By CAROL GORGA WILLIAMS
The food trucks may return to Asbury Park’s north end after the City Council opted to send the request for extension and modification to the Planning Board along with more than 10 recommendations for reducing impact and intrusions on nearby residents.
The council – acting as the city’s redevelopment agency – has granted conceptual approval to Asbury Partners LLC for the food truck court located on a Green Acres parcel at 1600 Ocean Ave. Mayor John B. Moor said most of the recommendations were in place for the previous approval. One difference is the requirement that an employee make checks every two hours to make sure there are no developing maintenance issues. The results of the periodic checks should be logged. An employee must be on site in the evening hours, after 4 p.m.
The trucks have been a regular feature since 2015 offering cuisines such as Asian Fusion, Peruvian and Italian but that approval expired last year. But on April 1, the developer requested an extension and slight modifications to the assemblage of six food trucks. The council suggests the extension be limited to two years as opposed to the longer period in the initial approval.
The recommendations contain the same restrictions to number and size of tucks and a prohibition against generators. No new signage was approved although the existing “North Eats” sign will remain. Picnic tables, string lights, recreation space and trash storage are part of the plan. The food truck court will operate seasonally, from Memorial to Labor Day and officials will not permit overnight parking.
Hours of operation seven days a week will be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The applicant needs to provide a plan for getting water to the site, according to the council’s recommendations..
In another development relating to boardwalk developments, the council has awarded a boardwalk replacement project to Capela Construction Inc., Sickerville, whose bid of $1,132,000 was the lowest of 11 bids to remove and replace 70,750 square feet of boardwalk decking. That breaks down to $16 a square foot.
The replacement will not take place until after the summer season probably early October.
