Which way do we go in Ocean Grove? OG Boardwalk by Paul Goldfinger ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
The recent articles on Blogfinger about the quest for a driveway at 27 Heck Avenue, are about much more than a place to park one car. In the grand scheme of things, as some have stated, we have a lot more problems in the Grove than whether to allow a homeowner to build a driveway on his property. But that doesn’t mean that we should ignore seemingly small issues.
Small issues can represent much larger ones which may be revealed in one of our posts when citizens participate in the discussions and share their curious questions, opinions and knowledge.
In the process of discussing the Sampler driveway, our readers have invoked the following issues:
- Enforcing the land use laws in our town
- Special political and land use treatment (favoritism) for certain people in town
- Failure of the efforts to solve the parking problems
- Use of inappropriate historic precedents in making current decisions. For example the subdivision of the Whitfield site.
- Understanding Township ordinances, Master Plan, subdivisions, lot conformity, and zoning.
- Variances and what they do
- What is the flare and can you park in the flare?
- Do campaign contributions influence the decisions of Neptune politicians?
- Role of citizen activists in opposing efforts to diminish our town
- What are curb cuts?
- Are new Victorians historic?
- What are RSIS standards regarding parking?
- What is the role of the CMA in situations such as this?
- What is the role of the HOA—where have they been up to now regarding land use topics?
15 What goes on at those Zoning Board meetings?
- Is there equal justice in the Grove?
And this is why we at Blogfinger find our efforts on behalf of the town to be so satisfying. The driveway topic is about getting from here to there at the old Sampler site, but the resultant discussions are about so much more.
RITCHIE HAVENS AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND:
The new Victorians are not historic but could be with time.
Speaking of historic, there should be a monument or plaque up at the North End vacant lot. I believe that property lot is historic and shall always be. Plaque should read ” This lot, 39 years of history, unmarred by progress”.
Truly historic!
Beautifully stated. Thank you for adding clarity to a chaotic situation.