BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — The developer of the Elberon Ranch tract says litigation aimed at stopping the development is holding up completion of a roadway that has drawn the criticism of at least one resident.
“We are being held up in court,” Jack Silverstein, a principal in Park Avenue Estates, said last week. “We cannot finish the project until the appeal is over. The litigation is over, and we are hoping for a decision soon.”
The Elberon Voters and Property Owners association, represented by Ronald Gasiorowski, Red Bank, opposes the project and filed a law suit in state Superior Court against Park Avenue Estates. The group cited environmental concerns and the belief that there was no reason to have an entrance off Elberon Avenue, according to Gasiorowski.
The group lost the case in the lower courts, but now is waiting for the suit to be heard in the New Jersey Appellate Division, Gasiorowski said.
“We are creating a property that will bring in millions of tax dollars to the city,” said Orin Wolf, president of Garden Homes Development, one of the principal companies working on the Elberon Ranch project.
“We went to the Planning Board and received all the approvals we needed. We went beyond what was required,”
The Elberon Ranch is slated for a 30-acre tract of land bordered to the south by Park Avenue, the east by Elberon Avenue, the west by railroad tracks and the north by Lake Takannassee.
The plan calls for 35 single-family homes to be developed by Park Avenue Estates, Ocean Township.
“Every year, we have been challenged,” Silverstein said. “There were objections to the layout and we worked with engineers to find a layout for all of Long Branch, not just one or two residents.”
But Arlene Mavorah, Elberon Avenue, said she objects to a new roadway that will create a one-way entrance to the new development and may be used as an exit for herself and her husband.
“My house is directly on Elberon Avenue and my garage and driveway are on the side of the house,” she said in an interview earlier this month.
“The [project’s new roadway] used to be a driveway that led to my garage.”
She said that when construction on the new roadway, which lies adjacent to her property and perpendicular to Elberon Avenue, began five months ago, her situation went from bad to worse.
“There has not been adequate access to my home, the snow was never plowed, I had to pay to get my car towed out of the mud, there was a two-inch-deep hole in front of my driveway, and my car had mud stuck in the wheels.”
Silverstein said the developer is doing the best it can.
“Until the new roadway is paved, which is going to happen shortly, there may be some complaints about the road conditions,” he said.
“We are preparing the paving phase and hope to start [paving] the road next week, weather permitting.”
The developers said they have looked at alternate layouts for the site, but the roadway planned adjacent to Mavorah’s house would be in the city’s best interest, Silverstein said.
“We were willing to accept an alternative road out by Lake Takannassee, but it is not in the best interest of the city,” he said. “That is an environmentally safe area. We put a lot of consideration into this.”
Mavorah said she has accepted the development and that Park Avenue Estates bought the property fair and square, but she wants to see an end to her nightmare.