From December, 2021 – It was rejected by the Mayor and Council.
Then a lawsuit was attempted by the developer and they lost.
presented a proposal to develop the empty St. Rose corner.
Click for the meeting post – Start listening at 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
Click here for the Blog’s December post about this application.
Fact: This administration fought against a big project.
Proof is in the pudding
Funny! … Sackman hired professional planner Dave Roberts to design the proposed redevelopment project.
Dave Roberts PP authored Belmar’s “Seaport Village Redevelopment Plan”
St. Rose should use that property to build a proper gym for its physical education classes instead of continuing to utilize the Belmar Community Gym. Or use it for parking space for its High School students that continue to fill our public parking spots during the school day throughout town and then allow charged public parking during off-school hours as a source of revenue for the school.
St. Rose needed to get the Council to amend the Seaport Redevelopment Plan before making its presentation.
#4 Nothing better to say? Really this is your response to the Mayor and Council demonstrating by actions not words that they aren’t letting Belmar get over developed and they do look and reject certain projects.
At the end of the day actions speak louder than words.
What are your actions besides complaining and petitioning? What have you actually contributed to the Belmar community? Have you ever volunteered, sat on a board????? Anything? Please advise.
This post will be updated if more information and documents become available.
#1
The administration threw out Sackman’s proposal in the Seaport Redevelopment Zone because of lack of parking, as well as proposed angled parking on 9th Avenue. They left the meeting in March with their tails between their legs. Zero discussion. Watch the first meeting.
Meanwhile, the MASSIVE “Mediterranean Project”- also in The Seaport Redevelopment Zone- received the go ahead with subterranean parking in a flood zone that goes against State Law as well as the original height restrictions which were later modified to suit the developer, in addition to an “independent traffic study” done by a Lake Como firm that anyone who lives in The North End knows was preposterous in claiming, “no significant additional impact on traffic in the area of The Mediterranean Project will be suffered.”
They bent over backwards and did everything BEYOND their powers to approve The Mediterranean Project and dismissed Sackman Development over a few parking spaces; Ask yourself why?!? Wouldn’t even work with a developer who was instrumental in revitalizing Asbury Park and Jersey City WHILE incorporating and preserving landmark buildings into their designs. You know, like our bank building that was just torn down, while the one in Spring Lake was put on the preservation list two weeks later when they saw what was replacing it.
It’s good to see a lack of citizens at the meeting lately attempting to hold them to their promises. It seems the public has given up on them. Dr, Kinney smiles, the mayor twirls his pen, Brennan pretends, Carvelli is absent, and McCracken sits relatively motionless and emotionless.
LMAO!!
P.S.- NEVER ANY MENTION OF THE FAMILY THAT GRACIOUSLY DONATED THE STATUE IN PYANOE PLAZA! (Why give others public credit? It’s not in their nature to; That’s why. Never was.)
Careful there #5, if you start disqualifying town leaders for not “volunteering or sitting on a board”, you’ll lose half the council.
#3 Absolutely. Unfortunately St Rose gets to use a tax payer funded community gym for free. I know, I know, they pay to polish the floors every now and then. Always confused me why people who scream about taxes and hand outs don’t seem to care about that.
Gerald Buccafusco, the disinformation you continue to spread is extremely concerning. The Sackman group purchased that property with no contingencies to development rights that St. Rose was responsible for. So your response here is wrong and concerning. Are you willing to just throw things out there to ruffle feathers and excite voters for your potential gain? If you cared so much about the people of Belmar respond to #5’s questions. This town has had enough of your attempts to spew negative headlines just to win an election. Belmar deserves better than that!
Lookout Mr. Creamer: Bill Merkler might just yet be surpassing your brilliance in Belmar plain speak.
In a time when disinformation is the currency of a certain wing of a certain political party, it is not exactly accurate to accuse Mr Buccafusco of it.
Belmar deserves better than what we currently have. Have we forgotten that we, the tax payers, are buying a piece of property that is not only **********, but also belongs to a family member of the BA. If we were buying a property owned by the former BA’s family member??!? Everyone on this blog would be screaming their heads off. HYPOCRITES.
It’s great the town has one in the win column over this ridiculously obnoxious development plan. But unfortunately it’s still a losing record.
#9 oh please. He was wrong about the eminent domain issue at the former BFA.
The difference is Mr Creamer is usually right.
(Asterisks are mine, Editor.)
“Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land, they own and control the corporations that’ve long since bought and paid for, the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pocket, and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and the information you get to hear. They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else. But I’ll tell you what they don’t want. They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them.”
