City hall move, transit village in L.B. master plan draft

City hall move, transit village in L.B. master plan draft
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — With the revised master plan on schedule to be adopted by March, city officials are pondering a move of City Hall down Broadway.

The subject was brought up at the presentation of the first draft of the master plan Dec. 10.

David Maski, an engineer with CMX, along with Zoning Officer Michele Bernich and Assistant Planning Director Carl Turner presented the council and city officials with the first draft of the plan that indicates the need for a new city hall.

"For the most part your public buildings are in pretty good shape with the exception of the one we are sitting in now," Maski said.

Maski said the Broadway redevelopment plan suggests a move downtown.

"As far as City Hall goes, your Broadway plan already talks about a new civic complex," he said. "One recommendation has it move down Broadway a bit.

"The most efficient use of a property like this would be more downtown," he added. "The Broadway redevelopment plan and the Paramount district plan do make recommendations highlighting a civic center that people would go to."

Councilman David Brown suggested that the current City Hall property could be utilized in another way.

"It would be a nice place for a transit center," he said.

The other building discussed as being in poor shape was the Oceanic Engine Fire Company No. 1 on Norwood Ave.

Maski also described what the master plan is.

"It kind of coalesces what you've been doing since the last comprehensive plan, which was 1988," he said. "The mapping is now all up to date.

"The master plan is a living document, it's not done, it's never done," he said. "It will lay out things that can be done."

One council member requested a comparison between the updated version of the master plan and the existing plan.

"This is an incredible amount of work," council President Michael DeStefano said. "Without comparing it to what was, it's hard to know [what changed]."

Maski responded by saying it is hard to compare the two.

"I think it would be difficult to hold one up to another," he said.

"The whole oceanfront concept wasn't really there yet," he added. "The economics of the city were very different."

The master plan suggests the city's zoning requirements, including mixed-use zones and a possible zone allowing bed and breakfasts, which are largely regulated by a state statute.

One additional zone may be a transit village in the area surrounding the train station.

"At this point it is not necessarily a specific zone, Maski said.

"As further work gets done on the transit village itself, that idea might become an actually boundary," he added. "There is obviously a lot of work to be done."

Also discussed was the development of the 25-acre riverfront section in North Long Branch.

"It can be a mix of commercial and residential," Maski said. "It should take advantage of the waterfront with outside dinning."

Other ideas in the master plan include the coastal evacuation plan, the city's parking situation and a shuttle service. The master plan also approves of the city's adoption of a historical preservation ordinance and the recycling program.

Maski added that the master plan is supporting the city's efforts to utilize shared services with other towns.

Another recommendation in the master plan is for Long Branch to become more environmentally friendly and to locate more art in public places.

"This master plan states at the very least all the city's buildings should be green buildings," Maski said. "Having works of art in strategic places, like the train station or city hall, encourages the city to go more into that."

The master plan also recommends improvements to city parks.

"There are some park improvements we mention here that are already taking place," he said. "We have to have a strategic plan for each park."

Maski suggests that the city make more of an effort to work with school recreation facilities.

"[There should be] better coordination with the school recreation departments," he said. "Some of the best indoor recreation facilities are in the schools, especially with the new schools you have."

Councilman Anthony Giordano suggested that the plan take an in-depth look at creating and maintaining long-term job opportunities.

"Jobs at all levels, professional, blue-collar, white collar," he said. "I just think that would be important to make it one of the goals."

Maski closed by saying an advisory committee will meet in the coming month and the plan will be presented to the Planning Board in January.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.