A fine kettle of fish. Phrase made famous by Laurel and Hardy to describe a big mess.—PG
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor at Blogfinger and Jack Bredin, researcher.
At the October 26, 2015 Neptune Township Committee meeting, the following conversation took place:
OGHOA member: Did you hear from WAVE?
Gene Anthony (Township attorney:) No, but there are not any other developers knocking on the door.
Jack Bredin: Did you advertise a request for proposals?
Randy Bishop: It isn’t necessary because this is private property.
Jack Bredin: Did you ever hear of the Riviera Plan?*
Bishop: Yes.
This conversation indicates that the Township has abandoned the 2008 public North End Redevelopment Plan and has, instead, substituted a general development plan which is something that private land developers do, but ordinarily, to do that, they must conform to the Township zoning which, in Ocean Grove, is single family homes.
As you may recall, when the Committee allowed the North End to become an Area in Need of Redevelopment, it was approving a change in zoning to allow 165 residential units instead of single family homes.
In doing so, the Township Committee became in charge of the process and was supposed to advertise for redevelopers, however, somehow that step was skipped, and WAVE and the CMA were anointed as redevelopers, and now the Township wants to keep the Redevelopment zoning for 165 units while allowing the process to proceed as if this were a private development project. Mixing those two is illegal.
This quote is from the NJ Municipal Land Use Law regarding Areas in Need of Redevelopment: “The municipality shall be responsible for implementing redevelopment plans and carrying out redevelopment projects pursuant to section 8 of P.L. 1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-8).”
WAVE will try to hide behind this subterfuge as they complete a new North End Plan which is something that a private developer could do, but not a redeveloper. Randy Bishop presented a new plan from the redeveloper WAVE at an April, 2015 Committee meeting, but that fishy plan has not yet been adopted by the Township. So far, no Redevelopers Agreement has been signed either, despite promises to do so.
The original 2008 NERP, under control of the Township, still remains in force. We expect that WAVE, acting through the Township Committee, will try to pass a new plan or use the old plan as the centerpiece of a private general development project.
What we are witnessing is a crooked manipulation of zoning in order to permit the abandonment of the restrictive redevelopment process while keeping the special zoning component and thumbing their noses at the people of Ocean Grove.
Randy Bishop says that the process is now “private,” so it seems unlikely that WAVE will divulge their members’ names as promised.
How to block this illegal situation? When the original or a new plan is submitted by WAVE without a “request for proposals” by the Township, a citizens group could file a suit in Superior Court against the Township.
Ideally, that would be the Ocean Grove Home Owners Association’s responsibility, but as you know, those Home Groaners are ineffective, feckless, clueless, enablers of this fine kettle of fish.
*The Riviera project was an extensive North End plan created by a serious and well known developer from Allenhurst who submitted his design for approval. He was rejected and he has angrily complained that the process was unfair and illegal and that he was treated badly by the Ocean Grove principals involved with the North End Redevelopment Plan. We have his comments expressed in an email exchange. Bishop said (above) that he knew of the plan.
http://ssjdevelopment.com/plan9.htm
The Township Committee and its cheerleaders including the OGHOA never respond to our articles about wrongdoing; they simply whistle a happy tune, but they have to know that someone besides Blogfinger might expose them in the future.
DINAH SHORE from the King and I.
Confused in Ocean Grove:.Don’t feel lonely; I am also confused, but I do believe that from day one, everything the Township Committee has done in preparing the North End Redevelopment Zone, plan, and subdivision, has been done contrary to law. (Commonly referred to as “It doesn’t pass the smell test”) as in the case of a kettle of rotting fish.
However there is a presumption of validity to all Municipal decisions until overturned or withdrawn.
There are still many more decisions the Committee must make regarding the North End. The process is far from over. They could drop the whole thing, or go forward in whole or part.
Whenever the next decision is made, any interested party that does not agree with the decision can bring an appeal.
You can get advice from your Attorney.
Blogfinger does not give Legal advice, it reports and makes comment on the news.
The HOA should use their legal fund and hire a lawyer who is versed in NJ land use law to investigate what the Township is doing. If he confirms that laws are being broken, then a citizens group should file suit in Superior Court to stop the NE project.
This whole thing seems surreal.
What is the procedure when a municipality does not and will not adhere to their own zoning rules; is there a way to bring this to the attention of officials at the county or state level for review/investigation?
Is it necessary for residents to hire their own attorney and bring a civil suit to force compliance with existing zoning or an examination of the facts of this situation?
Does any of this change since the OGCMA owns the land? Do the Sunshine Laws impact the refusal of the township to make certain information and deliberations public?
The thought of legal action that halts this travesty is appealing but it concerns me that the Riviera Developer hasn’t pushed for a fair shake. Certainly a developer of that size has resources to challenge if he thought the case was viable.
I think a mass turnout of residents at CMA meetings/events and township meetings in respectful but pointed protest mode might be worth the effort. A little confrontation might be unavoidable.
Since it is unlikely the OGHOA would even consider such action, then maybe a new Citizens Group needs to be formed.
Where is the OGHOA? Hey guys, I know you read this Blog, so please step up and do your job here. Otherwise you are a joke. We need your leadership. There is a lot at stake. How about revving up a lawsuit so that everyone is forced to follow the law. That would be helpful.
HOA — are you listening?
Private? When the trucks and machinery start endlessly rolling down Main Avenue and the lot next to the Old High School becomes an excavation dump site, with no warning, it will be too late to voice opposition.
They’ve already surveyed and mapped out the site and the utilities. They are also getting a widened boardwalk of wood, not Trex, so it can be ripped up or called a road or whatever they need it to be, I suppose. Who pays for that? Public or private.
Something rotten in Denmark.