We showed a broken down house in the Bahamas (scroll down) which provoked a comment from I.M. Radar who said, “Definitely a candidate for the DBC (Derelict Building Committee.) And what is the Homeowners Association doing about its well-established list of documented disasters in OG?”
Then Ken responded, “This was discussed in great detail at last night’s Township Committee meeting.
“An OG resident aggressively questioned the Township Attorney about the lack of action by the Township on the multiple violations “some since 2011″ outstanding against 80 MAIN AVE, which every visitor sees coming into the Business District. ( I found a 2001 violation letter written by a code enforcement official for the wooden stairs built on the west side without permit or HPC approval; the stairs are still there). His answer was inadequate and subject to verification.
“She then asked why the Committee had not submitted for CLG (Certified Local Government) designation which would enable requesting grant money for the problem of the “50 and more houses” she counted as derelict. A Committeeman’s response was, (to be polite), “unreal”; blaming a lack of information of “what designates a building as historic?” and “lack of a required windshield survey”…; you had to be there listening. [Audio tapes to the Committee Meetings are available].
“Not a Public Comment segment Neptune can be proud to have on the record.”
ken
Editor’s Note: So there you have it ladies and germs. If any of you want to jump into this derelict mayhem, just click on the comments below. Radar asks a relevant question considering that the aforementioned derelict committee hasn’t posted a thing since last summer regarding the situation. So what the hey? —PG
LEON REDBONE:
Paul: I am sure if you take a photo of the Park View it would be the perfect cover for the Camp Meeting brochure this season.
I feel being the landlord of all properties in Ocean Grove, the C.M. should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this nonsense in the Grove..if they really wanted to force Neptune into conforming to their ordinances, these buildings would be gone.
Listed $680 K (under construction). Really?
Jason: Your opinion: “Weak, liberal local judges…looking for the good in everyone.” is contrary to what actually goes on a Thursday afternoon in Neptune Municipal Court. Witness it for yourself; you will learn that those who can afford defense council get far different treatment than those without the bucks who represent themselves.
I think some negative publicity may help. Maybe run ads with the owners names, get some news organizations interested. Something like a picture of 80 Main, pictures and names of the owners, a history of the building, including a list of fines. Unfortunately not many real news organizations around anymore, The Derelict Building website could be a start!
CAUSE: Weak, liberal local judges who are looking for the good in everyone. They fundamentally do not believe in holding people accountable.
Doesn’t work like this in Pennington NJ. I got a citation (fine) for not cutting my grass for 2.5 weeks a few springs ago. In Pennington, they move quickly and decisively. If they didn’t, the townspeople would be up in arms.
No derelict properties in their historic district. The notion that property laws must be enforced gingerly is an excuse.
Oh My: Don’t think when you read that this or that neglected property has been fined by the town that you are talking large amounts of fines.
Just to give you an example #4 Boardwalk illegally worked on their building without one permit from the town for over a year knowing that when they do get caught, you’re talking a maximum of $2000.00 fine, but they have completed all their construction along with supports, pilings ,electrical, plumbing,ect. Plus being that there are no permits, there is no increase on taxes.
The Park View has only been fined a few thousand dollars also, and this is coming from the courts that are not protecting the public from fire and safety concerns.
There are two signs posted on 80 Main, a realtor and a prominent local contractor. Perhaps they can shed some light on the place.
Just because someone purchases a property as an investment shouldn’t guarantee them a profit, should it? Not all investments are good or profitable. Are they supposed to profit from property neglect, countless citations and safety concerns to the town? I would hope not.
From what I’ve been able to learn, many of these owners are taken to court because of accumulated fines and through whatever legal means used, those fines are reduced with an agreement to fix things up, bring up to code, etc. Delay, delay delay! Nothing substantive is done to the property and the process starts over again.
There is something very wrong with that system. Traffic fines are not reduced with promises of good behavior, why is it different with negligent owners?
Somehow, some way, the ‘incentives’ for owning such properties needs to be removed.
Jan: There is no reason why you cannot publicly state the address of the Sites Commission. Email me at Blogfinger@verizon.net, and we will post that information.
Criticism of public officials on the issues is fair game at Blogfinger. Similarly contact information of public offices, as related to issues that we are discussing here, is also OK. —Paul @Blogfinger
Kathy and Simon…..I have to repeat myself again and again, R.Bishop has done NOTHING FOR OG. He has failed to follow the NJ Sites Commission which has forced Neptine to follow standard parking provisions in Ocean Grove with all new construction.
