the residential parking use will supersede the availability of parking for beachgoers and fishermen." The letter goes on to attack the planned high-rise to the north and the townhouses to the east of the Asbury Tower, pointing out that all are within the flood zone in the event of a relatively minor Category I hurricane. "Because of the great risk to lives and property, it is clear that this element must be removed from the plan before it is allowed to proceed."

The trustees prefaced all remarks with their wish to see Asbury Park "restored to its prominent place in Monmouth County."

Restore (now Asbury) Radio salutes our neighbor across the lake for composing an intelligently drawn and well researched opinion. We need this serious, objective analysis from all our neighbors.