John Clark would have made Richard Nixon proud.
The developer's lawyer did the talking for the consultant.
New Councilman James Keady thinks Mr. Aarron, the city's
redevelopment attorney should reign.
Do you remember when the old council was going to replace Phil Konvis
& Terry Weldon's associates?
Aaron said outside the meeting that he does not plan to leave his job.
Does anybody remember when Mr. Aaron did step down? He did for a couple of
weeks.
And Deputy Mayor James Bruno on Friday said: "The majority of the council
is behind Jim Aaron."
Do you remember when Councilman John Loffredo and followers wanted C-8
taken down.
ASBURY PARK — John Clarke,
planning consultant for beachfront developer Asbury Partners, apologized both to
the City Council and developer last week, saying it was his fault that the wrong
version of the 2002 waterfront development plan had been disseminated to the
public and to state environmental officials.
The Trenton-based planner
told the council Wednesday night that he had produced a draft for the final
approval meeting in June 2002 that would have included language to limit how
tall one of the new oceanfront condominium projects could be if the old
abandoned skeleton C-8 building was taken down and not built out.
But the
council did not act on that latest draft, Clarke and city officials say, after
the city's attorney, James Aaron, said they could not because the new draft had
not been through the city Planning Board process.
The council approved a
plan that night that will allow a building on the site to go up to 16 stories
high even though buildings on neighboring blocks are stricted to eight
stories.
"I had produced another draft," Clarke said. "I was under the
mistaken impression that that's what passed. That was my error and I apologize
to the developer and council."
Clarke had the wrong version of the plan
printed up for City Clerk Stephen M. Kay to give out, and the wrong version was
posted on the city Web site and also sent in with the city's application for a
Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) permit, which the state approved last
year.
The problem of the wrong draft being used came up last month when
Metro Homes, a Hoboken-based developer which planned to build out the unfinished
condominium, said it would not be able to do so because the pilings poured in
1989 to hold up the steel could not be certified as safe under today's
standards.
Metro Homes now plans to take down the old steel, dig out the
pilings and start over to build the Esperanza condominiums which have the city's
approval.
To remedy the problem on the CAFRA permit, city officials and
Clarke and Asbury Partners met with the DEP, which has asked the city to submit
an application for a minor modification in the permit, and a line-by-line
analysis of the differences which were said to be nominal except for the C-8
height issue.
The DEP will allow a 15-day public comment period as part
of the change before deciding on issuing the amended permit. When the state
evaluated the beachfront project the first time around, it was for the height of
the building on the C-8 site to be up to 16 stories.
And Councilman John
Loffredo, who also serves on the Planning Board, said the board wanted the 16-
and 10-story- heights allowed for the building. "Our argument was if it went
higher, the project didn't have to spread out so far," he said.
Daniel F.
Sciannameo, a New York appraiser who owns a house in Asbury Park, has launched
his own investigation of what happened with the plans. He said at the council
meeting Wednesday that Aaron should resign or be fired by the council. New
council member James Keady said he agreed.
Aaron said outside the meeting
that he does not plan to leave his job. And Deputy Mayor James Bruno on Friday
said: "The majority of the council is behind Jim
Aaron."
