Planners call for new zones, shuttle, parks
Long Branch board sends master plan re-exam to City Council
BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer

A Transit Village corridor centered at the Long Branch train station and inter-city public transport are among the recommendations in a re-examination of the city's master plan.

Changes projected by the Long Branch Planning Board also call for mixed riverfront development as well as incorporating "green building" standards in design regulations and upgrading existing city parks and landscaping.

Additional recommendations include zoning for mixed commercial/residential uses in all business districts and adding signage for evacuation routes and parking lots, especially in Pier Village.

The Planning Board completed a state-mandated re-examination of the city's master plan to bring local codes and ordinances up to date last month, according to a planning official.

At the Feb. 21 Planning Board meeting, board members adopted the 2007 re-examination report, which took a committee of Planning Board and Board of Adjustment members over a year to complete.

"[The master plan] is what we would like to see accomplished in the city," Carl Turner, assistant director of planning and zoning, said in an interview.

"It brings things up to date to reflect today's world in the 21st century," Turner said, adding, "Some of the stuff is do-able and some is not."

A resolution for the Long Branch City Council to adopt the 2007 review was expected to be on the March 27 municipal agenda.

If adopted, Turner explained, the plan could either sit untouched for six years until the state orders another re-examination, or a full revamping of the master plan can be put into effect which would require the hiring of a consultant to look at the plan.

"It is not a cheap thing to do," Turner said.

According to Mayor Adam Schneider, the city's master plan acts as a guide for establishing zoning regulations throughout the city.

"We haven't studied it closely yet," Schneider said in an interview this week. "We will have to review the plan with Carl [Turner] and with Pratap Talwar [the city's planner] and see how the recommendations would affect the city.

"There are going to be some changes made," he added.

Schneider said he expects that several ordinances in the city will be changed, including the density requirement along the waterfront.

"This is a guideline," Schneider said. "It is the zoning ordinances that implement the master plan."

City officials have been planning for development on the oceanfront for the last 15 years, Schneider explained, adding that within the last five years the city has undergone "huge" physical changes.

"Everything needs to be evaluated," he said. "Some of this may take several years."

The state requires municipalities to carry out a cursory review of the master plan every six years. The last time the master plan was altered in Long Branch was in 1988.

Re-examinations were conducted in 1994 and 2000, but Turner said the city decided to make very few alterations due to redevelopment efforts underway in the city that were changing the face of Long Branch.

"With all the redevelopment in the city in the 1990s, our desire was to not do much to the master plan," Turner said. "Things were changing and we wanted to wait until after it was done.

"Now we have the oceanfront [redevelopment] incorporated in the master plan."

Additional reforms in the plan include incorporating and encouraging new, and more restrictive, design criteria and materials into building design and site development.

It also recommends incorporating "pocket parks" into city-owned properties and encouraging Green Acres funding and development.

Another aspect of the plan calls for working with the state Department of Transportation to widen Joline Avenue and revisiting pedestrian and bicycle access and routes.

As for parking in the city, the plan recommends that free parking be incorporated in the garage at Pier Village as well as seasonal parking on Ocean Boulevard.

The review includes recommendations to create live-work zones on Broadway and Bath Avenues, designate transit overlay areas on Chelsea Avenue and redefine senior citizen and age-restrictive areas near Atlantic Avenue.

Turner said Long Branch went over and beyond its requirements in conducting the re-examination.

"By statute, we do not have to include the Board of Adjustment," Turner said. "We formed a committee with members from both boards."

The re-examination included the committee studying existing conditions in the city, Turner explained.

After review, the committee decided what areas they would recommend be changed. The committee additionally identified what they would like to see accomplished with the plan and how they would accomplish the plans.

The committee put together a master plan report, which included a four-page zoning ordinance to address zones, design issues, open space, historic sites, transportation and access, signage and community issues.

"It is very time-consuming and hard to put together an [master plan] ordinance that will not only be used, but that will stand the [test of] time from a legal standpoint," Turner said.