This is an actual design for the North End submitted in 2007. We can’t show you a picture of the NERP, the current plan, because no actual design has ever been submitted. This was designed according to what the CMA said it wanted. It was rejected so that WAVE could be in charge. Is this what the people would want?
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
We are about to have a new Township Committee. 3 of the 5 members are new. Will they consider listening to the voices of the people of Ocean Grove?
In 2008, bowing to pressures from monied interests, the Township Committee agreed to violate the spirit of land use law by implementing a special designation that was designed to help the downtrodden called “An Area in Need of Redevelopment.” They did that to get the zoning changed and they became enablers for a plan that most Grovers did not want. The CMA was perfectly capable of developing that space itself. This was not Camden.
That decision cancelled the single family zoning that was present and allowed the Camp Meeting Association and private anonymous investors to plan for an Asbury Parkish commercial area in the North End which would change the town forever and make life in town more difficult.
Since 2008, the North End has stood barren while the investors plotted to achieve their goals, many of which are in violation of laws such as building condos on the beach. They never did sign a Redevelopers Agreement with the Township.
The public has been cast aside while all those years have gone to waste. We could have had a lovely neighborhood by now at that location. Isn’t it time for our Committeemen to reclaim that area in the name of the citizens of Ocean Grove?
All it takes is for someone to make a motion to dissolve the NERP and for 3 members of the Committee to vote yes, and we could have the North End back in private hands to develop a beautiful area with single family homes as is desired by the people.
It is time for all Grovers who care about this to pressure their Governing Body with letters, emails, demonstrations, petitions, loud voices at meetings, and even law suits. You can also encourage hundreds of your friends and neighbors to vote in our current poll regarding this topic. The new Committee needs to hear from us.
Let’s leave the North End as a beautiful community with sea breezes, light, openness, views of the ocean, and a fine path to and from A. Park to be enjoyed by future generations. Wouldn’t that be nice?
ASTRUD GILBERTO
Hi Paulie D. This California person seems obsessed with downgrading our polls. All of us know the limitations of our polls, but we are what we are.
I don’t know what her motive is, but I wish she would take advantage of her free speech and just stuck to the issues.
Maybe there should be a poll to see who responds to BF’s polls.
BF – I understand these are the views of your readers. But you don’t know that your readers represent the majority of OG residents, or their points of view.
Your polls simply represent the POV’s of your readers – a completely undefined group.
I’m writing to you from Calif. – should my 3-4 days in OG every other year carry as much weight as that of a year round resident or home owner? Of course not!
So while you may be able to take a pulse, it’s only that of your readers. That’s a big difference than having your “finger on the pulse of Ocean Grove”.
OGeggy. Of course not everyone agrees with Blogfinger. But you must admit that the striking majorities supporting our points of view during recent polls show that we have our finger on the pulse of Ocean Grove—-and I do know how to take a pulse. —-Paul
RM – You get what my point. I’m not advocating for what we had at the turn of the century. I’m simply saying that not everybody agrees with the Blogfinger POV or of readers on this site – and that doesn’t mean I’m in favor of putting up condos!
Thanks Paul. To OhGee’s point, how can the lot be unsafe for parking when it’s used by trucks frequently dropping off large dumpsters and just recently heavy equipment piling up road and excavation waste? The CMA also stores the lifeguard stands and beach lockers there. While the white pavilion, future condo site evidently, on the beach was being repaired after Sandy it was a parking lot for the workers. A lot of activity for an unsafe site. To quote the Bard, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
OGeggy – I’m certain that every Grover doesn’t agree with everything that is proposed on this board (myself included). However, why is this the only forum where this is actually being discussed and why are the future plans for this site shrouded in such secrecy (including the identity of the developers).
This eventual project will have a major impact on the town, so the people of this town have a every right to get together and speak up. Therefore, I commend Blogfinger for allowing public discord on the topic and adding a voice to like-minded citizens.
Like you, I think it would be nice if there were some “sensible” public elements (i.e.; theatre, music hall, entertainment space, etc.) to drive more seasonal visitors, bring vibrancy to our downtown, and improve our community. However, to my seasoned eye, it appears that this developer’s main goal is to fill that area with condominiums under the guise of a “hotel” (which, unfortunately, would not be profitable in this town for a multitude of reasons).
I would much rather beautiful stately homes line the area instead of a condominium block. Therefore, Neptune Township needs to be upfront with us on this immediately. If not, we might as well all move to the north end of Bradley Beach.
OGeggy: Times have changed, the North End will never be redeveloped as it was in 1910.
Prior to the NERP, not only the residents of Ocean Grove, but all the residents of Neptune Township spoke loud and clear through the Planning Board’s Master Plan and the Township Committee’s zoning ordinance.
Both called for single.family homes at the North End.
Only when greedy developers stepped into the picture, did the Township Committee toss our Master Plan and zoning ordinance into the trash can.
OhGee. Once again another helpful comment that contributes to the true narrative.
Thank you OhMy for your brilliant analysis. Paul
Once again I ask, how do you get there? As “wide open” as the site appears to be, it is still a very remote location. There are already several large, for Ocean Grove at least, condo complexes in the area. Ocean Ave is a two lane road that dead ends at the site. The few ‘side streets’ are one way and have no direct route in or out.
The hotel and theater were built in a time when cars were still a novelty and people walked to destinations. To try and re-create what was there makes no sense in this day and age. In fact, if you want to be technical about it, the site was originally a tent area!
Just what is the access plan, both during and post construction? How will the increased traffic effect the entire town, not just our very remote North End?
OGeggy: Both the OGCMA and WAVE are too $$ greedy to replace what was originally there with the exception of the hotel. Rebuilding the bowling alley, movie theatre, ice cream shop, etc. has never been part of the plan.
Jon Stolpe, you must be new on here. The OGCMA owns the property, and for MANY years it was used for parking. Then when the talk of redevelopment came into being,.. The land was suddenly deemed too unsafe to park in. The OGCMA claimed the former underground tunnel which went from the former pool to the beach was a hazard, and no longer allowed anyone to park there. No proof, such as current photos, or any kind of study of said underground tunnel, has ever been provided to the public to back up their claim of its instability. So this ticked a lot of townspeople off…. The OGCMA made the summer parking situation even worse by closing off that lot. Further suspicion is that lot has sat empty for the last 8-9 years (I’m not sure of the year it was shut down as a parking lot). Although it had been suggested, the OGCMA has made no attempt to fill in said tunnel with dirt and sand. Instead, the OGCMA designated a parking area for paid beachgoers on the South End. Which, ironically, also has an underground tunnel!! There was once a pavillion on the beach there. The tunnel ran from the pavilion, under the boardwalk, into the South End parking lot. So how does the OGCMA justify use of the South End parking lot and not the North End if the real issue is “tunnels”? They won’t provide answers.
Has anyone considered simply turning this area into parking? It seems like parking is lacking in OG.
Maybe all Grovers don’t feel the same as you. This area was a hotel and theatre for decades. To now say that it should be single family homes isn’t something that all Grovers would like to see. Building something similar to what was there is considered appropriate, desirable and beneficial by many Grovers.