City cuts costs for small redevelopment projects BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - The City Council approved a measure last week that will make it more viable for smaller redevelopment projects to be constructed within the city. The ordinance, adopted 4-0 at the July 8 meeting, calls for reducing the fee a developer pays to the city when a project is estimated to cost under $10 million. The city's original redevelopment ordinances required that all redevelopers make a nonrefundable payment of $50,000 to the city at the time the redevelopment agreement is signed. The newly adopted city law will require that a developer continue to pay the $50,000 fee when the project cost is estimated at $10 million or more, but the fee has been reduced to $25,000 when the project is estimated between $3 and $10 million. When a project is set to be less than $3 million, the developer will pay the city $10,000, according to the ordinance. Resident Harold Bobrow, whose home lies in the Beachfront South redevelopment zone, asked the council to explain where the funds collected from developers are spent in the city. "You have a redevelopment project going on that is over $10 million and you ask the redeveloper to put up $50,000," Bobrow said, before asking, "That money is for what?" Councilman Anthony Giordano said, "It is to help offset the professional fees that come with the review of the plan." City Chief Financial Officer Ronald Mehlhorn explained that the fee a developer pays for a project goes into a general city fund that can be applied to any redevelopment project within the city. "It is for any redevelopment purpose in the city," Mehlhorn said. "It would be for other projects. We can use the money anywhere, as long as we tie it into redevelopment somehow." Kevin Brown, who lives in the Broadway redevelopment zone, also questioned council members, asking why they chose to cut costs for redevelopment projects at this time. "Redevelopment has been going on since 1996," Brown said at the meeting. "Why the change?" he asked. City Attorney James Aaron said that when projects are smaller in size and scope, the review process is less intense. "There appears to be a significant amount of smaller projects coming before the redevelopment committee," Aaron said. "Having to put up that kind of fee at an initial stage does not seem fair." He added that one of the specific projects that is currently before the city that is estimated to cost under $10 million is the Pax Construction Project on Third Avenue in the Broadway redevelopment zone.