Heres why —
906-B Grand Central Avenue
Lavallette, NJ 08735
www.savebarnegatbay.org
732-830-3600
October 22, 2007
Council President Steve Acropolis
Mayor Daniel Kelly
Brick Township
BY FAX
Dear Council President and Mayor,
I am writing on behalf of Save Barnegat Bay to request that the township postpone a vote on the second reading of the Traders Cove Redevelopment Ordinance to allow all parties to sit down and review ways to make the projected private marina dramatically smaller.
The current size of the marina – 193 boat slips with no limit on slip size – will dwarf any park function on the site. The massive parking requirements of such a marina will relegate public uses to a small area near the back of the site.
Under the present configuration Save Barnegat Bay is opposed to the ordinance.
Postponing a second reading ordinance would allow all parties to sit down and discuss ways of minimizing the marina size. It would also allow the public time to review the financial representations of Mr. Mercantanti, the marina operator, as to the number a slips a profitable marina requires.
It is important that we not proceed into an arrangement in which the public may be inadvertently shortchanged in the building of what may still become a wonderful park.
Sincerely,
William deCamp Jr., Chairman
* * * * * * * * * * *
906-B Grand Central Avenue
Lavallette, NJ 08735
www.savebarnegatbay.org
732-830-3600
FOR RELEASE:
Contact: Willie deCamp 732-830-3600 732-892-3465
TO POSTPONE VOTE ON TRADERS COVE
Save Barnegat Bay has asked the Brick Township Council to postpone a vote on the redevelopment ordinance for Traders Cove that is scheduled for 7 PM Tuesday evening, October 23.
“Under the present configuration Save Barnegat Bay is opposed to the ordinance,” the group’s chairman Willie deCamp wrote to Brick Council President Steven Acropolis and Mayor Daniel Kelly in a letter dated October 22.
“The current size of the marina – 193 boat slips with no limit on slip size – will dwarf any park function on the site. The massive parking requirements of such a marina will relegate public uses to a small area near the back of the site,” the letter stated.
The plan for Traders Cove to become a park was initiated in a court settlement which resulted from a negotiation mediated by then Superior Court Assignment Judge Eugene D. Serpentelli.
“The original concept agreed in the mediation was for a publicly owned park with a modest marina operated by a contractor or leased to a third party,” said deCamp. “The cascading erosions of this plan have been such that the original concept appears to have been abandoned.”
The latest of many changes, according to deCamp, is the current plan to sell the property to a private marina owner, Lou Mercantanti of Ocean Beach marinas, rather than a previously envisioned not-for-profit conservancy.
“It is really asking for trouble to sell this public property to a for-profit business rather than a not-for-profit conservancy,” said deCamp. “Where are Mr. Mercantanti’s numbers showing that the marina has to be so huge?”
“If the marina and its parking space have to be gigantic in order to succeed financially, that is another reason why we ought to go back to the original concept at the time of the court settlement – a publicly owned park,” deCamp said.
In a letter to the Brick Planning Board in September, Save Barnegat Bay defined its approach to a park at Traders Cove as follows:“Traders Cove should become a people-friendly location for all persons from all backgrounds to experience waterfront-dependant uses.”
Save Barnegat Bay, which has opposed intensive development of the Traders Cove site since 1985, is supported annually by contributions from over 1700 families and businesses.
“All the parties involved need to sit down and review ways to contain the size of this marina so that it does not smother the park concept,” deCamp concluded.
