By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
In our March 18 article about the Whitfield Hotel site and its zoning concerns, we said, “Do you suppose that this is a well traveled highway in Ocean Grove? Have we now lost that loving feeling in our town, or did it disappear a long time ago?” Well, it seems that this sort of manipulative process has been going on for some time.
Perhaps some of you “old-timers” recall the case of 11 Webb Avenue. That situation from 1986 resulted in a law suit “against a local construction company (Frank Bridge Construction,) Dorothy and William Green, Vito Gadaleta (Neptune Zoning Official,) and Neptune Township.”
The suit claimed that “construction was permitted by Township officials to begin work on a new home at 11 Webb without proper permits and without required variances..” The suit also contended that the lot was “undersized, and the construction was invading the setback.”*
The court case was brought by the Sutherlands (Phyllis and Donald,) a couple living next door at 9 Webb Avenue. They said that “despite
their protest, the Township zoning officer issued an improper building permit and yet that construction continued.”
“In addition the house towered over its two neighbors blocking their light, views and air. It was 3 stories high and had a garage.” Some locals called it “the too tall house.”
In a letter to the editor of the Ocean Grove and Neptune Times on January 18, 1990, Kevin Chambers of Ocean Grove wrote, “The house was built illegally with the tacit approval of Neptune’s zoning department. 11 Webb became a symbol of chronic zoning abuses in the historic district, and homeowners throughout the community rallied to support the couple that fought it.”According to a 1993 OGHOA newsletter, printed in the Coaster, “The Township had ruled that the building lot was ‘grandfathered,’ a claim that was eventually proven to be erroneous.” The suit also said that “no building permit had been issued and that the builder had not appeared before the Board of Adjustment.”
Eventually the court sent the matter to the Neptune Township Board of Adjustment and then later to the Neptune Township Planning Board. Both boards denied Frank Bridge his variances and his subdivision respectively” *
Eventually the exterior of the house was completed, but not the interior. The building was never occupied after work was stopped by an injunction. According to Chambers, “The shell house had become a negative tourist attraction over the last few years. People drive slowly by and wonder what is going on with the court case.”
The suit was supported by the OGHOA who “voted its moral support to the Sutherlands” The HOA said, “We would like to thank the Sutherlands for their commitment. We owe them a deep debt of gratitude.”*
After 7 long years of litigation, the Sutherlands won their case, and the house at 11 Webb was torn down in August, 1993. But the family had spent $100,000 to pay for their “due process.”* It’s a shame that a “deep debt of gratitude” was all the HOA could come up with, but at least they were on the side of OG citizens this time around. But today, whose side are they on when it comes to zoning disputes?
So, clearly this kind of zoning subterfuge by local developers and Township officials, abetted by the inaction of the Home Groaners, is nothing new.
And now we see the Whitfield zoning fiasco where the same sort of “grandfathering” has been used by the Neptune zoning office to avoid seeking necessary variances at the Boards.
Remember Mary’s Place where the zoning officers allowed the developer to merge two lots and build what they did without requiring any variances? In fact the zoning permission was granted by Haney’s office using a dubious justification without ever asking a Township Board to evaluate the application. Haney’s assistant George Waterman allowed the Mary’s construction to go on under the zoning designation of “community shelter–terminally ill.” That project should have applied for multiple variances.
And then there is the matter of the Township ignoring the State RSIS standards in order to permit certain projects like condos to go ahead without providing on-site parking.
And finally there is the North End Redevelopment Plan, currently stuck in the mud, which used an illegal sleight of hand to bypass the single family zoning at the North End to approve an ambitious plan that would offer 160 residential units and commercial development, a proposal that would change the town for the worst in terms of congestion, ecologic effects and and lifestyle.
So why do we bother reporting about these situations when the developers in this town seem to be able, in multiple instances over the years, to do whatever they want and to be above the law?
Well, we must admit that these instances in our town often dissolve into history as abstract moral concerns without practical resolutions. And yet, the Sutherlands of Ocean Grove won their case with the support of the people.
Besides, what’s wrong with standing up for honesty, truth, equality under the law and preservation of history in our town?
