City cancels meeting with developer Lack of quorum postpones session to next week
BY NANCY SHIELDS COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU FEBRUARY 21, 2008 ASBURY PARK City officials postponed a public work session with boardwalk developer Madison Marquette Wednesday, as well as the regular public meeting that was to follow, because only two of five City Council members showed up. Officials said they knew Councilman Jim Keady would not be present and that Councilman Ed Johnson had a work obligation at Brookdale Community College develop Wednesday morning. Mayor Kevin Sanders let the council know in the late afternoon that he could not attend because of a personal issue, but that came as approximately 12 professionals and staff working for Madison Marquette were waiting in the council foyer to meet. The planned two-hour work session to attempt to iron out some differences was rescheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday, with the regular council meeting to follow at 7 p.m. The postponement comes as Madison Marquette works at a frenetic pace to open the rehabilitated boardwalk pavilions, housing, shops, restaurants and nightclubs by Memorial Day. "The city's been great and worked really hard the last two months," said John Lanham, the company's senior vice president of development. "They're pushing as hard as they can. It's tough to do this development in any environment. We wouldn't get it done without their cooperation." The developer and city are working together and fighting it out when they disagree. One of the issues on which the two sides differ is the city's requirement that the public have access to bathrooms in at least one of the five pavilion sites. Two weeks ago, Madison Marquette agreed that bathrooms in a planned Second Avenue beach club to be called "Oasis" would be open to the public if the state Department of Environmental Protection did not let them put the restrooms on green space between the pavilions. Donald Sammet, the city's director of planning and redevelopment, said a special meeting of the city's Technical Review Committee will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday for a review of some of Madison Marquette's plans or revised plans for the Wonder Bar on Ocean Avenue, pop-up retail structures on the green areas between the pavilions and the design of proposed stairwells onto the beach from Convention Hall. The Planning Board has approved Madison Marquette's plans for the First, Third and Fifth Avenue pavilions, and that work is under way. Another issue that still needs to be resolved is parking on Ocean Avenue. The council also has to look at plans for a proposed miniature golf course, a sculpture garden, a water park and a so-called interlocking garden on the green spaces between the pavilions, and rehabilitation plans for the Casino Carousel building. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/