Eatontown Council Continues to Push For No Rental Properties at Fort Monmouth

With the news that the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) is currently in the process of developing requests for proposal (RFPs) for Parcel B of the fort, the Eatontown Council has made it clear that they do not want rental units to be part of the plan.

Parcel B is a 53-acre parcel of land that runs along Route 35 in Eatontown that is the future of home of 150,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, entertainment and 302 mixed-income apartments, according to the Fort Monmouth Reuse and Redevelopment Plan.

The plan states that the apartments will be located above retail spaces and will also be three-story apartment buildings.

Eatontown Council President Anthony Talerico said the Eatontown Fort Monmouth Reuse Ad Hoc Committee requested, in 2008, that the preference is for owner-occupied units for the Eatontown portion of Fort Monmouth.

"The residential units proposed should be changed to owner-occupied units of townhouse or condo type," a committee report states. "Eatontown presently has more apartments than single-family homes. Typically, privately owned homes are better maintained than an apartment complex."

Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said the apartments and proposes developments are OK for the parcel, because it is destined to be a town center and commercial district.

FMERA Executive Director Bruce Steadman has said that Eatontown officials have only indicated a preference for owner-occupied housing at

Talerico and other council members argued that the their preference was for no rental units on any property.

The council unanimously agreed, during Wednesday night's council meeting, to have the borough attorney send a letter to Steadman to state their opposition to rental units for Parcel B.

Tarantolo added that he recently with Steadman to get an update on Howard Commons and Parcel B.

"There is a significant amount of interest by developers for Howard Commons and the process for developing the RFPs for Parcel B is in the works," Tarantolo said on Wednesday. "We talked some specific things that Im not at liberty to divulge, but everything looks very positive and we're moving in a direction that I think is the best course for Eatontown."