The next OGHOA meeting will be held on March 26 at 10:00 am. in the Community Room. There will be a discussion of Jack Bredin’s February motion regarding the Neptune Township Application for a special RSIS parking standard. His motion, currently tabled, reads:
“The OGHOA is in favor of the Neptune Township Committee refiling an application for a waiver from the State RSIS Parking Standard for detached single family houses only.”
You may recall that the Township applied in 2015 for a special standard which would apply to all of Ocean Grove. But that would open the door to unlimited condoization in town as well as more multifamily or large buildings that could be built without providing any parking. That outrageous effort by the Township has been supported by the OGHOA and is a policy which is just the opposite of what most Grovers prefer.
Jack’s motion would recommend a special standard only for new single family houses. That means approvals could be given for new single family houses without demanding that they have driveways or garages.
Blogfinger recommends that you go to that meeting and vote for Jack’s motion. And please support Jack in case there is any more parliamentary chicanery afoot.
Also note that currently there is no active Neptune OG application at the Department of Consumer Affairs because the last one was dismissed without prejudice by the State Site Improvement Advisory Board, and Neptune has not so far re-applied.
The SIAB recently cancelled their March meeting. We suspect that Neptune will re-apply so that they can continue their anti-OG policies regarding condominiums without worrying about breaking the law. But even if Neptune does not reapply, this vote will indicate which way the wind is blowing in our town.
The Township Committee now has 2 new members, so we must keep the pressure on the Committee to do their jobs as representatives of the people instead of being shills for developers.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
GRANT PHABAO “Message to you Rudy” from the movie Chef.
“Stop your messing around (ah-ah-ah)
Better think of your future (ah-ah-ah)
Time you straighten right out (ah-ah-ah)
Creating problems in town (ah-ah-ah)”
Anita: Buildings with two or three residential units are indeed “multifamily,” but all this talk about condos is regarding the future of OG, not existing multi-family buildings. If more multi-family buildings are allowed without parking, it will cause more congestion, more parking problems and a different look for the town.
The RSIS exemption will allow that to happen, and if that is what the people of Ocean Grove want, then that is what will happen and it will be legal.
The single family exemption is needed so that future development will permit desired single family residences without requiring parking. We need the Neptune exemption application to be defeated if they reapply and we need a zoning change, as requested by the State of NJ years ago when they demanded that Neptune change its ordinances to match those of the State parking standards.
Not all condos are multi-family. There are several that are merely 2 or 3 units in what was once a large home. All these negative comments about condos lead us to think that condo owners are second class home owners in Ocean Grove. We can’t all afford nor do we all want the type of huge new homes that are generally built in the Grove. It is bad enough that the Camp Meeting soaks condo owners with high ground rent for small condos (compared to $12 for those with single family homes). We love the Grove and we are home owners too!
In case this becomes a heated discussion, please note the By Laws of the HOA, as listed on their website, state: (www.oghoa.org)
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ARTICLE 1 MEMBERSHIP
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D. Members must pay the established dues by June 1st of the membership year in order to vote in that year’s election of officers and members of the Board of Trustees. The membership year coincides with the fiscal year which begins January 1st and ends on December 31st.
ARTICLE 3 MEETINGS
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D. Only those members in good standing who are present at the general meeting are eligible to vote on any issues brought to the floor for a vote.
E. A quorum of the general membership, for the purpose of voting, shall consist of 40 members in good standing. A majority of the quorum shall decide all matters brought for a vote.
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So, I wonder if anyone is actually a member capable of voting at this point? Most of us pay our dues in June just before the election, and that membership year expired Dec. 31. My guess is that there will not be 40 people at that meeting who paid dues after Jan. 1, 2016. Perhaps anyone interested in this vote should come to the meeting a few minutes early and pay dues.
Fran: I suspect Jack will clarify this, but the reason for exempting only new single family homes is to allow the town to develop as most citizens want, i.e. with single family Victorian style homes. The exemption lets that happen, because driveways and garages will upend our historic look, might threaten our historic designations, and would cut down on on-street parking spaces.
But to offer an exemption to new condo buildings will allow condo buildings without parking all over town, causing significantly more on-street parking problems and adding un-historic buildings to the landscape. When Jack Green built his mini-development of lovely single family homes, he did not provide parking.
I don’t know if he got variances.
But hopefully Jack will explain his motion in more detail
OGJamie, that’s consistent with what Blogfinger has been saying, that Ocean Grove has been ignoring the RSIS parking standards in violation of state law.
But Jack Bredin is proposing that single family homes– but only single family homes — should be exempt from the RSIS standards — i.e., that they shouldn’t be required to have driveways or garages.
Mr. Bredin or Blogfinger, please correct me if I’m wrong.
I imagine, though, that it’s a separate issue if houses are now being built on lots that have long been empty; perhaps variances are being granted willy-nilly today?
There are single family houses going up around us (on lots that were empty as long as we’ve lived here….11+ years). None have driveways or garages. Are RSIS parking standards just a joke that can be ignored? I’m all for single family homes v. condos but if RSIS applies to all, shouldn’t even these new single family hones meet RSIS standards?
Also, without these houses being completed I already have problems parking near my house, regardless of season, and I live as far West of the beach as anybody in OG. If you can’t build a single family home with no driveway or garage without causing parking issues, how can you build condos? I feel like it was easier to park in front of our apartment in Bay Ridge than it is here. I’m exaggerating a bit…but not by much.