The Park View Inn: The ugliest rear end in Ocean Grove. Blogfinger photo October 17, 2013. ©
These front supports will surely inspire confidence in the neighbors who expect that this Seaview Avenue joint will soon collapse on itself or vanish in a firestorm. As Bettie Davis once said, “What a dump!” Blogfinger photo 10/17/13
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger Let’s review what was going on 8 months ago, and let’s compare that story with what happened to the Sampler: just click on the link below—by Charles Layton. Note that the mountain of debris has been removed from behind the Park View. There is new wood framing holding up that rear porch. The front has not changed.
Latest (June 23, 2014) still ugly rear end view of the Park View. Pull up a Margarita and a lounge and watch the bottles float by on Wesley Lake. ©
October, 2013: While Neptune Township tries to figure out what to do with the progressively deteriorating Park View Inn, the neighbors of that abandoned Seaview Avenue hotel remain concerned about the stability of the structure. The owner, Marshall Koplitz, has eluded attempts to punish him for his failures to comply with court orders. In 2011 he agreed to turn the structure into a 31 room hotel, but he never followed the schedule which had been imposed on him. This past summer he declared bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the Township has been concerned with the structural integrity of the place, and the owner has recently been forced to shore up the front end, while taking down the back porches before they fall down.
Currently, thanks to the demolition of the first and second floor rear porches, there is a small mountain of debris in back, creating an extra ugly turn of events for our Wesley Lake skyline. One wonders how they will get that mess out since Lake Avenue is closed off. They will need a small army of Sherpas to climb up and drag it all out the narrow alley on the side. Either that, or bring a barge in from the Atlantic Ocean.
A fire sprinkler system was installed about six months ago, but it seems like a feeble solution to a risky situation that calls for a total demolition to provide fire safety for the neighbors. It’s hard to imagine that sprinkler system would control a conflagration originating in that aging wooden firetrap.
The Park View Inn is the poster building for derelict houses in the Grove. As we know from experience, we can pontificate all we want about such properties, and we have done so endlessly on Blogfinger regarding this one and others, but in the end, not much gets done when owner’s rights clash with the public good.
Meanwhile, the Park View Inn just sits there and decomposes, like some sort of beached whale, and nobody at the mother ship in Neptune seems to have a plan to get rid of the carcass.
The town fathers and mother should review the history of the Sampler Inn. They will find that this is deja vu all over again, and in that story, the Township finally decided to demolish the building themselves due in large part to an unrelenting campaign by Grovers. As with the Park View now, the same owner declared bankruptcy then.
The owner of the Ocean Plaza and the Ocean View hotels (on Ocean Pathway) is Marshall Koplitz, the owner of the Park View Inn. Blogfinger photo ©
You can read about it in Charles Layton’s 2012 Blogfinger article (link to the “Battle of the Sampler Inn” The story of the death of the Sampler Inn )
JIMMY BUFFETT:
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Thanks, Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger
Does anyone know why Fasano is down as one of the owners of the Parkview?
BY the way, 4 Boardwalk at the N.End has received a 75% property reduction and a 35% tax decrease…..how is that building allowed to rebuild if 75% of the building was destroyed; what happen to FEMA standards?
Paul, what happened to my other comments?
Re: The danger of fire at the Park View Inn. Loss of life could occur because of official negligence.The threat is real. Finally someone has to have the courage to stand up and tell them of their incompetence regarding the handling of this most grievous situation. Please share what they are risking by their failure to act in a matter that is screaming for justice.
Both Doug and JW are on target.
I add two more:
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association should stop carrying ads in the summer event brochure for Koplitz properties.
The Ocean Grove Chamber of Commerce should deny Koplitz or representatives membership and stop distributing printed or material describing and making their properties available.
As landlord, CMA should be concerned about ground rentals or taxes supporting its community.
The Chamber should be concerned about viable economic growth of the
community.
Is it possible that the fire code officials, the administrators, and elected officials of Neptune Township have collectively decided to ignore the dilapidation of the Park View Inn, which has become a real threat to the residents of the North End section of Ocean Grove ?
The threat of a massive fire is real. The voice of reason from the residents has been heard through letters and at meetings both in Ocean Grove and in Neptune— making a plea of intervention to officials only to be ignored over and over again.
Despite the ongoing condition of the Parkview, our officials have denied the residents of Ocean Grove the right to live in a safe and healthy environment and instead have chosen to cave at the ridiculous and most often illegal antics of the Koplitz organization.
