Owners want right to develop properties

In 1996 no one disputed the redevelopment plan adopted by the city of Long Branch because all interested parties who were, and who remain, were told and assured privately that they would have the opportunity to participate.

Many of us looked at visual aids professionally prepared that showed our existing buildings, homes and businesses and read the reports prepared by the experts.

The visuals and the reports all indicated very clearly that the bad properties needed to be revitalized and maybe even razed and quite possibly condemned and seized to do so. Those of us whose property was far from the problem were told infill would be used and the likelihood of us being threatened was not high.

We trusted what we were officially told.

At no time were we invited or educated that the way to have protected ourselves was to apply immediately for designated developer status over our own buildings and that in the RFQ/RFP process we could evaluate the changed density and scheme to decide if we ourselves would like to enhance our holdings by expanding the new development approvals on density and height and multiunit dwelling opportunities.

No one was even given the slightest idea that we could, and that we should, if we expected to be protected from larger outside developers who would submit plans to reverse the negatives and needed the positive properties to do so.

If we were fully aware at the time of the passage of the 1996 Long Branch Redevelopment Plan, we would have done so. Today we are threatened, because we did not. Even when the city announced it had a plan under consideration, we were eliminated from competing with those plans because they included mass areas of development.

Today, the property owners of Broadway Arts Center, those specifically located at 145 Broadway, 162 Broadway and 9 Memorial Parkway, wish to see development while being allowed to develop our own properties in concert.

That's all we want, to participate. We require designated developer status and this is what we seek in legislation, political and, if necessary, litigation solutions.

Gopal Panday

Rainbow Liquors

Dr. Carlos Rivera

The Rev. Kevin Brown

Lighthouse Mission

Long Branch