Development Sign Triggers DeMarzo’s Ire

WILDWOOD — A sign at 501 W. Garfield Ave., which shows a start date of Jan. 1, 2008 for the city’s back bay development project, has drawn the ire of Commissioner Gary DeMarzo.
In an Aug. 7 letter to fellow commissioners, DeMarzo said the sign “hurts economic development and erodes the expectation of confidence of an honest city government.”
He said he had taken specific issue that his name appears on the sign and was not notified about construction or consulted about verbiage that appears on the Garfield Avenue display.
After an Aug. 8 commissioner’s meeting, DeMarzo’s name was removed from the sign.
DeMarzo also sent his written protest to the developer, K. Hovnanian, the county Association of Realtors and various media outlets.
According to DeMarzo, while the sign indicates a start date of Jan. 1, 2008, the developer’s actual start date is unknown.
“To attract potential buyers with inaccurate information is unethical,” DeMarzo wrote. “In turn, to attempt to substantiate the information by giving it a city ‘stamp of approval’ is outright unacceptable.”
Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., responded at the Aug. 8 commissioner’s meeting that the sign was not misleading and is a way of letting residents and visitors know that the project is moving along.
The city had designated the 30-acre site between Susquehanna Avenue and the bay as an area in need of redevelopment and then selected K. Hovnanian’s proposal.
Currently, K. Hovnanian has planned for 298 homes, in mid-rise, duplex, triplex and town home designs, to occupy the project, dubbed Sunset Cove.
K. Hovnanian agreed to pay $18 million for the city-owned former landfill, with a guaranteed $9 million going to the city from the sale. The remaining funds are reserved for remediation on the landfill, as needed.
The developer still has the task of closing the former landfill and is continuing to work with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the permitting process.
Sales on homes at Sun-set Cove are expected to start in 2009, according to a K. Hovnanian spokesperson.
According to Lou Ferrara, city development director, the city could have put the sign up years ago, but chose to wait until more progress was made.