Residents deserve a say in the redevelopment of the "old Foodtown" property.

By now nearly every resident of Brick Township is familiar with the saga of what is now known as the "old Foodtown" property.  The township, which purchased this eyesore in 2003 for $6.1 million, adopted the Metedeconk Village Redevelopment Plan in 2007 that was designed to begin the process of revitalizing this "dilapidated and underutilized property."

At a public hearing in 2007 the Planning Board outlined this Redevelopment Plan which would create a mixed use residential, hotel, office, restaurant and retail village including recreational and community facilities that would benefit all residents.  In 2012 the Township finally entered into a Redevelopment Agreement with M&M at Route 70, LLC, a developer well known to Township officials, calling for the purchase of the 11.7 acre parcel for $7.5 million.  In addition, M&M was to construct improvements that are "consistent with" the Metedeconk Village Redevelopment Plan, including a hotel and banquet facilities.

As of today the property remains undeveloped and M&M has proposed very significant amendments to the 2010 Redevelopment Agreement which would allow for the elimination of the full-service hotel and banquet facility based on a feasibility study prepared for the developer that shows that, while operating profitably from year 1, the hotel would not generate an "adequate return" to the investors.

As an alternative, M&M is proposing to change the project to include a total of 264 attached housing units, broken down as "192 two-bedroom condominium homes with an average estimated sale price of $300,000, 18 one-bedroom and 54 two-bedroom rental units with monthly rents ranging from $1,400 to $1,700."  It has also been mentioned that the condominium development would be located in a gated community with access to Forge Pond and the Ocean County Golf Course at Forge Pond.

Many residents have questioned this change in the Redevelopment Plan, expressing concern that these new plans are calling for the addition of a significant number of residential units into a market that many feel is over-saturated.  This situation only stands to become worse when Nobility Crest, which is another approved development, adds an additional 170 townhomes and 44 apartments to a currently undeveloped area located behind the Post Office on Chambers Bridge Road.

As an outgrowth of concern over the Redevelopment Plan, a group of residents has formed The Friends of Forge Pond NJ, which is committed to an open, transparent debate of the ongoing re- development process. This is the last large tract of public property that every resident in Brick Township owns a piece of thus we should have a voice in the re-development. Smart and environmentally conscious decisions should be a priority as the choice of development and development intensity will have ramifications for decades. Participation in the debate of how to utilize this property is critical to the people and environment. We hopefully look forward to public participation, sharing of information, and the truthful and transparent decision making process in a public forum.  You can find more information by joining us on the new Facebook page, "The Friends of Forge Pond NJ ".