Code Enforcement Action Coming On Beachwood Shopping Center?

Township officials went behind closed doors at the Oct. 23 Township Council meeting to discuss possible actions against the owners of the battered Beachwood Shopping Center.

Township Council President James J. Byrnes and Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. declined to discuss just what action would be taken during a break before going into executive session.

The owners of the site on Route 9 South are going to "get a letter," Byrnes said.

"I think it's an unsightly structure," Brynes said.

Byrnes, Amato, Township Councilwoman Judy Noonan, Councilman John Bacchione, Township Administrator Fred Ebenau, Township Engineer Alan Dittenhoffer, and construction, code enforcement and fire officials toured the site last week to review the conditions and the buildings, the mayor said.

The massive, dilapidated shopping center has long been a headache for more than one township administration.  The state Planning Commission in July approved the township's long-sought redevelopment plan.

Developer Donato Donofrio is the redeveloper of record, but has yet to sign a contract with the owners of the site.

The 142-acre site is still currently owned by Priscilla Oughton, daughter of the late James E. Johnson, who built the shopping center decades ago.

Estimates to clean up the asphalt plant behind the defunct shopping center, remove asbestos from the buildings and raze the site have ranged as high as $50 million, Amato said.

"Removal will be costly," he has said.

Amato said Tuesday that Byrnes had spoken to D.J. Donofrio, son of developer Donato Donofrio and was told the family still had an interest in redeveloping the site.