As we speak, residents of O.G. have contacted the Sites Comm. to force Neptune into compliance. Anyone that would like to help with letters please contact Paul for the address. I will notify him.
I toured a home recently that has been on the market for a few years. The home was beautiful (needed a bit of work) and was priced right. I asked the realtor her opinion about why it hasn’t sold. She said “because it’s so large, there are many bedrooms”….Really??
My opinion is that there is a huge derelict home next to it….Fire Hazard!! There’s no way I would purchase a home with that disaster-waiting-to -happen next to it.
Ultimately it seems that the real issue is financial. If these derelict owners can use or hold the property without major penalty then they will. Any effort to change the system will have to change that fact. Ordinances ordering frequent “safety, structural or aesthetic” reviews with larger penalties might work. Maybe adjacent owners could bring legal action with legal assistance offered with CMA or OGHA; Any sucess they might have would certainly benefit us all.
They seem to have the same problems of any enforcement outside of the gates also. The two charred remains of the house fire on Corlies Avenue that happened last September are untouched today. In most towns they would have been demolished in a week.
Kathy Arlt
Committeeman Bishop To me he does the talk, but not the walk. Example he looks at the falling down Park View every morning ,and the Warrington. It is hard to believe that the owner will put money into something he let decaying and had to be closed down by the state with 47 violations right next to the back of the Park View THAT IS ALL BORDED UP. So Kathy arlt WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT ………
There are too many rules and nothing getting done…..
Okay, I confess: I was the aggressive questioner at Monday night’s township committee meeting, and I’d like to add a few details to Ken’s summary.
After the meeting adjourned, the township attorney told Ken and I that the owners of 80 Main were finally getting around to submitting the renovation plans to the HPC that they were supposed to submit—pursuant to court order—in October of 2011. It’s important to note, however, that this certainly doesn’t mean construction will begin anytime soon; part of that 2011 order required repair work to be completed by early 2012, and that still hasn’t happened.
The township’s rules for the “public comment” portion of the Committee meeting prohibited me from challenging Committeeman Bishop’s various answers about why Ocean Grove has not yet submitted an application to become a Certified Local Government, an application that has been “in process” for a very long time.
In 2012 the HPC Chairperson told me that it was finally almost complete. In 2013 she told me that all that was missing were some resumés. Since it’s now 2014, I was actually kind of hoping that I might be pleasantly surprised by the news that the application had been submitted when I asked the question.
Since many people—–including,it appeared,some Committee members–—have no idea what the Certified Local Government program is, here’s a link to some general information:
http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/3preserve/take_nxt_stp11_01_2011.pdf
OhMy & Jason,
This is an investment property—just another business deduction to keep that hard earned money from the income tax collector.
As for citations, the 80 Main file is thick with citations. Their lawyer has been very effectively protecting the owners’ property rights in Municipal Court against Neptune summonses. Your real estate taxes are used to pay the Township Atty. each time he appears in court pressing for compliance (so far thousands of dollars just for 80 MAIN). You would have to sit in Muni Court some Thursday to understand the losing battle he faces.
Just as an FYI: Dr. Mark Ornstein retired from his medical practice last year.
Oh My:
That’s my question. Why would you spend 10K a year on taxes for a house that is rapidly decaying? No only are you not enjoying the house, you are progressively destroying your equity. It would be much smarter just to sell. Why don’t they rapidly sell and keep as much of their hard earned money as possible?
They other question is why Neptune Township does not care about the quality of its housing stock? It’s to the town’s advantage to have well maintained properties and to crunch those who don’t. I can tell you that folks in Pennington, where I used to live, would issue citations if your grass wasn’t cut for two weeks. Most of Pennington is a historic district, and they have town officials who actually do their jobs and assure that all is pristine.
Two brothers own 80 Main Avenue.
Mark Ornstein, MD practices as an Internist in Farmingdale, NJ.
Dr. Hal Ornstein,podiatrist, of Affiliated Foot and Ankle at Howell Twp, NJ.
A Neptune VIOLATION NOTICE names:
MARK & HAL ORNSTEIN, HOWELL, NJ.
What is/are the advantage(s), financial or otherwise, for the owners of these neglected structures? Do their ownership rights supersede the rights of neighbors or the town itself? It seems to me that removing those advantages in some way, whatever they are, would go a long way to dealing with the issue.
This is primarily a public safety issue from fire threats to lead paint and asbestos remediation. How about squatters? Are regular checks being done? Going beyond the cosmetic, are there leaking fuel oil tanks under these places? How about damaged natural gas lines?
There have to ways of dealing with these places other than lack of information or a historic designation issue.
Does anyone know who owns 80 Main?