By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
The City Council in Asbury Park is ready to come to an agreement on the development rights for the property at the north end beachfront with boardwalk developers iStar.
At issue, however, is the dollar value of the half acre piece of land known as Bradley Cove.
iStar owns the development rights to the property, where in 2008, Asbury Partners presented plans to the city to build 15 homes on the beach in front of Asbury Towers.
Many residents, at the time, came out to protest the plan and the fate of the tract of land has been an ongoing issue at council meetings.
Council members Amy Quinn and Joe Woerner have repeatedly asked at meetings why the appraisal done by iStar’s chosen company is $19 million and the other three appraisals done by independent companies all came in between the $3.1 to $3.3 million range, including two by the city and one by the county.
What concerns Quinn the most is the fact that repeated requests for a copy of the appraisal from iStar have gone unanswered since February 4.
The council, says Quinn, is unanimously united in wanting the parcel of land to be preserved in its natural state.
The city received $1.1 million in Green Acres funding in the fall to buy back the development rights but the land must be designated a Green Acres site within one year of receiving the grant funding or the city will lose it.
If the city fails to make a deal with iStar that funding will go to another town for its preservation of open space.
The result, said Quinn, is that it could make applying for additional Green Acres funding from the DEP more difficult for the city.
“It would be seen as a negative,” Quinn said.
That is why Quinn and the rest of the council want to see iStar’s appraisal and begin negotiating.
“I want the city to be able to compare and start to work on agreeing on a price…we need to get to an agreement on the number, ” she said.
City Manager Michael Capabianco said he has made requests to iStar for a copy of the appraisal but has not received it.
“They say it is under attorney review,” he said.
Brian Sheripka, Vice President of Land for iStar, said he could not comment.
