Brick Township Council members took the first steps recently to pave the way for the redevelopment of the Laurelton Mobile Home Park and Lake Godfrey.
The council voted unanimously to declare the Route 88 mobile home part as “an area in need of redevelopment.”
That means both sites could be eligible to receive state grant money for redevelopment and property improvements.
The process began in October 2008, when the council asked the Planning Board to study the matter, and the board sent a recommendation back to the council in favor of the designation.
Township Administrator Scott Pezarras noted the current owner of the property would not be willing to redevelop it without the use of the grant money offered by this designation.
“If you drive past, there is no doubt about it,” said Pezarras.
“We felt it really needs to move forward for redevelopment,” said Planning Board Chairman John Catalano.
Resident George Scott said this was a private problem for an owner who did not perform due diligence when he purchased the property. The owner wants to build a strip mall in addition to restoring the living quarters on the lot, Scott said.
“That site is in need of redevelopment,” said Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis.
No township funds would be used for the redevelopment. The council’s vote was an early step in a process that will eventually require state approval, the mayor said.
The property owner could leave the site in its current condition indefinitely or redevelop it into a strictly commercial site and just evict the current residential tenants, Acropolis said.
“If we discuss this with him, we get a measure of control,” he said. Brick needs to work with the owner redevelop the site for numerous reasons, an increase in tax ratables collected from the property if it is improved, increase the aesthetics of the property, and safeguard the rights of the current residents, Acropolis said.
The site has needed to be redeveloped long before the current owner’s interest the property, the mayor said.
“We are trying to identify places in our town that need to go through the redevelopment process,” he said. “The redevelopment law was put on the books to help governments or individuals use of property.”
Mobile home park residents came to the council for help more than two years ago because of broken pipes and poor roads need of improvement. That’s what sparked the council to meet with the lot’s owner. The owner said the lot does not generate the rental revenues necessary to justify the cost of improving the lot privately. That’s when the council began looking into acquiring state redevelopment funds, Acropolis said.
“This is the next step in the process of helping the people who live there,” he said. Most of the residents are elderly on fixed incomes and that several of them are veterans.
If the site is redeveloped, the residences on the site could count toward the township’s Council on Affordable Housing requirements, Acropolis said.
Acropolis it would cost the township roughly $160,000 to provide for one unit. If the state approves the township’s request, it would provide 100 units at no cost to Brick.
“It helps the town because it improves that area, it helps the developer because he gets to use some grant money, and obviously it helps the people who live there because we get to upgrade their standard of living,” the mayor said.
Godfrey Lake was not originally on the agenda. But Councilman Brian DeLuca brought it up when he asked Pezarras to find the property’s owner, since the township cannot improve the site if it is privately owned.
Borough Attorney Jean Cipriani said a title search on the property would run about $5,000.
Council members then agreed to authorize the title search and directed Pezarras to begin the public bidding process.
Resident Melanie Briggs thanked DeLuca for bringing the property up and said a title search wouldn’t take long to complete.
“I appreciate it,” Briggs said. “I think the residents that live around it [the lake] will appreciate it.”
Greenbriar resident Nan Coll said it was time to make improvements on the lake.
“Since I came to town, I felt that it is a horrible site,” she said.
Coll said the site could flood nearby roads if there were a severe storm.
“It really is time,” she said. “It belongs to the town.”