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Council Says Purchase Is Much More Than Ice Rink
By Catherine Galioto
It may be the part most visible from the street, but a deal to buy the Ocean Ice Palace is not just a deal to buy the Ocean Ice Palace, township officials insisted. Think of it instead as a tract of land spanning 13 acres, council President Stephen Acropolis said at the township council meeting last week.
"People keep thinking this is just a purchase of an ice rink. It's not. There are fields, pools, office space, a dormitory - 13 acres," Acropolis said.
Township Planner Tara Paxton made a presentation about the land, its possibilities as a town center and the state processes the township would have to go through to make it all possible. She said the tract the township is buying spans from Chambers Bridge Road almost to Forge Pond. It includes fields, a barracks-type dormitory building, the ice rink and its offices.
The township planners would work with the state planning commission to gain a special designation to become a town center. Brick already has its master plan endorsed by the state, but special designations are available, which open up more funding options, Paxton said.
"When we have a town center designation, it affords us a lot of options for funding," Paxton said. Since the state has already approved some of the very general maps of the town's master plan, "the state thought this was consistent with their plans."
New Jersey recently adopted a lengthy set of smart growth rules that goes beyond monitoring large-scale developments. Instead, the state plan is urging towns to make it easier to walk, bike or use mass transit to get to essential government, recreation and commercial areas by putting the development near those areas.
Paxton said turning the Ice Palace tract into the town center is consistent with state plans. And, because there is an affordable housing complex nearby, the state could also look favorably on its central location, she said.
"This site has potential," Paxton said. "It could serve its purposes if it's planned properly."
Plans could often be lengthy, especially if a step called a "diversion" is required to place an access road toward the back of the site. Because the entire area is a combination of county, state, township and private property, inter-governmental issues might have to be ironed out. A diversion means that if a township wants to use state park lands, it must create an equal amount of parkland somewhere else. It can't simply use the land, it has to divert the total acreage to another location. That process can be extremely lengthy, filled with public hearings for residents and state involvement, Paxton said.
Instead of an access road, the rear acreage of the site could become a place for trails, allowing for walking and biking between areas instead of driving, Paxton said. This would be consistent with the state's message of adding more pedestrian access, too.
Council Vice President Ruthanne Scaturro said she walked the property recently and was impressed by its potential. Some residents applauded an aerial map of the entire tract the township displayed that evening, showing the entire property and nearby locations.
But others focused their comments on the ice rink facility itself, which they reported had a leaky roof and was in need of upgrades. Hours worth of public comment urged officials to have more information on the building's integrity and costs to fix before proceeding with the deal.
"I hope you just don't see a facility that needs repair," Councilman Dan Toth said. "Hopefully, you see what the potential will be."
Officials say the potential is more recreational facilities for the township. Besides the ice rink, officials hope this will give Brick a town pool, a new location for its senior center, recreation and other offices, meeting space and possible performing space.
The price to buy the property is reported to be $5.4 million.
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