OG civil war canon is aimed towards AP. Let’s turn it around to symbolize the betrayal by Ann Horan and her HOA gang of nine. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©
Editor’s note: Some of you may have missed this piece when we posted it last month on Christmas Eve. It is about how the Home Groaners Association has taken the side of developers regarding RSIS.
Moving this piece to the top is needed because the OGHOA is about to present a “forum” on this subject. But they should not be moderating this forum because their main purpose is to defend their anti-Ocean Grove position regarding this topic.
If the forum is ever held, keep in mind that an unbiased presentation is not possible under the auspices of this group who would back the conversion of old rooming houses and hotels into condos, and if you think that there are no more such buildings in town, here is one at 17 Embury Ave. that so far has slipped under their radar. I passed it today quite by accident. Jan 21, 2016. Ocean Grove, NJ
The Seacrest Manor is for sale at 17 Embury Ave. —-a choice location. Paul Goldfinger photo Jan 21, 2016 I told my wife never to put me into a place with the word “manor” in its name.
The below post was originally published on Dec. 24, 2015:
In a memo to its members the OGHOA President Ann Horan declared “The HOA supports the township’s effort to secure a Special Area Standard for Ocean Grove.”
In her long note, full of head-spinning irrelevances, Horan tries to create fear and confusion by discussing standards that have nothing to do with our current situation including sanitary sewers, yellow striped boxes, parking stalls , etc. She says that enforcing the RSIS rules in OG would be “a disaster.” This outrageous and fearsome characterization is based on absolutely nothing.
The truth is that the special area under discussion is only about off-street parking and street widths. The latter is not even an issue, because our street widths are pretty well set.
Not only is the HOA betraying historic Ocean Grove by this announcement, but they doubled down by sending a letter to the SIAB in Trenton explaining why it is essential that the new standard be adopted “in order to prevent a bad situation from becoming worse.”
The explanations by Horan in these two documents are outrageous and plain wrong. She can’t even get the date of last week’s meeting correct.
The people of Ocean Grove need to insist that the HOA do the right thing before we are inundated by more condominiums, townhouses, conversions to apartments, big buildings like Mary’s Place, etc.
Blogfinger has explained our position already to our readers pointing out that granting the requested exemption will open the doors to developers. We want the RSIS regulations to be retained for all structures in town except for single family homes. Horan doesn’t seem to understand what we are talking about.
The Editor’s note below regarding the position advocated by myself, Jack Bredin and Kevin Chambers sums up our views, which are opposite that of the HOA:
Editor’s Note: Here is the “hook” regarding the RSIS rules. If someone wants to put up a condo building with the RSIS standards in place, then it will be impossible for them to comply, because they would have to put the parking on their lot or lots. Since that would be impossible in most situations, then a single family house or an empty lot is the only option.
Single family houses should get the exemption from the State because if someone wants to put up a single family house, there will be no room for the required driveway and parking. So the exemption for them would create a single family Victorian house with no driveway or garage, a situation that is not only historic but is very Grovey. —-Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
We know that this subject is a bit hard to understand, but here is another practical example, different from above, taken from the perspective of what the HOA and the Township are advocating:
Suppose the HOA/Township viewpoint is accepted by the SIAB, and the exemption is granted for every project in town. The next time a developer buys a derelict old inn, razes it, and proposes condos, they will be permitted to do so without having to supply any parking.
So all the people who live in that condo building will be looking for on-street parking along with their friends, party-goers, and relatives, resulting in reduced parking for residents and increased congestion for that neighborhood. Every new multi-residential structure that is permitted will negatively impact our lifestyles and endanger our historic designations and and our town’s character.
It is as simple as that, so don’t be mesmerized by Ann Horan’s unbelievably disloyal and destructive position on behalf of the HOA as she stands shoulder to shoulder with the Neptune Township Committee, supporting their phony rationale for requesting the Special Area Parking Standards.
