Fishing Port Targeted for Redevelopment

MIDDLETOWN, NJ-Redevelopment is de rigueur in land-strapped New Jersey, and the latest project to surface is a proposed makeover of 15 acres of waterfront property in this Monmouth County township’s Belford section. Those plans, developed by the Morristown-based consulting firm Louis Berger Group with some help from Rutgers University and Brookdale Community College relating to environmental issue, are slated to be unveiled at a public meeting tonight.

“We are seeking public feedback on a draft economic feasibility study and conceptual development plan for the Port of Belford,” reads a statement issued by the township’s planning department. “The plan resulted from a comprehensive…analysis of the economic and physical viability of commercial development at the Port of Belford….”

According to a copy of the 63-page proposal obtained by GlobeSt.com, the plan is to upgrade and expand on the Port of Belford’s commercial fishing heritage. The site, at the mouth of Compton’s Creek at Raritan Bay, is described in the report as the oldest commercial fishing port on the US East Coast and remains the home of an active fishing fleet.