Lake Avenue—-the northern edge of OG, west of where the North End zone begins. Paul Goldfinger photo.  June, 2015. ©˙  Blogfinger.net. Click to enlarge.

The North End Redevelopment area along its northern edge. Blogfinger.net photo ©

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

In our April, 2015 article about the Planning Board’s 2007 decision to recommend designating the North End property as an “area in need of redevelopment,” we mentioned some concerns about the validity of that ruling which would lead to the change in zoning that permitted condos, hotel, underground garage, etc.   ( link to that important article:

Irregularities at the 2007 Planning Board

Since then we have come up with some more information that sheds further doubt on the legality of the resolution.

We ask the question: Did the Planning Board have all the information necessary to make an informed decision when they recommended by resolution, Feb. 28, 2007, that the Township Committee designate the North End “an area in need of redevelopment?”

We believe that critical information was withheld from the Planning Board which may have changed their 2007 decision. Our new evidence suggests that the designation of “area in need of redevelopment ” should never have been recommended.

TIMELINE:

On February 1, 2006, WAVE applied to the New Jersey Secretary of State as an LLC (limited liability company).   We believe that the sole purpose of forming that LLC was to develop the North End of Ocean Grove. This application, per se, is beyond reproach, but, and this is a big but, were visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads? Were they planning then on zoning changes at the North End? If so, that would be a problem.

Consider this quote: “In January 2007, Wesley Atlantic Village Enterprises (WAVE) and the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association executed a Developers Agreement which set forth the terms by which WAVE and the OGCMA had agreed to proceed with WAVE’s proposal for the development of the site. Among other things, that Developers Agreement provided that WAVE and the OGCMA would serve as Co-redevelopers of the Subject Property.”   This information was with-held from the Planning Board.

The 2007 quote above is from a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by WAVE and the OGCMA. It clearly shows that those two developers were planning in January 2007 to go ahead with WAVE’s North End Development Plan before the Planning Board ever took its vote and before the Township Committee adopted the NERP on March 24, 2008.

Note that they refer to themselves as “co-redevelopers.” That term can only mean that they were counting on receiving the special designation “area in need of redevelopment.”

On February 28, 2007, the Neptune Township Planning Board passed a resolution (07-12) recommending that the Township designate the North End “an area in need of redevelopment.”

On June 11, 2007, the Neptune Township Committee passed a resolution designating the North End “an area in need of redevelopment,”

On June 9, 2008, the Township Committee designated WAVE and the OGCMA as Co-Redevelopers.

On April 28, 2015, The OGCMA (the owner of Block (1) agreed to transfer control of Block (1) to WAVE by way of a 99 year master lease renewable in perpetuity.

ANALYSIS:

According to the New Jersey Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, in the section defining “Determination of Need for Redevelopment,” there is a statement** (see below) that this special designation be made only if the area ” is not likely to be developed through the instrumentality of private capital. ” **

The timeline above clearly shows that the WAVE and OGCMA partnership had discussed and created plans for the North End development. Clearly they were ready, willing and able to take on that project and they were counting on the special designation.

So why did the Planning Board think that private developers could not do the job? If they had known that those private developers could do the project, they should not have approved the designation, but they did not have that information.

It is our belief that the CMA/WAVE partnership did not want anyone to know of their redevelopment plans in order to obtain the special designation which legally should not have been granted to them under NJ law. **

Unfortunately, there was no effective court challenge to the Planning Board/Township decision, and now the NERP is law under the special designation that they should never have been granted.

Who should have challenged the Township Committee’s Resolution designating the North End “an area in need of redevelopment?” The Home Owners Association, of course, but they were busy cheerleading for the Township Committee, who were “in the tank” with the yet to be named developers.

This history suggests a purposeful distortion of the legislative intent.

The Township Committee should rescind the “Redevelopment designation.” The high density zoning for Block (1) would then automatically revert back to single-family houses. The Committee can do that because there is no signed Re-developers Agreement.

After that, the developer would have the option to prepare site plans for single family homes or they could present their present plan to the Board of Adjustment.

This would correct all the mis-steps of the past, and the entire process would not have to start over again with WAVE’S new proposed plan.

** Determination of need for redevelopment (40A:12A-5). New Jersey Local Redevelopment and Housing Law.

“Land that is owned by the municipality, the county, a local housing authority, redevelopment agency or redevelopment entity, or unimproved vacant land that has remained so for a period of ten years prior to adoption of the resolution, and that by reason of its location, remoteness, lack of means of access to developed sections or portions of the municipality, or topography, or nature of the soil, is not likely to be developed through the instrumentality of private capital.”

Credit:  Jack Bredin, researcher.

KEVIN KLINE   from the film DeLovely