As Printed in The Coaster
By ANDREW CANGIANO
Neptune residents got their first look at the redevelopment plan proposed for the Ridge Avenue School site at a meeting Monday.
The concept plan was presented to the public at a meeting at the Early Childhood Center.
The plan is to build detached single family homes, townhouse condominiums, a limited number of rental units and home offices, as well as a recreational facility.
Mayor Thomas Catley spoke about the project and responded to residents concerns during a brief question and answer time. After the meeting residents were encouraged to look at diagrams of the conceptual plan and talk with Marty Truscott of T & M Associates about the project.
“We do envision some of these single family homes…to be live work units,” Catley told the audience.
“The focus of the Ridge Avenue site is going to be housing,” he said, adding that the township hopes to include affordable housing units for residents to purchase.
He said increased home ownership will encourage residents to take better care of their property and report crime in the area.
Catley said some residents who live in the West Lake Avenue redevelopment zone (which will be largely commercial) may be re-located to live in the Ridge Avenue site, which is about two-tenths of a mile away.
The Ridge Avenue School is currently being leased to the Asbury Park Board of Education. The lease will end in June and the township plans to buy the propoerty and demolish the school. The property would then be sold to a developer.
Last month the Planning Board reviewed the concept plan and decided that it was consistent with the township’s master plan, Catley said.
Resolutions to approve purchasing and redeveloping the site will come before the township committee at its next two meetings on February 13 and 27, he said.
After the resolutions are passed the township will be looking to name a redeveloper, Catley said.
Jeff Hunt, who owns a house on Myrtle Avenue, said the public meeting was a chance for residents to give their opinions about the plan.
“Now’s the time to speak up and voice your concerns,” he said.
Gail Oliver, a West Lake Avenue resident and president of the Midtown Urban Renaissance Corporation (MURC), said MURC will play a role in making suggestions for the redevelopment on Ridge Avenue.
“Our suggestions are just very crucial to this moving forward,” Oliver said, adding that MURC will work with the township planner, township committee, and the redeveloper.
Lynn Johnson, a Ridge Court resident, said she is concerned about the location of the recreational facility, which is an area that has already become a meeting place for gangs.
Johnson said there is frequent loitering and fighting in the area where she lives, and she would like to see police patrols on a more consistent basis to help allieviate the problem before any recreational facility is built.
“My concern is do something about the issue now,” she said.
Residents also wondered what the price of the single family housing units would be.
Catley said he was unsure how much the housing units would sell for.
