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Neptune Committee Votes to Revise Redevelopment Plan
Opposition to eminent domain forced the move
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/26/06
BY MICHELLE SAHN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
NEPTUNE - Following outcry from business owners upset at the possibility of losing their property to eminent domain, Neptune officials are revising their redevelopment proposal for the Shark River North Channel Inlet.
In a 3-to-2 vote, split along party lines, the Township Committee voted in favor of resolutions to authorize the township planner and architect to work on a revised redevelopment plan for the inlet. The Republican majority voted in favor, and Democrats said they voted against the resolutions because they were concerned about the number of redevelopment projects the township is undertaking.
The proposed redevelopment plan, which was going to be presented to the Planning Board in August, is being revised based on input from property owners, Republican Mayor Thomas J. Catley said.
After the unveiling of that proposal, which included homes, new businesses and a 1,250-foot waterfront promenade, some property owners expressed concern about the possible use of eminent domain. In August, their attorneys asked the Planning Board for adjournment, which was granted. That meeting was postponed and the proposal was never reviewed by the board.
"We called a time-out, backed up and started meeting with the property owners," Catley said. "We've been doing that, and what we're employing T & M (Associates) and the architect to do, at this point, is take the input and develop a revised (plan)."
Bry's Marine, a family-owned marina that has been in Neptune for decades, was one of the properties in the redevelopment zone proposed last year.
Ed Bry, 85, owns both a waterfront marina and a Route 35 store that go by the same name. He runs the businesses with his wife, Lucille, and his sons, Bill and Jim.
He has owned the marina, with storage facilities, a launching ramp and boat slips, on the Shark River Inlet for at least 40 years. He has owned the Route 35 store for more than 50 years, and that shop, where boats, motors and trailers are sold, is in another redevelopment zone, said his son, Bill Bry.
In September or October, the Brys were among the Shark River businessmen and women who met with township officials about the proposed redevelopment plan, Bill Bry said. But they have not heard anything about revisions to that plan.
"We are simply against eminent domain," said the 59-year-old. "We personally have no intentions of selling out to them, or anybody else at this time. We have a very viable business. The marina and storage facility down there is a big part of our business and almost necessary to our sales up here at the store."
He said he and his family are not trying to be difficult, they simply do not want to lose their property.
"We're very happy running the business the way it is," Bill Bry said.
With the resolutions approved Monday, the Township Committee authorized the planners, Middletown-based T & M Associates, to perform services not to exceed $20,000, and architect Mark Pavliv, based in Ocean Grove, to continue his services, for an amount not to exceed $4,000.
Opposition to eminent domain forced the move
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/26/06
BY MICHELLE SAHN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
NEPTUNE - Following outcry from business owners upset at the possibility of losing their property to eminent domain, Neptune officials are revising their redevelopment proposal for the Shark River North Channel Inlet.
In a 3-to-2 vote, split along party lines, the Township Committee voted in favor of resolutions to authorize the township planner and architect to work on a revised redevelopment plan for the inlet. The Republican majority voted in favor, and Democrats said they voted against the resolutions because they were concerned about the number of redevelopment projects the township is undertaking.
The proposed redevelopment plan, which was going to be presented to the Planning Board in August, is being revised based on input from property owners, Republican Mayor Thomas J. Catley said.
After the unveiling of that proposal, which included homes, new businesses and a 1,250-foot waterfront promenade, some property owners expressed concern about the possible use of eminent domain. In August, their attorneys asked the Planning Board for adjournment, which was granted. That meeting was postponed and the proposal was never reviewed by the board.
"We called a time-out, backed up and started meeting with the property owners," Catley said. "We've been doing that, and what we're employing T & M (Associates) and the architect to do, at this point, is take the input and develop a revised (plan)."
Bry's Marine, a family-owned marina that has been in Neptune for decades, was one of the properties in the redevelopment zone proposed last year.
Ed Bry, 85, owns both a waterfront marina and a Route 35 store that go by the same name. He runs the businesses with his wife, Lucille, and his sons, Bill and Jim.
He has owned the marina, with storage facilities, a launching ramp and boat slips, on the Shark River Inlet for at least 40 years. He has owned the Route 35 store for more than 50 years, and that shop, where boats, motors and trailers are sold, is in another redevelopment zone, said his son, Bill Bry.
In September or October, the Brys were among the Shark River businessmen and women who met with township officials about the proposed redevelopment plan, Bill Bry said. But they have not heard anything about revisions to that plan.
"We are simply against eminent domain," said the 59-year-old. "We personally have no intentions of selling out to them, or anybody else at this time. We have a very viable business. The marina and storage facility down there is a big part of our business and almost necessary to our sales up here at the store."
He said he and his family are not trying to be difficult, they simply do not want to lose their property.
"We're very happy running the business the way it is," Bill Bry said.
With the resolutions approved Monday, the Township Committee authorized the planners, Middletown-based T & M Associates, to perform services not to exceed $20,000, and architect Mark Pavliv, based in Ocean Grove, to continue his services, for an amount not to exceed $4,000.
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