Condos For Aeromarine Site

From the Holmdel Independent:

One man's garbage is another man's treasure
BY KAREN E. BOWES

It's not easy being green, especially in Central Jersey, where sometimes the only open space left is the result of long-abandoned garbage dumps.

Andy Willner, executive director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, points to the old Aeromarine property as a perfect example of a dump worth saving.

The Aeromarine Plane & Motor Co., a once-busy aircraft manufacturing plant, opened shop in 1917, supplying training planes to the Navy during World War I and boasting many of aviation's early innovations.
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Eventually, it became a dump. Operated by the borough, the landfill was built atop a salt marsh next to the Raritan Bay; it collected industrial and commercial waste between the 1950s and 1970s; it is estimated to contain over 600,000 cubic yards of trash, according to one report.

But where others see a landfill, Willner sees potential.

"It's a green oasis on a quickly developing coast," Willner said last week while hiking through the mud and thick brush of Aeromarine's sprawling natural setting.
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The property is now dubbed by the state as "an area in need of redevelopment." The special designation means the borough has the right to choose who and what is developed there, within reason, despite the wishes of the owner.
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Although complicated in the details, the heart of the battle is simple: both sides want to build housing on the site - the owners just want to build more. The pending three lawsuits will ultimately decide the specifics of the development, but the end result is presently a tossup between the owner's requested 569 condos or Keyport's plan for a mix of 320 various units, either condos, single-family homes and/or commercial space and other amenities.