Long Branch, developer swap Pier Village parcels Land will be used to continue bike, pedestrian paths BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - The City Council introduced a measure last week that will free up property in the Pier Village redevelopment zone for a recreational pathway along Ocean Boulevard. At the July 24 municipal meeting, council introduced ordinance 29-07 to authorize a land swap between the city and the designated developer of the Pier Village redevelopment zone. As part of the land exchange, the city will gain a tract of land from Melrose Terrace to Laird Street that will be used to create a continuos bike and pedestrian pathway along Ocean Boulevard. A public hearing and final vote on the ordinance is scheduled to be held on Aug. 14 at 8 p.m. in city hall on Broadway. "It will be giving the city the footage it needs and wants according to the redevelopment plan," said City Attorney James Aaron at the July 24 workshop meeting. "And it gives the developers property they need." Aaron explained at the meeting that in order for the city to enter into a land exchange with the developer, the city must receive property worth more than the property it is giving away. In the property exchange, Aaron said the city will be gaining 0.32 acres in land, as well as $270,000 more in property value. Developer Applied Development Co., received approval in March to construct a second phase to its Pier Village redevelopment project. The second phase of Pier Village extends some 6 acres between Morris Avenue and Laird Street and plans include 242 residential units and 3,800 square feet of commercial space in four buildings. The plans also call for a total of 61 parking spaces in a parking deck, an underground parking garage and on-street public parking. The land swap will provide the additional land needed to expand the proposed parking garage to accommodate public parking, according to the ordinance. According to the ordinance, as part of the agreement, the city will transfer 0.61 acres of vacant city owned land located in the Pier Village redevelopment zone to the developer. In exchange, the developer will convey 0.93 acres of vacant land from the Pier Village redevelopment zone on Ocean Boulevard to the city. The total value of the property the city plans to convey to the developer is assessed at $396,000, according to Aaron. The city will be acquiring land from the developer assessed at $636,000, Aaron said. As an additional consideration for the land exchange, the developer has agreed to landscape the Ocean Boulevard tract of land being conveyed to the city. The developer has also agreed to provide sitting areas and a bike and pedestrian path along the sections of Ocean Boulevard that border the Pier Village redevelopment zone, according to the ordinance.