To all of the said officials that have chosen to allow this situation to fester as long as they have I say “the possibility of a major disaster will be on your hands.”
In closing I implore you to do the jobs that you have been entrusted to do.
Gosh….a special HPC meeting on 4 BOARDWALK [that building on the beach] has been scheduled for Tue, Oct 29 at 7:00.
HPC meetings are held in the 2nd floor Committee Room in the Muncipal Bldg. All HPC meetings are open to the public [very few attend].
The North End is beginning to look like Camden. Casino and Heating Plant are both abandoned and collapsing, empty lots owned by CMA are weed grown and trashy, Warrington and Park View, plus the abandoned pool and now the collapsed seawall. Not looking good at all! And where is Neptune Township???
The North End residents should have their taxes lowered just for living in a “BLIGHTED” area of redevelopment. The reason is that the area has suffered lower values on their home dues to this condition.
Ken: You are right basically re the HPC. I believe the zoning official and the Construction Dept. really haven’t been up to par. Look at the mess at the North End building on the boardwalk. It is rebuilt so far, and the only permit they have is to secure the building. There are no new permits for construction. Did they go before the HPC?…NO !
Did they need a survey? ..NO! How could they be allowed to build in a flood area without conforming to the new flood plains?
The North End building started with a condemned tag on the store front that the owner had torn off, and within days they started to work with NO permits.
Great suggestions from Doug. I’d like to add two more to the list:
#5. Everyone–use the power of word-of-mouth to steer visitors away from the two operating hotels that Koplitz runs on Ocean Pathway–The Ocean Plaza and The Ocean View Inn.
#6. CMA–please, in 2014, do not accept the “Our Family of Inns” ad that Koplitz has placed in the CMA summer program brochure for the past few years. This is the ad that depicts The Ocean Plaza, The Ocean View Inn, and The Park View Inn, with the special stick-it-to-you message that reads, The Park View Inn is now going through a restoration,
Seems like the only things holding this wreck up are plywood, flake board, asbestos shingles and some 2 x 4 bracing. Maybe some sort of (non-official) boycott on the other holdings in town. The blue behemoth next door should be the next demolition target. Maybe 10 years from now something will be done. My only hope is that the properties won’t be turned into condo projects with no parking under the ‘better than what’s there’ proposals that have allowed in the past.
Resident—The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), of which I am a member, has for years urged the Township to take aggressive action on deteriorating properties, going so far that the HPC attorney was directed to send a letter, dated July 20, 2010, to the Mayor & Township Committee asking “for immediate and decisive action.”
Specific addresses listed were: The Parkview, 80 Main Avenue, 91 Cookman and 24 McClintock. The HPC itself has no enforcement authority and must work through the various Township departments about its concerns.
Here are a couple of ideas:
1. North End property owners start asking for lower tax assessments because of the property values.
2. Hire a lawyer to look into suing the township, CMA and the owners.
3. Deluge owners, township, editors with letters and petitions.
4. Put signage on the buildings with owners names, also maybe some picketing out front of the buildings or the township offices.
Don’t know if these will help, but just putting them out there!!!
IMHO this should never have been allowed to happen…The Township should have intervened much much sooner… Another attempt by investors in
Town to deliberatley allow a structure to deteriorate..for the sole purpose of being able to knock it down and rebuild new…It is cheaper then rehabing an old building… Why does the Township continue to allow this …and of course The Camp meeting and HPC remain silent….. Could it be increased revenue on New Construction and Higher Lease Payment for the Camp meeting?
That pile of wood in the rear would make a hell-of-a- bonfire come Halloween mischief night. It IS clearly visible from across the lake.
Neptune’s Municipal Court judge female. The Township Committee maintains it has no interest in taking on the cost of its demolition every time the Parkview situation has been raised at Agenda Public Comment time. Suggesting original solutions is needed since years of complaining have been futile. At least this owner has been brought to court; a more wide spread problem is with out of town owners of derelict houses that refuse to maintain them; paying only the real estate taxes to avoid losing ownership. Ideas anybody?
First of all the judge that has handled this case should be ashamed of himself: codes say 90 days it comes down. Neptune is responsible for the demo,the health and safety of the neighbors and nothing is done.
When are residents going to ban together and storm the meetings and demand results? These jokers have gotten away with everything possible without rebuttal.
Does the Warrington look any better right next store?