Asbury Park Master Plan Revision Ok'ed By Planning Board

ASBURY PARK, NJ - The Asbury Park Master Plan Re-examination Report, which calls for a city with improved housing, employment, community and recreational facilities, better transportation and other improvements designed to enhance quality of life here, was endorsed by the city Planning Board Monday.

The study by Clarke Caton Hintz architectural firm was compiled over the last year from recommendations from five stakeholder meetings, two public input session and the results of an on-line survey completed by 660 people. It also examined each master plan beginning with the 1948 version. It noted some work already is done, including designating the city's 11 redevelopment areas and writing accompanying plans for each.

If city officials like what they read in the 151-page report, they could adopt it as an amendment to the existing master plan, which serves as a plan for redevelopment, development, conservation and preservation in the city and functions as the legal foundation for the city zoning ordinance and accompanying zoning map. However, a review by the sitting Planning Board is the first step.

The plan includes vision and recommendations for land use, urban design, mobility, housing, economic development, historic preservation, sustainability, open space with regard to lakes, parks and recreation, community facilities and redevelopment.

Revisions still need to be made, officials told the Asbury Park Sun. The changes included clarifying the vision for a proposed arts district along Asbury Avenue and how it could maintain and improve upon the existing residential community, not push residents out, officials said.

Mayor John B. Moor, a member of the Planning Board, called for specific language to protect multi-family homeowners who would see their neighborhood shift to single-family zoning from Main to Grand and Fourth to Asbury roadways.

Moor told The Sun that through a quick analysis, he found 166 properties with 186 structures equal to 375 units, either owner-occupied or rented.

“If we were reduce this to all single-family units, we would lose 198 rentals, which some are summer, affordable, and where artist and long time Asbury Park residents have lived,” Moor said. “I just want something in this report clarifying that we are not changing anyone’s (use.)”

The re-examination of the city Master Plan lays out the vision for Asbury Park in 2027. Photograph by Seth Wenig/Associated Press.