AVALON – At the Avalon Planning Board meeting July 12, a larger than usual crowd turned out for an expected discussion of the evolving plan to establish a boutique hotel overlay in the B-1 business district.
Such an overlay, if adopted, would allow a hotel in the busy business district far from the 80th Street hotel zone.
The meeting began with board attorney Paul Baldini opining that the best course of action for the board was to reopen and review the borough’s Master Plan with respect to the B-1 business zone. The board could then consider any changes to approved uses.
Baldini argued that Board Engineer Joseph Maffei should present the board with possible changes to the allowed uses at the Aug. 9 meeting.
Baldini proposed that this method of exploring potential changes to the B-1 zone would then include a formal public hearing at a scheduled and publicized date.
History
The proposal for a boutique hotel in Avalon’s main commercial area is not new; however, the apparent growth in support of it among Planning Board officials is.
In 2016, local developer and businessman Anthony Zurawski pushed hard for Planning Board permission to build a small hotel on 21st Street. The area is almost 2 miles from the authorized hotel zone that borders neighboring Stone Harbor.
Zurawski first proposed the new structure in 2014, complete with restaurants and a rooftop pool and bar. The proposal was strongly opposed by a group of borough residents. No formal hearing on the proposal was ever held.
Zurawski returned in 2016 with a slimmed-down design and armed with artist’s renditions of what was frequently called a “petite hotel.” This proposal received a hearing.
The argument for the structure was tied to a need to extend the summer season and support local businesses with added foot traffic. This second design came with its own commercial space, including talk of an art and antique store, along with a teaching art center.
In an attempt to make the proposal more attractive, Zurawski moved the pool to the back of the facility and added more green space that is normally required by Avalon ordinance.
Opposition again mounted against the plan, with many potential neighbors of the facility arguing that the developer could not be trusted to keep the open space in his plan from morphing into a bar and restaurant.
The success of the Reeds at Shelter Haven in Stone Harbor became a frequent point of comparison for those advocating for the proposal.
Those for the proposal argued its benefit to a business district in need of support. Those against cited the character of a borough that did not place high value on nightlife and similar activities. They spoke of congestion, parking problems and pedestrian safety.
At a meeting Aug. 9, 2016, the Planning Board rejected the application for the hotel, bringing a temporary end to Zurawski’s plans.
By July 2020, residents were back before the Planning Board, speculating that the board was again contemplating a boutique hotel in the business district.
From then to now, there have been discussions among board members at meetings where the agenda often gave no explicit sense that the topic would be addressed.
Public Comment
Baldini’s proposal for reopening the Master Plan did not forestall almost an hour of public comment at the July 12 board meeting. Speakers made their way to the podium to voice support and opposition to the plan for the hotel.
More spoke for the proposed hotel overlay than against. At least one individual opposed to the plan, Marie Cocco, suggested in a Facebook post that Zurawski organized his employees to turn out and speak for the proposal.
Zurawski addressed the board, speaking of the history of the old Whitebrier Hotel as a place that helped expose people to the borough and led to some of them purchasing property in town.
John Tracy, his grandson, and John O’Dea, Avalon chamber of commerce president, both emphasized the boost such a structure would have for the business community.
Many of those who spoke in opposition were from 22nd Street. They are individuals who would most directly be impacted by a hotel.
The willingness of the board to consider a reexamination of the Master Plan speaks to a change in the attitude of borough officials on a boutique hotel proposal that was soundly defeated in 2016.
At least one person, Martha Wright, of Seventh Street, used the public comment period at the borough’s governing body meeting the night after the Planning Board discussion to raise the question: “What’s changed?” Wright was told that the Borough Council is not involved in any Master Plan reexamination.
Where It Stands
The Planning Board is on track to review the Master Plan with respect to the B-1 zone. It speaks of holding an advertised public hearing on a set of specific proposed changes.
Given that the next meeting of the board is Aug. 9 and that decisions on Master Plan changes may take time, one question left unvoiced is whether such a public hearing will be held while most Avalon property owners are still in residence?
The Planning Board has resisted all calls for remote video access to its deliberations, even though almost 85% of the borough’s taxpayers disperse to their permanent homes as fall approaches.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
