I know people don't like to bring this up, but a lot of the key
minds involved in the fast-track process are either in prison right
now or waiting to be sentenced. I think they are a little too
distracted to worry about some deal they put together 4 years ago.
Even though it's the same council, they seem to be winging it since
the City Manager resigned. We all have an opinion on Weldon, but he
DID get the job done, and assuming he was clean in Asbury Park, he
is the best City Manager we've had in the past 5 years. I'm not sure
if the current City Manager is in over his head or not, but someone
should be the city's "bad cop" enforcer in public to the
redevelopers.
Also regarding the speed of approvals: we had that governor who
appeared on the Today Show 3 years ago and personally guaranteed the
fast-tracking of the permits. I guess when someone can't keep the
promise of marital fidelity, it's hard to expect him to keep a
promise to people who won't be voting for him ever again.
IMO, the overlapping bureaucracies are a direct result of not having
a DevCo involved. Having the TRC & Planning Boards as defacto
members of a DevCo would eliminate most of the overlapping members
on the boards. When was the last time the TRC even met?
As far as the next steps...at least the North Beach developers had
the foresight to break ground on the followup projects while demand
was still hot. Using BB's reasoning, if ANYBODY wanted to build the
other 2,000 or so units, they would have built them already, or at
least had the approvals in place. Let's hope the vacation housing
market stays hot, while those secondary developers sit on the
sidelines waiting to see actual revenues from the fast-track
pioneers before they commit capital to the project. The city needs
to squeeze as much out of the Master Developer as it can (Casino
restoration) while the Master Developer is still flush with cash and
their Lines of Credit are still wide open & low interest.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "bluebishop82"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dan: I'm not going to disagree with you on speed. I have to
concede
> the lack of deadlines in the agreement has always worried me.
>
> Question though for the group to weigh in on (I've always wondered
> about this): Is part of the speed problem these past 3 years at
all
> attributable to having to get approvals from Tech Review
Commmittee,
> and Planning Board, and Council (often the same folks on all 3,
who
> sometimes disapprove of thier own work and send it back to -
> themselves for further review)and also having to be approved by
the
> DEP with CAFRA? Is this too much government oversight gumming up
> the works?
>
>
> Second question while we are at it: After the 3 fast-track
> projects, what is supposed to be tackled next? And after that?
And
> After that?
>
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