By Charles Layton
The unoccupied and run-down house at 78 South Main Street remains a problem for Neptune Township and Ocean Grove.
The owner, Eve Annenberg of New York City, was back in Municipal Court on Thursday. Her lawyer argued that Annenberg was short of money and that she should be given credit for having done some painting and other needed repairs. Township Attorney Gene Anthony said the Township had given her enough breaks already and that the work she had done was not enough.
Last April the Township cited Annenberg for code violations. In June she pleaded guilty, was fined $500 and agreed to bring the property up to code standards within 30 days. In October the Township had her back in court, where her attorney told Judge Robin Wernik that she had been undergoing chemo treatments for cancer and had been distracted. Wernik fined her another $350 on that occasion and gave her 60 days to make repairs.
This Thursday she drew another $400 fine from Wernik and was given three months to make all needed repairs. Anthony told me that if she does not live up to this latest court order within the three-month time limit, “new complaints will be filed and there will be no suspension of fines.”
Just a thought … Is there a way Ocean Grove’s historic designation might used to add a bit of punch to the fines? I don’t think they should be excessive, but maybe something like the ‘fines doubled in contruction zone’ traffic laws. Fines doubled in historic sites? Perhaps invoked for missed deadlines as an added incentive?
State statutes direct what fines can be levied for code and construction issues, just as state laws set sentencing guidelines for other crimes. The judge doesn’t get to pick a fine amount out of thin air. (State Superior Court Assignment Judge – and former Neptune mayor – Larry Lawson reviews all cases and sentences from Monmouth County municipal court cases for compliance with sentencing guidelines, and when a municipal judge’s sentence for a defendant exceeds the guidelines, the municipal judge gets a warning and sometimes the sentence will be voided and the defendant will be resentenced using the applicable statute’s sentencing guidelines.) Now, when a derelict owner and the Township negotiate a plea agreement, the fine amounts can go up exponentially, as we’ve seen in another case.
Once again, I am not able to share my opinion. I remember watching that house burn – and whoever had been living there tried to move back in even after the house had been declared uninhabitable.
I saw today that this house was just put on the market. It’s listed for $99,000. That’s just the land value (or maybe not even). It needs to be torn down and rebuilt.
Is Judge Wernik elected or appointed? In either case she needs to be reminded what her responsibilities are.She keeps playing the same game over and over with these scofflaws. You would think she’d get tired of this nonsense and “kick some butt.”
BytheSea, you are not the only one. Judge Wernik has done this before and really sloooooows down the process with her ‘light’ fines and long timeframes of second, third, fourth chances……. If she’s this generous with the criminals that come before her, we’re all in trouble.
It’s great to see Judge Wernik provide such powerful inducements for compliance. Those fines should certainly get Ms. Annenberg’s attention.
Seriously, folks, am I the only one who thinks this is laughable? How about a $100 a day fine until a CO is issued.
WOW!!…I’m impressed.