Stone Harbor Decides Pier Concession Concept Needs More Thought

STONE HARBOR – It is not often that a resolution, which all members of council agreed should be on the agenda, is then overwhelmingly defeated.
That’s what happened at the Stone Harbor Council meeting, Dec. 20, when a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permit application was defeated 5 to 1. The permit application would have started the process for the construction of a municipal pier at the 80th Street marina. The concept was to allow vendors to lease use of the pier in order to offer bay cruises, small fishing charters and other bay side amenities.
The idea of a pier concession has been circulating in Stone Harbor for at least two years. At the borough council meeting earlier in December, it was enthusiastically discussed and there was support from the council members to bring a resolution forward at the Dec. 20 meeting.
In a work session discussion prior to the scheduled vote, several members of council raised new objections. While no one indicated opposition to the concept, all but one member of council expressed concern that the process was running ahead of the planning. The only positive vote for starting the permit process came from Charles Krafczek who was attending his last council meeting after losing a reelection bid.
Several concerns drove the no votes. A better understanding of the issues that dictate the best location for the pier was one. A desire to have a more formal analysis of the types of vendors who might use the pier and how the concession would work was another. There was also concern that starting the permit process and potentially altering the details based on more planning runs a risk of delay in Trenton.
In the end the vote against signing the permit application killed any chance, if one realistically existed, to have a pier constructed and in use for summer 2023.