PIER INITIATIVE MOVES FORWARD
But no funding guarantees for the $90 million project
Feb. 27, 2009 – Long Branch invested another $1 million of taxpayer money into a possible multi-story, multi-use pier, replete with restaurants, shops, a conference center and commuter ferry. Funding for the $90 million project is far from certain.
The $20 million that hotel developers were going to throw in is gone, and may never come back—at least not until an economic boom 5, 10 or 15 years from now. Hope lies with the Obama Administration’s stimulus package and its call for transportation and transit infrastructure. But a winter job commute to New York City on the Atlantic Ocean would only be affordable to wealthy corporate executives, not exactly the sort of transit project Democrats are fond of investing in.
Still, Councilman Brian Unger has backed the pier and hotel campus redevelopment from the start. “Huntington Beach, California has a magnificent pier and we should too,” declared Unger. “Theirs opens up to a beach shopping mall and retail area with restaurants, bars, shops and a great surfing museum. There are hotels nearby. This is a great concept,” added Unger, “but we should be cautious about future costs borne by our taxpayers. We’ve got to see some significant commitment from the federal and state governments, and when we do, it’s all systems go.”
Unger added that the skilled trades construction work performed on the potential pier and hotel campus developments should be targeted to the major trade unions and their local shops.
“The highly skilled trades do better work, the workers live in our local communities, they invest in the local economy and pay taxes here. I’d like to see the city, as a matter of policy, select developers and construction companies that use skilled union labor. It just makes sense business-wise and it makes for a better investment in Long Branch’s future,” he concluded.
The massive hotel re-development planned for the site of the current Ocean Place Resort is now stalled indefinitely. The project was introduced with fanfare and slide shows in City Hall last year.
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UNGER’S BEACHFRONT SOUTH INITIATIVE COMES FRONT & CENTER
Feb. 27, 2009 -- As everyone knows who has watched the issue closely, Councilman Brian Unger urged Mayor Schneider throughout the spring, summer and autumn of 2008 to separate from K. Hovnanian Corporation’s high-rise mega-development in Beachfront South and plan a smaller, more intimate “beach village” in conjunction with local property owners. Many property owners in the beachfront strip from Pavilion Avenue to South Bath Avenue have their backs to the wall financially because of city taxes that run as high as $30,000 and up for what are mostly older homes.
Unger has been urging the city to take a “consensual approach” with local homeowners and property owners ever since the developer K. Hovnanian pulled out of the project. He urged Schneider and the city council to invite homeowners and property owners to an open discussion to try and reach an agreement to free them from the bondage of eminent domain and the developer’s financial shakiness.
Unger’s comments were not well received and Mayor Schneider at one point called Unger’s idea “stupid.” But Schneider was finally forced to accept reality and orchestrate an about face in city policy. Starting in late December, City Hall has scheduled a series of meetings with city planners and Beachfront South property owners. Positive roles are being played by neighborhood resident activists Harold and Michelle Bobrow, and Diana Multare, who own homes in the zone. A large public meeting is planned for late March.
“I think it’s been a good process so far,” Councilman Unger told the Atlanticville newspaper. “I hope the city can move forward and get a solution implemented on behalf of the homeowners and I am pleased so far with the new city policy. But it should be a lesson to all that powerful politicians, big developers and campaign donors need to be reigned in and regulated.”
UNGER PUSHES CITY TO RESTORE TRASH CAN & LID REQUIREMENT
Councilman wants higher standards back, says streets & yards too dirty
April 7, 2009 – The Link News reported this week on the front page that Councilman Brian Unger is looking for ways to reduce complaints about garbage and debris by reinstating a city policy requiring trash cans with lids for all garbage disposed by households.
The current city calendar, a source of information on all city departments, states plainly, “Property owners are required to have cans with tightly fitting lids and keep their trash areas clean and neat.” Other municipal guidance documents mailed to city residents during the past several years have said the same thing, but apparently city policy has changed. Homeowners can now put out trash in bags, and bags rip and spill onto streets, sidewalks and yards.
“The city is too dirty,” said Councilman Brian Unger. “We’re failing to insist on the normal suburban standards that almost all towns insist on and enforce. Long Branch may be the only town in coastal Monmouth that does not require hard trash cans. We have a long way to go to bring Long Branch up to an acceptable level of cleanliness,” said Unger.
The Asbury Park Press also ran a story on April 6, “Long Branch to require garbage cans.” The Press reported that Unger’s initiative had resulted in a compromise whereby all new CO’s (certificate of occupancies) for new residents and new homeowners will require that the residence be furnished with at least one garbage can.
“It’s a decent compromise,” declared Unger. “But we’re not going the extra yard to get higher standards in place. I think we should require a minimum of two trash cans per household.” The Councilman said he’s concerned that too many city landlords and property owners are flouting rules on trash pick-up, leaving unsightly cans rolling around curbs, sidewalks and yards for several days after pick-up by the Dept. of Public Works.
Unger claims that the city does not have enough of the right personnel in place to speed up enforcement and make it stick. “We also need a broad public education campaign to send a strong and very simple message to property owners: keep it clean,” said Unger.
Studies have shown that crime and negative quality of life incidents increase when cities fail to address what some might think are minor issues: broken windows, minor code violations, trashy properties.
“I think our tolerance level in Long Branch is way too high, stratospheric,” said Unger. “There’s no sense of urgency at City Hall on these issues, and I think it’s a huge mistake. We’ve made the beachfront rebound, but we are losing the battle on the west side of Ocean Boulevard.”