City, MTOTSA talk future of neighborhood

City, MTOTSA talk future of neighborhood
BY KEN WALTER Staff Writer
Long Branch officials and residents of MTOTSA and their attorneys were scheduled to meet yesterday to discuss zoning changes that would permit the homes in the three-street neighborhood to remain in the Beachfront North Phase II redevelopment zone.

Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider and attorneys for MTOTSA confirmed last week that the meeting was to take place March 18 with city planner Pratap Talwar in attendance.

"We have been in negotiations since November," Schneider said last week. "We have met several times since January and feel like we are making progress and working toward a compromise."

Schneider also indicated a shift in the city's plans for the phase II redevelopment, saying that the hope is that the developers would utilize the land for "less obtrusive" projects.

"We don't want a four-story structure on each side of a small, single-family home," he said. "We want to maintain the balance between the buildings in the area."

Plans for Beachfront North Phase II have called for the neighborhood to be razed to make way for construction of three buildings with 185 upscale condom inium units.

Scott Bullock, senior attorney with the Institute for Justice in Ar l ington, Va., which is co-counsel for a group of some 17 residents of Marine and Ocean terraces and Seaview Avenue, an area that has come to be known as MTOTSA, confirmed he would be present at the meeting.

"We will be hearing what the city has to say about the future of the area," Bullock said last week. "We hope to gain a better understanding of the future."

Peter H. Wegener, of Bathgate Wegener and Wolf in Lakewood, who is representing the MTOTSA group with IJ as co-counsel, was also set to be at the meeting. William J. Ward, of Carlin & Ward in Florham Park, who is representing some residents of the embattled beachfront neighborhood, confirmed that he would also be at the meeting.

Both Schneider and Bullock said that one of the main issues is the residents of MTOTSA would be able to keep and maintain their homes.

"We want to allow them [MTOTSA] to be able to keep and improve their homes," Schneider said.

Bullock also revealed that while Wednesday's meeting is going to be a presentation, a mediation meeting is scheduled for March 27.

Bullock said the main goal for the group is for the residents to keep their homes. Schneider also said the goal is for the residents to keep and improve their homes.

"We are open for a productive, informative meeting," Bullock said.

"This area has a lot of smaller, singlefamily homes on smaller pieces of land. If a settlement is reached, then the zoning regulations will be 'relaxed' and these families will be able to keep their homes."

The talks come after a decade-long battle by the MTOTSA residents to save their homes from the condemnation action of the city, which sought to clear the zone to make way for private, upscale redevelopment.

"We are working hard toward a compromise," Schneider said.

Contact Ken Walter at kwalter@gmnews.com