Fire-ravaged Shore amusement pier unlikely to be rebuilt

Amusement rides might not be returning to a Jersey Shore town.

Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights was damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, then destroyed by fire a year later.

Attorney Stephen Leone, who represents the pier’s owner, said the town planning board’s decision to limit the height of rides makes rebuilding unlikely.

“The economics of it just don’t work,” he said. “So, right now, no pier is going to be built unless we find that there is some accommodation and compromise as to what is proposed in the ordinance and what [the owner] needs to be able to develop an economically feasible pier.”

Leone said a rebuilt pier with new rides would attract more tourists.

“Maybe some people don’t want that kind of activity. They want just a beachfront. All right, they’re entitled to their opinion, but it’s going to affect the ratable base in town,’ he said. “It affects a lot of people’s livelihoods, jobs, and everything else.”