Improvements Coming to Belmar Plaza

The borough of Belmar has begun plans for repairs to the Belmar Plaza, which they hope may entice a grocery store to occupy the currently vacant anchor location of the strip.

Acme Supermarket has been out of the location for a number of years and the largest storefront in the plaza between 8th and 10th avenues has sat vacant since.

According to Mayor Matt Doherty, overdue improvements to the area may be the motivation a retailer needs to occupy the space.

"This is something, honestly, we probably should have had a long time ago," Doherty said of the improvements in August.

Republican Councilman Richard Wright, the GOP's lone representative on the governing body, disagreed.

Wright has staunchly opposed any improvements to the area since the discussion began. In August, he called for a developer's agreement that would require the owner of the property to make improvements as well. Wright explained that moving forward with the project without an agreement from the owner "changes the entire complexion of what we're doing."

"I thought it was something we should move forward on," Doherty said. "We should have been doing it anyway."

Doherty did not support the idea of using the improvements as leverage in negotiations with the property owner.

"It was tried to be used as a bargaining chip when it shouldn't have been," he explained.

Discussion of the improvements picked up again this month when the council held its public hearing on the $620,000 bond ordinance.

This time, Wright focused his criticism on what he categorized as a lack of sound financial planning for the project.

"I have yet to see a final plan as to how that's going to impact our future taxes," he said, pointing out that the governing body had adopted more than $1.3 million in new bonds since January.

Despite this, the mayor and other members of the council insisted that the project was necessary and affordable to the borough, voting 4to 1 to adopt the bond ordinance.

While details are scarce, Doherty explained that the owner of the property has several possible tenants for the anchor store, including some grocery stores.