~ George Carlin
—————————–
Bingo, that’s what it’s all about
DON’T VOTE…
Gerry was asked a few very simple questions that I would love answered but he has no response.
It appears he has no plan, no history with this community besides his two failed attempts to get voted into council.
Voters be ware if his only plan is no development anywhere in the borough, that will effect belmar in a negative way. No one wants to see the borough go into disrepair and stay stagnant.
This administration has demonstrated that they care about responsible development. They look at projects and do what they think is best for the borough.
Mr Merkler is a great example of a responsible developer in belmar, a great member for at least 30 years in this community always walking around with a smile a great neighbor. I trust in his proven success story in our borough, I think he is warning all of us about *** **** and since he was involved and in the know his words mean a lot.
I will ask again Gerry what have you done? What is your experience?
(Asterisks are mine, Editor.)
I must say the building at 9th and Main is horrendous
Current mayor and council have overseen a radical change in the Belmar cityscape. If you like the changes (larger buildings, more of them) then vote for them to stay. I do not like the direction Belmar is headed, so I will be voting the other way. Walsifer campaigned last time as being “against overdevelopment” but his actions have revealed that to be an empty promise. He won’t fool me twice.
I think the 9th Ave building looks great.
I think Walsifer cares deeply about Belmar’s future and has demonstrated it by all the improvements I see in town.
This CAFRA application just proves that there are many steps taken from first appearance of a proposed project through to actual ground breaking.
Vote Walsifor McCracken Clapsis
#14. Besides the 9th Ave building which was left to be dealt with by previous admin, which “radical changes” are you referring to?
#16 personally, I love the giant wall that is painted with black tar on the south side of the building that houses Mikes Subs. It’s so nice how the builder just left it like that. I know I know, that’s not Mark’s fault. He’s only been mayor for four years.
I also love the fact that some of the almost 30% increase in my property taxes will go ** **** ** ************* ******. I know I know, the tax increase is Matt’s fault and the BFA building is the Hines fault.
I also love how the admin shut down a volunteer beach clean up because someone’s ego was bruised. I know I know, that was COVID’s fault.
I love the 12th Ave condo complex. It fits so nicely into the neighborhood of single family homes. It’s not at all the most hideous, obnoxious, and ridiculous looking building I’ve ever seen. I know I know, that’s the zoning board’s fault.
I thought it was very courageous to vote to increase the height restriction for the seaport redevelopment zone before there was a request for it. Such a blatant gesture to appease the developers takes guts. I know I know, that was the plan’s designers’ fault.
I have a great campaign slogan for the mayor: “the buck picks up speed past here”.
I’m voting for Jerry. Sorry.
(Asterisks are mine, Editor.)
17: mr.walk up apt dweller extraordinaire’ definitely knows from whence he speaks, not.
From the voice of experience you obviously are not a proven leader.
This is what is going to hurt Walsifer re election:
1- Kirschenbaum
Huisman
Campbell
Palmisano
2- ******** *******
3- First Aid
4- Overdevelopment
(Asterisks are mine, Editor.)
#18 although I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, it appears as though you think I’m someone I’m not. First, you don’t need to use the word ‘from’ before ‘whence’. Whence means from. So you’re basically saying from from. Also, the saying is ‘whence he came’, not whence he speaks. We all speak (even you) from our mouths.
You are right that I’m not a proven leader. At least I don’t know if I am or not. I don’t currently lead anything nor am I running to be a leader. I’m just pointing out, in a sarcastic way, that this administration has got to go. Since you didn’t refute anything on my list, I can only assume you agree. And I appreciate that.
#19
You forgot Frank Cinelli.
#20 (in answer to #18)
He has nothing to say, so he starts with “anonymous” personal attacks. I know who he is, and I know who he thought you were. 😉
Now we’re at the low point where all the elitists in town put down those of us who rent because the false rumors of us never serving, or those of wanting a position in the new administration didn’t work. You know, because renters like myself never volunteered for 18 years in town risking my life to save others on The Belmar Water Rescue Team; We’ve never served our country when we were requested to rejoin the active duty ranks by U.S. Special Operations “so that others may live” and gave up a six-figure income to leave home for a cause greater than ourselves; We’ve never served as one of the youngest Non-Commissioned Officers in The Marine Corps as a teenager in charge of men and women more experienced, older, more educated, and some combat hardened from Beirut; We’ve never attended an Ivy League University to learn how to communicate better than most with the written word; We never had the guts to blow the whistle on abuse within our community when we knew we’d be targeted socially and financially as well as lose friends over it. Yep! Because we live in a Main Street walk-up, we’re “nobodies” to them who know nothing about us.
