SEASIDE HEIGHTS – Things weren’t looking good for the borough in the fall of 2012 – its famous roller coaster was lying in the ocean amidst the devastation of Superstorm Sandy which damaged many a residence in the community.
The “home for family fun since 1913” had lost much of its boardwalk and had some major cleaning up to do in the aftermath of that storm that paralyzed the barrier island and crippled local economies.
In the decade that followed the storm, the borough not only survived but thrived as it sought to recreate itself not only physically with new buildings and facilities but with a more family friendly atmosphere.
The community which once housed numerous night clubs and taverns now has only a few bars and restaurants that carry a liquor license. Some of those nightclubs were involved in questionable practices which led to constant police visits for underage drinking and drug use.
An unsightly unfinished structure in the center of town was finally removed through litigation after more than a decade of effort.
Flash forward to 2022, 10 years after Superstorm Sandy.
Mayor Anthony Vaz told The Toms River Times, that the change in the borough is part of a multi-year plan to change the town’s image.
“You have to look at drawing in families by having different venues that attract a family atmosphere,” the mayor said.
He noted that he and the rest of the governing body were looking at “quality of life issues, safety issues, walking the street by patrolmen, cleanliness of the town and we focused on that.”
Mayor Vaz said that in focusing on the first five years, “what do we do with dilapidated properties and absentee landlords that could care less about Seaside Heights. They are only interested in making money so we started getting much stronger with our code rulings and enforcement.”
“That showed to be progressive and we are seeing a lot of absentee landlords now being penalized with fines, revoking of their licenses and it is starting to be a focus point to many people in town that don’t always want to obey the rules,” the mayor added.
In that regard, the borough pushed to get an old metallic eyesore that had been part of an incomplete project removed. Business Administrator Christopher Vaz said that concerning that site, “The redevelopment plan is a mixed use building including condos, restaurant and retail on the ground floor.”
Mayor Vaz said, “something else that is working to our advantage and I hope it continues is that developers are coming into the community and see us as the last frontier of the Jersey shoreline. They see us as a place that will still grow and as developers, we can still make money by building retail or single family or multi-family mixed use and we’ve seen that in the last three or four years really move along.”
Among several construction projects is a plan approved by the governing body in August for the authorization of a capital project to purchase a unique piece of property on Franklin Avenue that will be demolished in favor of new construction.
The mayor and council secured funds from the state Department of Community Affairs for the purpose of acquiring blighted properties. The purchase price of the building at 229 Franklin Avenue is $1,150,000 and it includes both a single-family home as well as a motel which both exist on a single residential lot.
The motel was the site of numerous police responses over the years which led the borough to revoke its mercantile license to operate.
The motel’s owner agreed to have the borough purchase the property that will now be re-sold to a new owner who desires construction of a residential property that will conform to the zone.
A developer has also proposed the construction of seven homes on the site of the Mark III Motel, located at the intersection of Carteret Avenue and Central Avenue.
Earlier this month, borough officials authorized another round of demolition funding to be used to remove two residential homes that have fallen into disrepair. The borough received a $1 million grant last year from the state to fund the demolition of private properties – residential or commercial – in town that qualify as blighted or are otherwise in disrepair or a safety risk. Council members finalized the use of funds to take down the two homes located at 54 and 60 Franklin Avenue, east of the former Merge nightclub, which is a designated redevelopment area.
They will be demolished after a contract is awarded to a demolition firm and the cost will be covered by the state grant.
Borough officials also appointed a redeveloper to oversee the building of mixed-use properties on the Boulevard with single-family homes on side streets which were once part of the Merge nightclub site, and some adjoining property.
Officials chose the new owner of the property, Mordechai Finkelstein, operating under the corporate name Seaside MYF LLC, to redevelop it according to borough specifications and unlike the former “steel structure eyesore” property located a block to the north, Seaside Heights has never had an ownership interest in the former Merge site and two other adjacent parcels.
Originally it was sold to area businessman Robert Bennett by John Saady, the owner of the nightclub. Bennett then sold it last year to Finkelstein whose company met the criteria necessary under state redevelopment laws as well as borough ordinances for the right to redevelop the site as part of the redevelopment plan that has been adopted by the borough.
