Swap of beachfront road draws local opposition City says no plans in place for Green Acres parcel BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - The proposed reopening of portions of Ocean Avenue to vehicular traffic along the Long Branch oceanfront has elicited a less than positive reaction from a large number of city residents. The city has applied to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to remove sections of Ocean Avenue, now free of traffic , from the Green Acres Inventory Program. Although Mayor Adam Schneider and the City Council contend that plans for the roadway are still to be decided, the uncertainty drew protests from a standing-room-only crowd at the last public municipal meeting. "I feel that the boardwalk, the ocean, the beach … that is the natural treasure of Long Branch," said Thorp Rivingston, Hollywood Terrace, at the May 22 council meeting. "People want to be there," he said. "This blacktop gets more use by people for recreation and enjoyment than any other Green Acres in Long Branch." West Long Branch resident Barbara Gonos said at the meeting that she and her husband use the roadway to ride their bicycles several times a week throughout the year. "That road has the best view of the ocean in all of Monmouth County, and there is no traffic on it," Gonos said. The City Council voted unanimously May 8 to approve resolution 130-07 to support an application to the Department of Environmental Protection to remove 3.10 acres of Ocean Avenue from the Green Acres program and, in return, swap 6.19 acres of city-owned parcels to be set aside as Green Acres. The application must be approved by the DEP, according to Lori M. Thompson, of Schoor DePalma Engineers and Consultants. The city must submit a pre-application to the DEP for review, Thompson explained at a press conference, adding that public hearings on the land swap will be held prior to the submission of a final application by the city. The application calls for removing the following sections of Ocean Avenue from Green Acres status: Brighton Avenue to West End; Howland Avenue to South Bath Avenue; and Madison Avenue to Ocean Terrace. In exchange, the city is proposing to swap approximately 4 acres of property at the Great Lawn in Pier Village and approximately 2 acres of the walking/bicycle path on the east side of Ocean Boulevard. At a press conference May 21 in Schneider's law office, the mayor discussed the city's stand on the issue. "When parts of the road closed, it goes back 20 years, it was one of the most unpopular decisions of the day," Schneider said. "People showed up then to say they were against it. We were talking about re-opening it for years." Schneider said he has received several calls from concerned residents opposing the city's proposal to permit vehicular traffic along the roadway. But he said many of those residents have been misinformed. "They are talking about two-way traffic at high speeds," he said, adding, "The decisions … have yet to be made. "What we are really doing is the Green Acres swap. We are proposing that we have 7, 8 acres of relatively Green space [designated Green Acres] in exchange for less space which is blacktop," he said. Schneider further explained that when property is set aside as Green Acres, it cannot be developed. Removing the property from the inventory will allow the city to explore options for the area, he said. "We believe it will be able to provide better access," Schneider said. "The boardwalk has to be rebuilt. The entire area is going to have to be re-designed. "We are not going to leave a crumbling road with a new boardwalk. It won't work. "If Green Acres says no, we are not going to do it," he said. In response to criticism that the city is moving forward with plans to carry out the swap without a specific plan in place for the site, Schneider said the city is only at the first step in the process. "We are not going to spend the money to design it until I know we can take the next step and have these plans [approved by DEP]," he said. "We have a concept of our own that we have talked about. Nothing is on paper. It is in the baby stages." Some uses for the roadway being discussed by city officials include opening Ocean Avenue to limited vehicular traffic at a slow speed and possibly only to vehicular traffic seasonally, according to Schneider. But residents at the council meeting said they are strongly opposed to opening the roadway to traffic at all. "Obviously there is a plan and you are not [revealing] it to us," Denise Hoagland, Ocean Terrace, said. "How is it you people are voting on something that you don't know what is going to happen to it?" Resident Bill McLaughlin, Ocean Avenue, who has been instrumental in distributing petitions across the city to rescind resolution 130-07, also weighed in at the meeting. "You are always going against the people," he said. "There isn't much trust in this administration. "What you want to give the people will never replace what we have now." Schneider explained at the press conference that by freeing-up restrictions on Ocean Avenue, the city will be able to provide better access to its oceanfront. "More people are coming down, both to go to the beach and for other activities," Schneider said. "We have very few access points here. During certain times of the year, there is no reason for the roads to be closed, as long as things are set up safely. "We are an attractive destination," he said. "Most of the people in the town don't live on the oceanfront and we want to bring them there." At the council meeting, Andrew Shawn of Ocean Boulevard said he was "shocked' that council was moving forward with its plan to swap the parcels. "It struck me so wildly out of touch with what is going on in this world," Shawn said. "I am shocked that you don't see the use. "You are out of step with the people who want a clean environment. You can see by the turnout [at the meeting], you are not getting good reviews."