DEP to host meeting on beach club site tonight
City residents hosting fundraiser on Feb. 10 to save historic site
BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer
Aspecial meeting has been called by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to discuss the project proposed at the Takanassee Beach Club site on the city's oceanfront.

The meeting is scheduled to be held today at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Long Branch High School on Indiana Avenue.

A group of residents in the Elberon section of the city is continuing to object to the proposed development at the historic site, according to Leila Poch, president of the Elberon Voters and Property Owners Association.

"All of the environmental groups and historical groups are so upset about this [proposed] project," Poch said last week. "This is destroying the last one of its kind on the East Coast.

"We want to preserve the history," she said, adding, "We want to preserve the environment."

The Elberon Voters and Property Owners Association is scheduled to hold a fundraiser on Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. at the StellaMaris Retreat Center at 981 Ocean Ave. The funds raised at the event will be used to support a legal challenge to preserve the Takanassee Beach Club site on Ocean Avenue, according to Poch.

Takanassee Developers has applied to the DEP for approval to build 21 luxury homes on the historic 5-acre oceanfront site. The application for a Coastal Area Facilities Review Act, or CAFRA permit, is currently pending before the DEP.

"Since we first became aware of the application, we got involved to fight it," Poch said. "Our organization voted to hire legal representation, professional engineers and environmental specialists to study this.

"We have spent a lot of money," she said. "We are now hoping to get together all the people strongly opposed to this cause, and whatever money we raise we will use to help replenish our legal fund."

The fundraising event is being held to help preserve the historic Takanassee site and its "unique" environment in Long Branch, according to Poch.

Environmentalists and preservationists contend that permitting development of the Takanassee site violates DEP's own CAFRA rules and guidelines, Poch said.

"It is a beautiful cause," Poch said. "This is the last of its kind. This is it.

"We are working harder and harder with all the other groups involved to stop this development," she said.

An invitation to the fundraiser is extended to all members of the public interested in joining in the effort to save the historic recreational site.

In addition to Poch, speakers at the fundraising event include Congressman Frank Pallone Jr., state Sen. Sean Kean, city Councilman Brian Unger and historian Frank Esposito.

Supporters at the event are urged to contribute any amount they can afford, according to a press release from the Elberon group.

The group is asking benefactor donations of $500, patrons $250, sponsors $100 and friends $50. Checks should be made payable to "Elberon Voters and Property Owners Association" and mailed to P.O. Box 2065, Long Branch, NJ 07740.

For more information, call Arlene at (732) 859-5483.

Principal owner in Takanassee Developers is Isaac Chera of Elberon.

The beach club is currently owned by Ginger Peters, her brother Scott Peters and their sister-in-law Kristen Peters, who plan to sell the land to private developer Takanassee Developers.

Scott Peters has been vocal in saying that he does not want to sell the property, but more than three years ago, Ginger Peters took her family to court to force the sale of the property. Ginger Peters contends that the sale is necessary in order to obtain the needed money to support medical bills for her cerebral palsy and spinal stenosis.

Superior Court Judge Alexander D. Lehrer ruled in favor of Ginger Peters and ordered the sale of the property that has been owned by the Peters family since 1680.

What is now the Takanassee Beach Club was a lifesaving station, which operated from 1876 to 1928 as one of the 42 lifesaving stations situated three-and-ahalf miles apart along the New Jersey shoreline from Sandy Hook to Cape May.

The property still contains the three original buildings, which were constructed between 1878 and 1903. Crews of the lifesaving station patrolled the Long Branch beach until 1928 when the Coast Guard deactivated the station and the site became the Takanassee Beach Club.

Chera, the contract purchaser of the Takanassee Beach Club property, said in December that he plans to preserve the historic lifesaving station located on the Long Branch site.

Plans call for the lifesaving station to be restored and remain intact at its current Ocean Avenue location, according to Chera.

Chera said his company entered into a contract to acquire the Takanassee property three years ago and has been working with the DEP to understand environmental, beach access and historical issues that may affect the site.

He added that his proposed project will generate "significant" real estate taxes to Long Branch.