Green Acres Meeting Set On Brick's Traders Cove Restaurant

BRICK, NJ — Brick Township Mayor John Ducey views the proposed restaurant at Traders Cove as the final piece to dealing with "an inherited mess."

Once the restaurant is operating and providing income to the township, it will help offset the millions that taxpayers in Brick Township are paying for the property, he says.

Willie deCamp, president of Save Barnegat Bay, sees it otherwise.

"This proposed facility is a bad deal for almost everybody," deCamp wrote in an opinion piece published by the Asbury Park Press.

DeCamp and Save Barnegat Bay have been vocal opponents of the township's plans to put a restaurant on the property, which will be the subject of a Green Acres meeting on Monday, Sept. 19, at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. The purpose of the township-hosted meeting is to take comments and provide them to the Department of Environmental Protection's Green Acres program for review. DEP does not have a formal role in the meeting.

The park has been a flashpoint since Ducey took office. The 11.5-acre site was purchased in 2005 for $8 million in an effort to prevent condominiums from being built on the site, which sits just west of the Mantoloking Bridge. It was developed as a marina and park that opened in May 2013.

With development costs, the township has $22 million invested in the property, Ducey has said; on Tuesday, the council grudgingly approved a contract for nearly $1.4 million to construct a boaters' lounge, with bathrooms, showers and changing areas, to be used by transient boaters — boaters who rent a slip for no more than a day or two while they are in transit between ports. The lounge is a requirement of a federal I-Boat grant the township received several years ago for the marina, Ducey said.

The township is paying $1.155 million per year in debt service on the bonds issued to cover the purchase of Traders Cove and two other smaller parcels, Scott Pezarras, the township's recently retired chief financial officer, has said.

In announcing Chefs International in May as the redeveloper, Ducey said the lease payment the company will may will help offset the money the township spends on the debt service. The company, which also owns the Lobster Shanty, the Wharfside and Belmar's 9th Avenue Pier, is leasing the land for $75,000, with the lease increasing by 2 percent per year, Township Attorney Kevin Sharkey said. That amount will be reduced by any property taxes that Chefs International pays on the improvements, Sharkey said.

The lease is for 24 years, with two optional 10-year extensions, officials said.

DeCamp, in his opinion piece, said "by law, the township is bound by the project agreement that defines what development is allowed on this site. This agreement — which was signed with the New Jersey Green Acres Program, whose taxpayer funds Brick used — does not allow a bar or restaurant."

"A look at the loosely worded lease signed by the township and at the proposal submitted by Chefs International — both of which may be viewed online at savebarnegatbay.org — makes the mayor’s assertion regarding a revenue source for the town hard to sustain," deCamp said.

DeCamp said the lease information presented at the council meeting did not factor in "the township’s lost revenue from having granted Chefs International 'access to and non-exclusive use of' boat slips that are currently rented, the parking area for the trailers of those currently paying to use the boat ramp, and the parking area currently used for paid storage of boats."

He also criticized the 2 percent clause, saying, "What serious public official would — in addition to signing away so many existing revenue streams — enter into a deal whose profitability partly relies on inflation staying below 2 percent per year for 44 years?"

DeCamp contends the agreement amounts to privatization of a public park, because the restaurant will use up parking spaces, eliminate public concerts at Traders Cove, and impair access for those who come to just walk the grounds.

Ducey has repeatedly said the restaurant, which will operate seasonally at least in the beginning, will be an enhancement for residents and is needed to reduce the burden on taxpayers. Robert Cooper, president and CEO of Chefs International, said the restaurant, which they hope to open in the summer of 2017, could expand its operations to year-round if it is successful enough.

DeCamp said the state is obligated to stop the project from occurring.

"If a commercial entity is allowed to exist in a park, the purpose ought logically to be to increase the quality of the park users’ experience, not to deprive them of it," deCamp wrote. His full letter is here.

Mayor John Ducey presents the Chefs International plans for the Traders Cove restaurant in May. Karen Wall photo