I replied to a post from TDA732 on the Star Ledger site about the Sprinkler
fiasco - I repeat it here....
TDA732
It astounds me that, no matter what, people can turn a positive into a
negative. Asbury Park has completely revived itself. As a woman in her
mid-twenties I frequent AP often with friends. I'll be honest, the first time
it was mentioned, I thought my friends had lost their minds AP does not have
the best reputation, but the city has completely revitalized itself. The people
in office should be rewarded with cheers of gratitude, but all I see is grief
that it is not being done fast enough.
50 Minutes Ago · Reply · Like · Flag
Werner
Your experience and conclusions are very common of those who have a limited
view of what is going on in Asbury Park. Yes - there have been improvements -
the common reaction is to declare 'It's better than it was' - which is also
true.
However, that is not the correct way to measure the success of a redevelopment
project. That is the issue - A declaration of a redevelopment area allows the
taking of private property and turning it over to a redeveloper, this is a very
serious power of the government and should not be taken lightly.
In return for this exercise of government power the developer commits to
develop according to an adopted plan. Asbury Park gave many concessions to
attract development. For example, Allowing $12M in tax liens to be paid off
with $6M - Leaving the City still in debt by $6M. The City also sold ALL its
public property along the beachfront for a very undervalued price. That
includes the Convention Hall, Paramount Theater, Casino Arena, Casino Carousel
House, Central Heating Plant, 5 existing Pavilions, Building sites of 4
additional Pavilions, Public street and blocks of public property.
That was 10 years ago and at this time the Development was to have been
completed with all the former public properties restored (CH, CAS, HP, PAVS,
etc), 400,000 square feet of retail space and 3000 condominium units. Please
note that none of this had happened.
Instead the City is now $60M in debt instead of $6M. But visually - "It's
better than it was"
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