I scream, you scream, but not in Pier Village

I scream, you scream, but not in Pier Village
Zoning bars ice cream cart from beachfront
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

Ice cream vendor Charles Measley has been selling ice cream at various locations in Long Branch but is barred from taking his cart into Pier Village. Ice cream vendor Charles Measley has been selling ice cream at various locations in Long Branch but is barred from taking his cart into Pier Village. LONG BRANCH — Beachgoers looking for a cool treat after a day in the sun will have to go elsewhere this summer, after the City Council denied an application by a local ice cream vendor.

Charles Measley, a Long Branch native and resident of Rumson, operated an ice cream cart in Long Branch in 2008 and 2009, but after his application to operate in Pier Village and on park property was denied at the July 13 councilmeeting, he might not be back this summer.

“I might reapply [for a permit]; I haven’t decided yet,” he said. “Next year I’ll definitely be down there if this year is too far gone.”

Measley, who also sells ice cream from a cart in Rumson, said he sold ice cream the past two summers in different parts of the city, including a location at the West End car shows, on the corner of Broadway and Ocean Boulevard during fireworks, at the Lower Broadway fountain, and in parts of North Long Branch.

This summer Measley wanted to take his business to either Pier Village or the portion of Ocean Avenue closed off to vehicles between Seaview and Madison avenues.

Because Pier Village is a redevelopment zone, and the portion of Ocean Avenue was funded by Green Acres money, Measley had to apply for permission to the council, which is the redevelopment authority.

The basis of the application is that the zoning ordinances state that the council may grant permission for vendors within the redevelopment zones. Measley’s lawyer, Michael Halfacre, argued that the ordinances had a proposal like Measley’s in mind.

“Clearly the application itself was contemplated in the ordinance,” he said. “It was allowed to happen because the ordinance says permission may be granted. If it weren’t allowed to happen, there wouldn’t be a provision.”

Halfacre said the ordinance should override any agreement the city has with Pier Village developerApplied Development.

“The ordinance is a law that was passed by this City Council in 1997, and the contract with Applied doesn’t trump that,” he said. “This is a 20-year-old young man who wants to sell $1.50 strawberry shortcake ice cream pops and is in no way a threat to what is sold at Pier Village.”

Testifying on behalf of the city, Building and Development Director Kevin Hayes said that the application is in violation of city ordinances and that the location, Pier Village, is not city-owned.

Also testifying was Greg Russo, senior vice president of Applied, who said that Measley would compete with the Pier Village businesses.

“These tenants would be impacted,” he said. “As much as we’d like to think that one kiosk would not impact sales, these tenants do have to operate in the winter months, and summer sales are vital to them.

“If these sales were undermined by someone who doesn’t have the same existing costs, you could see how that would hurt some of these tenants,” he added. “We do oppose the application.”

While Pier Village is considered private property, Councilman Michael Sirianni explained the concerns about approving the application for Ocean Avenue.

“I like your idea and concept, but if we allow this, then we will have a hot dog vendor, a pretzel vendor, and the whole area we will have vendors coming in,” he said. “We are working on making it a safe area, and it’s going to look like a mess.”

Measley said the city requires a permit, an identification badge, and that the cart be inspected, and that it may be too late in the summer to override the costs of the permitting.

He also said that he normally operates between Easter and Labor Day from noon to 6 p.m., selling between 300 and 400 units of ice cream per day.

His cart is plugged into an outlet overnight, which freezes the walls of the cart, and the frozen walls act like dry ice to keep the product cold during the day, he explained.

Measley takes his cart to Long Branch daily on a trailer and has an agreement to park his trailer for free at The Lighthouse, a local Italian ice shop.

Measley said The Lighthouse isn’t worried about competition, and the stores in Pier Village shouldn’t be either.

“I have novelty ice cream and they [The Lighthouse] sell soft-serve ice cream and Italian ice,” he said. “The person who is buying my product isn’t someone who is buying a $5 cup of gelato [at Pier Village].”

Measley also tried to alleviate any traffic concerns the council may have had.

“I’m extremely mobile; if there is any way I can move and position myself, I’d do it,” he said.

Measley explained how he first got the idea to sell ice cream.

“I started thinking of the 1950s and 1940s, and an idea came to me of Good Humor and how they used to pedal around the beachfront selling ice cream,” he said.

Measley said that his appearance even harks back to the 1950s.

“I wear a white polo shirt with a little white cap and khaki shorts with a change dispenser,” he said.

Measley explained that when he first got the permit to sell in the city, his idea was to sell along the oceanfront.

“I was approached by a city worker and he said I was not allowed to be in this part of town,” he said. “I did not venture to that part again.

“When I graduated from high school, my idea was to sell along the boardwalk on the part of Ocean Avenue that’s closed, and that’s why I applied for the permit,” he added. “I went down for about two days, and city workers came out and said this part is closed off.”

Measley then looked at the city’s ordinances to see if anything can be done.

“I pulled up the city ordinance [61-88],” he said. “What section D says is, in the redevelopment zone and anywhere along the beachfront or any city park, if you want to go there you have to have permission from the redevelopment agency.”

One resident who testified on behalf of Measley spoke favorably of the proposal.

“I am very proud that we are continuing to raise young people that use the governmental system. I am very proud of Long Branch,” Eva Klostreich said. “The people were delightfully engaged with him, and I thought, good for Long Branch.

“I think this would be a strength to our community,” she added. “I think it would service some of the people who tend to go to Pier Village that are not in the economic strata for some of the storefronts there.”





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