By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
Asbury Park officials granted long term tax relief to Sackman Enterprises for its 545 Lake Avenue project.
In casting their votes, Mayor John Moor and City Council members reluctantly voted to approve the tax relief.
After the vote Moor explained that the council had no choice but to approve the plan because the city lost a lawsuit with the developer.
“The reason there is hesitation is we took this to court and we lost,” Moor explained before casting his yes vote.
The mayor said eight years ago a previous council granted the tax P.I.L.O.T. (Payment in lieu of taxes) and one year ago this council denied it before it ended up in a courtroom where the decision was overturned.
The financial agreement is for 21 years with an annual service charged equal to 10 percent of the annual gross revenue.
The five-story project includes 60 residential units with ground floor parking for 84 spaces.
The city announced that beach revenue was up from last year especially among adults with 2,450 more beach passes sold to adults this year.
Overall revenue increased by $7,640 from last year’s $487,000.
Parking revenue is estimated to be about a 15 percent increase but officials said there would be no final figures released until the end of the year.
A representative from Keystone+Mountain+Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters, Anthony Capelli, announced at the meeting that workers were needed for a new local building project.
He said all skill levels will be considered for training.
“Anyone who wants to be a carpenter is needed, we can build the town,” Capelli.
Contact Capelli at 609.567.0400 or 609.914.5078 (cell).