STUFFY SHMITT. This song is about good ideas…something the Home Groaners should find out about
January 21, 2016. In today’s Coaster, an Ocean Grover who is an HOA member has written a letter demanding that the HOA poll its members before taking a firm position on the RSIS question. He is not the only one who complained that the HOA Board took a formal stand without finding out how the membership felt about. He said, “..the current letter sent to the state in favor of the RSIS application can be rescinded.”
Please read the comments above.
That letter should be withdrawn until the HOA membership has voted. The HOA Board has usurped the power of the group. They should all resign to make room for a Board that actually represents the membership..
OGHOA Board wrote a letter on Dec. 15, 2015 to the SIAB telling them that the OGHOA is firmly behind the Township bid to get the Special Area Parking Standard which will mean more townhouses, etc without parking provided.
If you were a member, the memo which Ann Horan sent out on 12/23/15 contains a link to the letter that was sent to Trenton. I will send you a copy of that email which contains that link, or else, contact the OGHOA and get on their mailing list.
Blogfinger, where is this memo to OGHOA members? I searched the OGHOA website and don’t find it anywhere. This organization confuses me. It purports to represent Ocean Grove homeowners, but is silent on important issues and secretive when it does take a position (apparently without even consulting its membership, according to other posters here). Thanks.
They also should have first conducted a parking forum for all residents to air out a wide variety of ideas before they put out their parking survey which assumed that a particular model is the way to go, with only the dollar amount to be determined.
Would they have designed the survey the same way if they had a forum, and Grovers got to their feet and demanded that we receive free stickers, considering the taxes we pay? Why the heck should we pay for parking? And also maybe they would have heard some ideas that they never considered.
This is typical of the Home Groaners Board disrespecting the membership.
Who does the OGHOA think they serve? Why do they not test their positions with their own membership? I am a member and I can attest to the fact that OGHOA members were never offered an opportunity to review the RSIS issue, vote on or even discuss it.
There was a parking survey, but it did not ask about our views on unconstrained condo building without parking or RSIS standards. OGHOA’s pro-development, pro-condo position on RSIS is a complete surprise and has never been tested with membership.
Here’s an idea for the OGHOA. Let’s put your pro-condo development position regarding RSIS non-enforcement to a vote of the full OGHOA membership. Then you can support whichever side wins the majority. Until you do, you represent no one.
I would urge every OGHOA member to insist that the OGHOA stop advocating a position that they have never tested with a vote to their membership.
Insist on a vote!!
Radar:
I understand that the letter to Trenton from the OGHOA was written by a member of the Board, not even by Ann Horan (evidently she has a ghost writer, maybe one of the lawyers on the board.) The letter was not approved by the membership; but I’m not surprised. The HOA leadership was always disrespectful of its members.
You ask if the membership approved, but to be honest, very few people in town actually understand the RSIS business—a situation that Blogfinger is trying to correct; so it would have been a rubber-stamp anyhow.
That organization is lacking in knowledge and guts. Instead of talks about mortgages, they should have brought in a land use/RSIS expert so their members can understand the issues. I think they do not want to empower their members. It’s a small minded clubhouse that is not doing its job for the town.
We need a new organization in OG–one that represents everyone who lives in town, homeowner or not. Such an organization would be activist and would be unabashedly representative of the people of the Grove, not drinking the cool aid of the Township Committee and the Camp Meeting Association. It would attract over 1000 members, and the dues would be used to bring lawsuits against the town. It would be a watchdog,not a lap dog. —–Paul
Paul….
I can’t remember any recent meeting that a vote was taken on the Homeowners position.
Of course, as a snow bird I don’t attend every meeting…even during the summer.
Have you picked up whether there was ever a vote –past or present?
Hi Rev. Good to hear from you from across the Universe. (so near yet so far) Paul
Although I am a Brooklynite, my heart is in Ocean Grove – the Ocean Grove I KNOW, not the cartoon theme park version that so many misguided persons are trying to bring about. Thank you so much for looking out for MY best interests, too.