Redevelopment Planned for Neptune School
By ANDREW CANGIANO
Neptune officials are hoping to purchase the Ridge Avenue School site from the Board of Education.
A redevelopment plan for the site, which includes residential and commercial uses, has been prepared by the townships planner.
At the township committee meeting on Monday, Mayor Thomas Catley said the township has had discussions with CitiWorks about being the redeveloper for the school site. He stressed, however, that the township has not named CitiWorks as the redeveloper for the site.
CitiWorks, a non-profit organization, is the redeveloper for West Lake Avenue in Neptune.
In a phone interview Tuesday, the mayor said he wants the township to have control over what happens to the school site, rather than allowing a developer to purchase the property and not make use of it.
He said such a scenario took place with the Bradley Park School, which was bought by developers and then left to deteriorate for 15 years.
The proposed site plan for the Ridge Avenue School calls for 76 total units, of which about 45 or 46 would be detached single family units with garages.
Coaster Photo
Neptune officials hope to purchase the Ridge Avenue School and sell it to a developer.
Also included would be two multi-story rental buildings, of which seven or eight of the units would be for home/office use, while the rest would be dedicated as low income apartments.
The low income apartment units may be used to re-locate residents currently living in the West Lake Avenue redevelopment zone who are looking for affordable housing.
A sale price for the Ridge Avenue School site has not been reached yet, as the township and the school board continue to negotiate on a dollar figure.
The committee voted to refer the redevelopment proposal to the Planning Board, as the plan will came before the board at its meeting on Wednesday.
Committee member Michael Golub said that redeveloping the Ridge Avenue School site would give Neptune revenue needed to improve infrastructure in the township.
As a result of the redevelopment that goes through that site, [Neptune is] going to get a lot of infrastructure repairs that we otherwise might not have got done, Golub said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Committeeman Randy Bishop said he is happy that the redevelopment plan includes affordable housing units.
I’m glad that affordable housing is a part of this plan because it is such a great need in Neptune, he said Tuesday.
A public presentation on the plan will be held sometime in the near future, the committee said.
The school is currently being leased to the Asbury Park Board of Education. Students from Asbury Parks Thurgood Marshall Elementary School have been attending classes there for the last two years while the city school is undergoing renovations. The renovations will be completed in June and the Ridge Avenue School will no longer be needed.
The committee also adopted a bond ordinance authorizing the township to spend $400,000 for architectural and engineering plans in connection with renovations to the Neptune Senior Center and municipal complex.
The improvements include the expansion of the senior center and interior renovations to the municipal building, township clerk Rick Cuttrell said.
In split decisions the committee voted to approve resolutions allowing the townships planner and architect to continue work in connection with the Shark River North Channel Inlet Redevelopment Plan.
Committee James Manning Jr. and Randy Bishop were the dissenting votes on both resolutions.
Bishop said the he believes the township should make strides on the projects it has already started before taking up such a big undertaking.
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