Asbury Park planning board hears revisions for 711 Bangs Avenue, leaves application to March 17

The City of Asbury Park Planning Board on Feb. 3 heard revised site and building plans for 711 Bangs Avenue that remove an originally proposed ground‑floor parking garage, replace it with about 2,400 square feet of retail and leave six residential units above, and debated whether the city’s Central Business District redevelopment rules require new commercial parking or a payment into the city parking fund.

The applicant’s attorney, Andrew Karas of 725 Madison, LLC, told the board the plan was reworked after the last hearing to eliminate the first‑floor parking garage, extend a paver band along the curb, add a street tree and provide a five‑foot rear yard. Karas also told the board he disputed expert reviewers’ interpretation that the redevelopment plan requires additional commercial parking. He cited older assessment records showing a building existed on the lot before demolition and said that, if applicable, the redevelopment plan’s first paragraph could negate parking obligations for existing floor area.

Board professionals and members pressed applicants on two legal points: (1) which version of the Central Business District (CBD) redevelopment plan controls — the original redevelopment plan text or later amendments (including a 2018 amendment) — and (2) whether a prior building’s existence at the time the plan was adopted means the current project is exempt from new commercial…