Sources. All quotes are from the Ocean Grove and Neptune Times (1986 and 1987) and the September 1993 newsletter of the OG Homeowners’ Association (printed in the Coaster*.) The latter quotes are marked with asterisks. We also quote a published letter (1990) from Kevin Chambers. And we received assistance from a knowledgable Grover who lived in town during this period.
HARRY NILSSON
That makes perfect sense, Doubting Thomas. But we’re talking about the Camp Meeting here..! These are the same folks that want an overwhelming 160 units built on their land in the North End; and have raised the ground rents of newer structures by hundreds of dollars per year.
Unless you are part of their little religious fishbowl, they don’t seem to care; unless of course, they can make money from you.
Where was the Camp Meeting Association in all this? Since they own the land, why weren’t they held partly responsible for this travesty? Why were they not sued as well for participating (even passively) in a scam?
And why aren’t they, the landowner, at lease embarrassed whenever the Township plays footsie with the law–going back so many years and so many times.
Since they collect ground rent, they acknowledge ownership of the land, and doesn’t that come with any obligation regarding land use laws of the State of NJ? And don’t they have a moral obligation
to not take part in scams?
We can talk and complain all we want, but the township really care if we are annoyed with them, they are going to do what they want, when they want. Only three Options:
#1 Vote them out! This is probably impossible, we just don’t have the votes and are getting fewer and fewer every year.
#2 Get the state or county involved, Might work, not sure if the state and county are interested, again, we don’t have any votes!
#3 Legal action! This might work, suing them over and over, but who has $100’s of thousands to do this?
When the Manchester Inn on Ocean Pathway burned down (March, 2010) some houses behind it on Bath also burned down.
The replacement houses on Bath have driveways and/or garages. I do not remember the houses there before having these.
Yet, when I wanted to put a driveway on the side of my home I was denied permission.
Does anyone have any information on what the four new houses going up on the Whitfield lot will look like? They’re so narrow it will look absurd if they got some kind of variance to make them 3.5 stories tall.
Very interesting article, one can see a pattern of the Township failing to enforce the application process and Zoning regulations when it suits their purposes. And they get away with it because how many citizens can afford $100,000 in legal fees and wish to undertake a protracted seven year legal battle?
The residents of Ocean Grove have been in an abusive relationship with Neptune Township since 1980.
I plan on copying this whole article and comments and mailing one to each Twp. Committee member and each Administration member even though I’m sure they are aware of the circumstances. I just want them to have it in their hands and possibly feel a twinge of guilt (though in reality they will all probably snicker).
The comments above mention how we have to stand up for the integrity of our historic town and not just be pushed and bullied by officials. We need to take any new construction ideas seriously and stand together. One of the problems though is that purchasers of these developing sites and houses are not from this town. I know this because the over one million dollar purchases in my radius are not from the area, and could care less about anything other than they’re getting a seaside home for a steal.
I hope whoever reads this comment agrees that we have to stick together and stand up to the inadequate and unqualified outcomes of permits and applications (that we know about).
New construction at 25 Heck is going for a variance to have a curb cut and extension 6 ft. to 10 ft. (driveway) which I thought was impossible under historical rules . I guess if you can afford an attorney you can apply for anything.
And yet the Building department gave my contractor so much grief on permits to rebuild our rotting porch that we pulled the job. (Our contractor put in the permit application ‘sistering beams as necessary’ and the construction official questioned what this meant and why ‘as necessary’. Ummm…it’s the structure under the floor boards that we don’t know how they look until he rips the flooring off. This is a contractor that does most of his work in the town and even he was surprised how much push back we were getting on a fairly simple repair job)
Will just slap some paint on it and put the house on the market this summer. Sick of the red tape and nonsense from town hall.
Follow the money….
Well said Paul. I commend you for bringing awareness to OG residents, while many people feel that it’s easier to not bother to stand up for what is right, as events in town has proved to be a losing battle time and time again.
But, if our great leaders throughout our history had not led the citizens to stand up for what is right, we wouldn’t have the equality civil rights that we have today.
Help is needed in numbers – for change to happen. Usually it’s a losing battle when only one person is fighting ‘the system’.
If we want to see a change in our town, we can not give up before the fight even began. We need to help each other save the integrity of our town, or we can choose to continually stay quiet, while watching our town become a different town day by day…and wonder what happened to the town that we all love so much.