UPDATE: Judge sides with Asbury, meaning homeless shelter to close Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/25/07 BY NANCY SHIELDS COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
FREEHOLD State Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson today upheld Asbury Park's administrative directive last week for the Jersey Shore Rescue Mission to close after city zoners voted unanimously to deny the variances the 40-bed homeless shelter needed to stay open. City Manager Terence Reidy said the city will work with the mission's resident director, Garry Williams, to have it closed Friday. The mission, an expansion of the Market Street Mission in Morristown, had been waiting for the judge's opinion and had been refusing new referrals from social agencies. Six men were there Wednesday night. The Zoning Board of Adjustment made its decision a week ago Tuesday, at which time Brendan Judge, the mission's attorney, said they would appeal the zoners' ruling. An appeal cannot be made until after the zoning board memorializes and then publishes its decision at a meeting in November. When the city manager ordered the facility to close in seven days, the mission sought relief from Lawson, seeking to continue operating the shelter and other activities at its site on Memorial Drive. But the judge upheld the city manager's action. "The victory for Asbury Park is that an appeal could go on for years and all that time the city would be affected by the impact of the mission during that time,'' Reidy said. "We'll see what the mission does on appeal.'' City zoners had held hearings on the mission's application three times since 2005 after first denying it, then approving it following an appeal, and finally denying it again after a group of residents, Stand Up For Asbury, filed a new appeal last year to close the operation. Zoning board members last week cited many reasons for their denial, but the overwhelming reasons were that it could bring several hundred homeless men from outside of the city who would be given up to 10 nights of shelter but would be placed on city streets during the day without sufficient programs in place to help them. The zoners said Asbury Park is helping its own small homeless population but cannot be the regional center for the poor and homeless. 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/