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Residents press Asbury Park council for public meeting after waterfront infrastructure plans would take front lawns, raise flood concerns
Summary
Residents near Sixth through Eighth avenues told the City Council that an August 2024 infrastructure improvement plan and current construction will remove front lawn, replace historic bluestone sidewalks, and increase local flood risk; city officials said they will investigate and asked public works to check storm drains daily.
Gabriela Cucinada, a resident of 209 Sixth Avenue, told the Asbury Park City Council that an “infrastructure improvement plan” dated August 2024 would widen streets near her home, remove about 10 feet of front lawn and bring sidewalks “almost up to our front porch,” increasing flood risk and reducing historic bluestone sidewalks that she said have survived “a hundred and 30 years.”
Why it matters: residents said the engineering drawings, which they received only recently, would convert green lawn to impermeable surface, shrink front yards and place parked cars closer to houses — changes they said would lower property values and raise the risk of basement flooding. Multiple neighbors told the council they had already seen localized flooding after recent rains.
At the public-comment session, Mary Valino of 1700 Webb Street said the plan appears to take land from private yards and calls for 6½- to 7½-foot sidewalks and a 16-foot island on Eighth Avenue. “We currently have about 50 by 30 of lawn,” Valino said, and the drawings, she said, would “leave us about 10 feet off our building.” Frank Cucinato, also of Sixth Avenue, and Ben Hall of 307 Sixth Avenue described street flooding after brief rain and urged the city to inspect storm drains at Sixth and Webb.
Council and staff responses were procedural: Mayor Moore and other officials said they were not prepared to answer detailed questions at the meeting but would “look into it” and follow up with residents. Mayor Moore offered to assemble the engineer and contractor to meet with residents; a staff member said the work is “currently going on” on Kingsley, Webb and nearby blocks. A council member asked that public works check the storm drains at Sixth and Webb “every day” while the city investigates.
What was asked and what will happen: residents asked for a public meeting to review the August 2024 engineering drawings and for clearer notice of impacts to property lines and front lawns. City officials agreed to gather more information, contact the engineer/contractor to arrange a meeting if needed, and to have DPW monitor and clear the problem storm drains while the work continues.
The council did not take formal action on the waterfront infrastructure plan at the meeting. Instead, staff committed to follow up with the residents, to check the drains, and to coordinate a meeting with the project engineer and the contractor if appropriate.
Residents also raised concerns about notification. Valino said the August 2024 plan listed property owners within 200 feet for notice but that residents said they received no direct notification; the council said it would research the notice record and report back. The city did not provide a timeline for any revision of the engineering drawings at the meeting.
