By Joseph Sapia |
MIDDLETOWN – The Township Committee is looking to rejuvenate Port Belford, specifically around the Belford Seafood Cooperative Association commercial fishing port and NY Waterway ferry terminal.
The Raritan Bay waterfront, a combination of marshes, waterway and commercial buildings, has already been declared a redevelopment zone, in need of rehabilitation and redevelopment. The state Department of Community Affairs has granted Middletown $49,000 in federal money to devise a concept plan.
Now, the township is turning to the public to ask what it envisions for the busy bayfront. The “Port Belford Redevelopment Plan” was presented at a forum at the Middletown Arts Center on Monday, Oct. 24. A two-hour public exchange of ideas followed.
“This is the most important step, so far, getting the public input,” said Mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger. “We would like to see a mini-South Street Seaport or something like that. That’s our vision, now.”
But all ideas related to commercial or residential development, active recreation and open space are on the table, Township Administrator Anthony P. Mercantante told the approximately 45 in attendance.
“Anything is worth discussing,” Mercantante said. “Let’s begin with a blank slate. We don’t have any constraints.”
Property condemnation is not being considered, Scharfenberger said. Instead, the idea is to team with property owners on how to rehabilitate or develop their properties, said Stan Slachetka, manager of planning at T&M Associates, the township-based consultant for the project.
The redevelopment zone runs north to south from Raritan Bay to Broadway-Center Avenue and west to east from, but not including, the Dunes townhouse complex to Naval Weapons Station Earle.
The meeting broke into groups to brainstorm ideas. They included building restaurants, expanded ferry terminal parking, a shuttle for riders, a maritime museum, an environmental center, an entertainment arena, a heliport and a gun range.
Also suggested was maintaining the area in a quaint style to make it attractive to bird-watchers, walkers, bicyclists and kayakers.
Potential problems also were noted. The area is split by Comptons Creek, the waterfront needs shoring up, there can be conflicts between commercial and recreational boating, and consideration must be given to traffic flow and parking.
Parking “has to be part of the infrastructure plan,” said township Planning Board Chair John Deus. Restaurants are great, but patrons need a place to park, he said.
Township Planning Board member Carl Rathjen said redevelopment has to be supported with improvements to roadway infrastructure.
“You’ve got to do something with the (Route 36) highway,” Rathjen said. “You’re not going to build anything until you’ve got a better highway going in there.”
As for Route 36, the township is conducting a study of its redevelopment potential. A public meeting to exchange ideas is likely to be held by the end of the year, Mercantante said.
Commercial fishermen are also worried about maneuvering their large boats with kayaks in the water. Richie Isaksen, a 65-foot trawler captain and member of the Belford Seafood Cooperative Association, recalled an incident when he almost collided with a kayaker.
“First thing you have to do is secure the shoreline,” said Isaksen, 60, a township resident who is a third-generation commercial fisherman. “We’re in worse shape now (than before 2012’s Super Storm Sandy). There’ll be nothing left of Belford in another storm like Sandy.
Belford Seafood Cooperative docks were under about 7 or 8 feet of water during Sandy, Isaksen said.
In fact, the “Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grant” is about protecting coastal areas, Mercantante said. Mercantante, a Belford resident, said most of the area in the redevelopment zone was underwater during Sandy, so redevelopment would have to be viewed in a “flood-safe” way.
“Whatever happens here will be fully protective of the environment,” Mercantante said. “There’s a lot of challenges. If it was easy, something would be there already.”
Of the 400 acres, about 350 are owned by Monmouth County, including an old landfill, Scharfenberger said. County engineer Joseph M. Ettore attended the meeting.
“We’re just here to observe the session,” Ettore said. “We’re aware the plan was being formulated (and) includes county property.”
T&M will look at township and public input and put together a conceptual plan for public review – with another public session likely by the end of the year, Mercantante said. Then, a formal plan is to go before the township committee for adoption with a target of February, Slachetka said, and the adoption process would include a public hearing.
“This was an exceptional session,” Sclachetka said. “The energy was incredible.”
The township invited the public to continue submitting ideas to the township Planning and Community Development department, 3 Penelope Lane, Middletown, 07748; 732-615-2098.
“We would like to know what you want to see in your neighborhood,” Jeffrey Cucinotta, a T&M urban planner, told the group. “Now is your opportunity to voice your opinion.”
Coming into the meeting, various parties said they wanted to see what the township had to say about Port Belford redevelopment.
“I’m in the blind,” Isaksen said. “I hear they want to make it like Mystic, Connecticut. But Belford’s not Mystic, Connecticut. Belford’s a working fishing port.”
Belford Seafood Cooperative has about 20 to 25 fishing boats, Isaksen said.
“It’s no playground,” he said.
Craig Tomalo, owner of Interport Pilots on Comptons Creek, which provides pilots for ships maneuvering the New Jersey-New York Harbor, said he was concerned about his company’s 45- to 50-foot pilot boats getting through on the waterway if it underwent redevelopment.
“We want to make sure they won’t be shutting down the waterway,” Tomalo said.
Atlantic Pier has 23 acres, which are now vacant except for a few storage buildings, said company vice president Joe Pandozzi, 59. He said the company has some ideas on redeveloping its property, but they were “way too premature” to reveal.
Donna M. Jennings, Atlantic Pier’s lawyer, said she hoped the township “vision’s in line with ours.”
“I’m interested in any development affecting the shoreline, the shore,” said Doug Irwin, 68, who lives in the township’s Oak Hill section. “Belford’s been in need of being revitalized for decades.”