Well, now they know a few things about us, and they know that intimidation and threats don’t work because we could care less about our reputations contrived by their elitism and political panic attacks. We only care about the oath we took repeatedly and our character which they will never injure, even if they didn’t hide behind their anonymity because of their own lack of character.
I’ve been telling folks for over a year that this isn’t as much about the Democrats versus the Republicans as it’s about the one-percenters versus those they think are beneath them and those they long to control for the sake of “more”. I saw this firsthand when I asked for lights on The Flag for our war dead on behalf of fearful veterans and firefighters in town who had pleaded for months and were ignored. The very men who ignored them are the ones who show up to wave The Flag and get videotaped and hide behind Old Glory at every event they can muster; From a mayor who bragged his administration was “bringing patriotism back to Belmar”, and that his administration, “stood for freedom” in a speech on 9/11 last year. I informed them politely about U.S. Flag Code in the November 9, 2021 Belmar Mayor and Council Meeting last year, and Mr. Kirschenbaum and soon after the Borough Attorney tried to stubbornly rewrite that very US Flag Code to suit their oversight and seething lack of true patriotism. Then they made it personal with me with repeated actions and lies against me here and in town after I warned them what would happen if they did. We’ll see how underestimating the memory of the very troops and First Responders which the mayor honors with his scathingly hypocritical moment of silence before each Belmar Mayor and Council Meeting goes next Tuesday. “Patriotism” never left Belmar; Even when we left to serve in The Global War on Terror and returned home to encounter the same type of bullying, feckless, reactive leadership that returned Afghanistan to thugs. I told the Borough Attorney at a later meeting in front of God and everybody that we had one thing in common- we both knew where all the bodies were buried in Belmar and that the only difference between him and me was that he had attorney client privilege. Now, ‘devout’ Republicans in town tell me, “thank you!” Borough employees say “God bless you” when they see me. It won’t go well for Mayor Walsifer on Election Day and most have already voted. As usual, he’ll lay the blame elsewhere and pass the buck, but he won’t give me any credit nor will former Mayor Doherty’s loyal followers. That’s good with me though because maybe then I can return to my much simpler existence in my tiny Main Street walkup. 😉
I reluctantly spoke on November 9 of last year because I had the least to lose and I was asked to speak because of this. I spoke of the world being at its lowest point of global conflict in modern history, but that over 70% of the world’s governments were moving towards greater autocracy including ours and how Belmar was a microcosm of the way the world is regressing. I hadn’t attended a meeting but ONCE in my 25 years as a resident. I didn’t even attend when I was awarded the “Belmar Citizen of The Year Award” as part of the local organization that received it in 2000. I attended ONCE because I was asked to by my Mayor so I could be honored in 2012 by our Governor with my fellow teammates on The Belmar Water Rescue Team. An organization I was asked to join because of my military background and served in anonymity on for eighteen years. I left when the political animals who were glory hounds in town came in droves to join after our exploits during Superstorm Sandy were reluctantly made public for political gain. I’ve watched as they’ve stepped on throats for “more” over the years at the expense of the community. When I look at the monstrosity currently being built on the corner of 9th Avenue and Main Street, I see it as a symbol of the last administration’s greed; One the current administration has upped the ante on. That building and the Doherty and Walsifer administration have a great parallel; Their facade is great and seems to fit the community, but when looking from other angles, the perspective becomes one of disgust!
In the Spring of 2020 Because of the power of social media, particularly the “Belmar/Lake Como/West Belmar Residents” Facebook Group since May 2, 2020, I suspect it won’t go well for them. They seem to have vastly underestimated the power of an online community of over 1,400 Belmar residents in one well moderated forum that doesn’t censor and where people actually put their names on their comments and are relatively cordial and cooperative until the desperate lies, partial stories, and personal attackers with limited knowledge try to take control.
Now the developers are rushing here to The Belmar Blog to defend a feeble administration and they make a good argument with the facts, but it’s the facts they withhold that seem most compelling. One key fact about the planned assault of Belmar First Aid was that the administration pretended to want the books so they could go over the accounting. They knew that it was in the constitution of the BFA as it is with our Belmar Fire Departments, that the books cannot leave the premises but the Mayor, the Business Administrator, Jerry Dasti, and The Borough’s “financial team” were more than welcomed to go to the Belmar First Aid building and have a look. Democrat or Republican, the two-party system is the same failure from either side of the aisle. I’ll take my chances with a new mayor and two new council members who are essentially Independents and dislike the Walsifer Administration as much as they disliked the Doherty Administration. That’s a win-win in my book at this time in Belmar’s history.
