City urged to pull plug on next Beachfront No. phase
Area residents say redevelopment zone leaves them in limbo
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
Long Branch residents in the phase II area of the Beachfront North redevelopment zone are not happy.
For nearly a decade they have lived under a cloud of uncertainty as the city has designated the area for redevelopment, but taken no concrete steps forward with the redevelopment effort.
At last week’s council meeting those residents, who live on Marine and Ocean terraces and Seaview Avenue, came to ask for some resolution to their situation and to voice their concerns about how the redevelopment going on around them is affecting their day-to-day lives.
Michael Logiudice of Ocean Terrace, who is attending college full time in Connecticut at the University of Bridgeport, said that because his home is in a designated redevelopment zone, he has been unable to sell it and so cannot move closer to school.
He said he has been forced to commute to school, preventing him from holding down any sort of job.
"I want residents of Long Branch to back us up and change their minds on the redevelopment project," Logiudice said. "This project is over 10 years old. Re-evaluate it and come to a different conclusion."
The idea of removing the area from the redevelopment zone is favored by most of the residents of the area.
At the Nov. 25 meeting of the council, residents presented a petition with nearly 500 signatures requesting just that and seeking to preserve the neighborhood as is.
"This is bad public policy," Bill Nordahl, a resident of Marine Terrace, said. "There is a terrible housing crisis and a shortage of affordable houses. They want to tear these [affordable houses] down and build expensive ones."
Nordahl formed a group with local residents to fight the city’s plan to take over their homes through eminent domain. The group, calling itself the MTOTSA (Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue) Alliance, urged people to become involved in the effort to save the neighborhood and has become an important source of information about redevelopment for area residents..
Denise Hoagland of Ocean Terrace wants the redevelopment project to be stopped. She thinks it is un-American to take someone’s home.
"We have not failed the city of Long Branch, the city has failed us," Hoagland said, "I do not care about money, I want to live here. I love Long Branch."
Lori Vendetti of Ocean Terrace wants to be a part of the project. She feels the town can keep the new with the old, which will prevent Long Branch from becoming a townhouse city.
"Let us remain part of the community," Vendetti said.
While pushing for removal from the redevelopment zone, residents also have complained about current living conditions related to the work going on next to them.
They say that they realize they are in a redevelopment zone, but they expect proper treatment while they are still living in the area. They want their garbage picked up, their streets properly lit, the potholes fixed, the sidewalks paved and the snow plowed.
Howard H. Woolley Jr., business administrator, said he was unaware of any problems with public services in this area.
"Services will be supplied as they should be, " Woolley said, "Notify us and they will be corrected."
Tom Bellucci of Marine Terrace said that his street is constantly in chaos. His street has been blocked by trucks that prevented his garbage from being picked up, his sidewalks have been broken, his road is covered in dirt, and his water was shut off without warning from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 20.
"They have no concern for us," Bellucci said, "I am a mile from work and they are going to make me move away from the ocean."