The lots located on Franklin and Hamilton avenues will be subdivided into 20-by-100-foot residential parcels and sold to the public. The residential lots however, can’t be developed until after the mixed-use properties on the Boulevard are finalized.
The nightclub was demolished and the forthcoming residential properties are being used as an unpaved parking lot at the current time. The entire property is approximately 27,400 square feet in area. It has about 200 feet of frontage along Boulevard, 190 feet of frontage along Hamilton Avenue, and 90 feet of frontage along Franklin Avenue.
Business Administrator Christopher Vaz said, “the grant covers demolition. Other property owners have sought funds from the grant. One example is the owner of the Coral Sands who is demolishing the building for his new project, and he requested demo funding assistance.”
Officials made sure their redevelopment plan didn’t include the presence of sexually-oriented business, nightclubs, bars, fortune tellers, tattoo parlors, stores that sell drug paraphernalia, and kiosk-based businesses in the two buildings that make up the commercial portions of the Boulevard.
“Right now, we are focusing on where are we with infrastructure with all this development going on with water, streets, roads, electric. Where are we with sizes of property. We may be looking at that and saying, you know what, maybe we have to look at development in a different way,” the mayor said.
“If we want to keep our family image, we are very happy that condominiums are coming into town but we’d still like to see some hotels or motels develop and that is a focus now that we are looking at. How can we get the developers to put up daily and weekly rentals and the typical motel/hotel experiences for when people come down.”
“They (mayor and council) have a vision and they know that every decision they make as a governing body – even small ones like “do we wrap the traffic light control boxes?” or “what bands should we book for the boardwalk and beach?” – have to be made in support of that vision. It is something that gets done on a daily basis. They live it. We live it on the personnel side,” the business administrator said.
Another big change for the borough this year was the borough’s police department taking over the full use of the municipal building which led to moving the borough offices over to the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church parish hall just two blocks away.
Business Administrator Christopher Vaz said, “the former Borough Hall was too small for our needs and the former SHPD offices are deplorable. Too small for a police department our size, out of date, lack of storage, rain leaking, etc.”
“When the church indicated that it vacated the building due to the consolidation of the St Catharine’s and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church parishes, it was perfect timing. Borough Hall was able to relocate into a two-floor building and the police were able to spread out into our admin offices. Still not ideal for the police, but better than what they had for sure,” the business administrator added.
Unlike some barrier island beaches, Seaside Heights saw their beach badge revenue go up this year after the challenges of the last two summer seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “That increased and we were fortunate it to work with the DEP and received some grant money and we will redevelop the south end of the bay area. It will not only improve the water way appearance but it will help protect it from erosion,” the mayor said.
The borough’s business administrator added, “the North bayfront boat ramp will be reconstructed. The South bayfront, living shoreline will be constructed to mitigate severe erosion adjacent to the parking lot.”
The “living shoreline” project will improve protection to the bayside from erosion, eliminate deterioration of a concrete bulkhead, and enhance the look of the area and the environment. It consists of a 120 linear foot “planted revetment” living shoreline and will be built with rip-rap fill and filter fabric to support revetment stones.
Work at the project site located near the Dock Outfitters property owned by the town and leased to a private business owner, will start before 2023 and the timing is in accordance with meeting state regulations that bar construction during the winter flounder spawning season.
The borough has a new bayfront playground which was completed over the summer and replaced its old ballfield next to the Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School on Bay Avenue. “That was initiated by the Seaside Heights Board of Education and it was instrumental with our communication that we liked the idea to be presented to them and them to us and it became a reality. It does belong to the borough and it came through monies from the American Rescue Act that the school got,” Mayor Vaz added.
The borough itself got funds from the American Rescue Act as well, the mayor said. “With the school monies we improved the tennis courts, made pickleball courts and the playground itself is a beautiful site and exercise facility.”
The mayor also noted that the community’s museum has made progress and refurbishing of the famous Carousel is underway.
“The Carousel Pavilion, Marion, Ohio based Carousel & Carvings is working on restoration of the carousel and hopes to deliver and reassemble the carousel for a grand opening summer 2023. The local history museum is an ongoing project and may open sooner or in stages during summer and fall 2023,” the business administrator added.
Mayor Vaz said that overall, the community is doing well and is moving forward. “We have been working closely with the County Commissioners, the governor’s office in Trenton so we are progressing. We are moving forward in a good way.”