Make no mistake, the very soul of our town is at stake in this election. For me it’s easy to pack up my 300 square foot apartment and simply leave if changes aren’t made because I’m a “nobody”, but many of you aren’t and have families and homes and businesses in Belmar. Take the partisan blinders off and figure it out because the world is about to catch fire this winter and the current leadership does not have the bandwidth, connections, or empathy to put it out and insulate Belmar from it. The “Turn The Tide” candidates better figure it the f@}k out and listen to the duty experts if and when they are elected, or I’ll come at them twice as hard because I’m just getting started on caring about this damned town and fighting back against the elitist autocrats- Democrat and Republican- who’ve hijacked it over the years at the expense of the masses they swore to protect and serve.
It was Jerry Buccafusco, Mark Levis, and Maria Rondinaro who didn’t always agree with me but were there to help, and most important to help me find my voice for the veterans and firefighters who needed me to and asked me to speak on their behalf. They were never concerned about where I lived, or what I could, or couldn’t do for them. They were always patient, encouraging, and never dismissive or condescending. They’re the type of people I took pride in serving in a military career that spanned two and a half decades, and no one has to ever thank me for my service. You folks- the taxpayers- already thanked me with pay and benefits and my superiors thanked me with added responsibility and duties. Most importantly, they taught me how to have the courage to resolve conflicts with tyrants from organizations that threaten the very liberty of those I swore to protect.
Did anyone else get a text from the Walsifer campaign yesterday that we should “Support the team that will
preserve Belmar’s hometown
character from oppressive
development”? Did they get hit in the head with rocks?? Hello 9th and Main! Hello 5th and Main! Welcome, condos on 12th! And let’s not forget, anyone who is still blaming the previous administration for starting all of this, Walsifer was part of that previous admin. AND THEN they want to go ahead and push the Mediterranean through??
(I received that text, Editor.)
He’s baaaaaack!
#21 so number 18 not only butchers the English language, but also makes false accusations and looks down on people who rent?
Well that certainly explains the post.
21 was fired as a Belmar lifeguard and forced to resign from the Belmar Water Rescue Team
#26
That’s correct Mr. Anonymous. I was fired from Belmar Beach Patrol because twenty years ago I didn’t have the emotional intelligence to deal with the bullies and their cronies there. When the Chief Lifeguard at the time, Bill Karatz fired me he told me, “You’re one of the best lifeguards I have, but you don’t get along with too many in your crew. Your welcomed to stay on the Water Rescue Team because your Captain, (Joe Buckley) has nothing but praise for you”. I shook his hand and said, “You’re the boss Billy but now that I’m no longer there, they’ll just bully the next person that stands up against their bullsh*t.” The following year he fired two of them because of that very fact. LOL One of them sought me out and apologized to me years later when he realized his Fire Chief in Bayonne was a former fellow Sergeant with me in the Marines. Funny how life works out. The other I haven’t seen since, and that’s good by me. I still have MANY friends from working there so once again, the character assassination won’t work.
As far as The Belmar Water Rescue Team. I left on my own accord because I was lied to by FOUR Line Officers after I was assaulted repeatedly by another Line Officer that the situation was to be remedied. It wasn’t. I can’t work with men I don’t trust in situations that can become life threatening. Now I work rescue and recovery for Team Rubicon worldwide with folks who did the job with the military like I did. It’s much more rewarding. You should try it, but with your qualifications you probably wouldn’t make the cut. Who knows, maybe there’s a desk job pushing a pencil you could handle?
#26- for the last time, I am #21 but I’m not Joe McEvoy. He puts his name to his posts.
You and I are too cowardly to do that.
Sorry 21 I meant 22 but he obviously got the message. If McEvoy hates this town so much he is free to move.
(Some content removed by Editor.)
#28
By no means do I think you are cowardly, and I apologize if you took that the wrong way. The cowardly are those that post anonymously and launch ad hominem attacks and not well thought out statements like yourself that make other folks reason better.
#29
I never hated this town, and after yesterday- I love it even more.
#30 I didn’t mean to suggest that you think I’m cowardly. I was pointing out to the other commenter, who thought I was you, that- unlike us, you put your name to what you say. I believe it’s kinda cowardly to make comments anonymously (me). It is staight up cowardly to directly attack individuals by name anonymously. There’s no getting around that.