(from Jersey Coast Anglers
Association October 2005 Newsletter)
TOMS RIVER — The
fate of the former Anchor Reef Marina site may soon be a little clearer,
but its surrounding residents want to ensure that the property is
developed in a manner which is most suitable for Dover Township.
Residents such as Tom Fote,
of Cruiser Court, want to see the 4.5-acre site at the foot of the Mathis
Bridge on Route 37 east developed into a park that provides public access,
fishing, crabbing and public boat ramps. "After this piece of property
goes, there will be no more bay-front property available to put a (park)
on the bay," Fote said.
Dover Councilwoman Maria
Maruca said that she is in "absolute" agreement that the site needs to be
developed into something accessible to the public. She said that the
township has had numerous meetings with the property's owners who
originally came forth with a mostly residential plan. The township,
however, does not want residential development on the site, she said.
Instead, it wishes to see something with mixed use, possibly including
retail and some commercial uses, she said. The site should also include
public access to the marina, more boat slips, a boat ramp and parking for
the facilities, she said. Information which is more cohesive should be
released in about a month or two, she said.
The property is the only
piece of the Barnegat Bay where residents can fish and crab, Fote said.
Dover presently does not have a public boat launch, he said. "No matter
what you do there, you should provide public access and you should have a
boat ramp there," he said. "We shouldn't have to run over to Seaside or
Brick Township to pull our boats out of the water."
Robert Silva, of Monitor
Drive, has also stressed a need for public boat ramps. Silva, a
Republican, plans to run as an independent in this November's Township
Council election under the Rescue Dover banner.
Another concern is that the
property will not provide enough access for traffic entering and exiting
it, Fote said. "We're concerned about safety," he said. "We're also
concerned about what they are going to do with the water," he said. The
neighborhood is one of few in the township which receives well water, he
said. A water main may be required if a large facility were built, he
said. "And the closest water main is on Fischer Boulevard," he said.
In 1993, a former owner of
Reef Hotel and Marina was fined $50,000 and ordered to clean up
contamination at the site. County prosecutors attributed the contamination
to petroleum products — some of which had leaked from the soil and into
the top layer of groundwater of the site.
Dover's governing body
expressed interest in purchasing the property during the following year.
In January 1994, the Township Committee agreed to accept a $375,000 state
Green Acres grant and a $1.1 million low-interest loan to purchase the
site. The township planned to develop it as a township park, with walking
trails, picnic areas and a crabbing pier. But one month later, the
committee voted against a $1.5 million bond ordinance which would have
been used to buy the property.
Former committeemen Raymond
Fox and Bud Aldrich voted against the ordinance, saying at the time that
they are not opposed to parks, but are against spending large amounts of
money while the township struggled with increasing taxes and a budget
crisis which it was experiencing. For the governing body, purchasing the
property became a dead issue.
After 13 months of
hearings, in September 1989, the Dover Township Zoning Board of Adjustment
denied a $10 million hotel and marina project proposed at the site. Fote
was among a number of residents who opposed what its owner had proposed.
The project would have included a 100-room hotel, a 155-slip marina and a
restaurant.
The federal government
placed a lien on the property in 1992, according to Ocean County land
records.
The owner who has since
purchased the property has been cooperative in working with the township,
Maruca said. "He's been listening to the council's suggestions and we
should be seeing another concept plan shortly," she said. The property is
in the township's redevelopment zone, which is located on both sides of
Route 37 from Fischer Boulevard to the J. Stanley Tunney Bridge, Maruca
said.
The council is adamant
about not using condemnation to acquire any of the residential properties
in the redevelopment zone, she said.
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