Who can you trust to do what’s right for the residents of Ocean Grove, NJ? Paul Goldfinger photograph at Auditorium Square Park. 2017. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor and Jack Bredin, Researcher/reporter @Blogfinger.net
Most of us are now aware that the 2008 Redevelopment Plan (NERP) for the North End of Ocean Grove is the only plan that is currently legally binding. But we also know that the collusion between WAVE, CMA and the Township to violate Land Use Laws and to keep a veil of secrecy around their plans has resulted in the past in actions that knowingly ignore the laws such as zoning and parking rules. So we cannot assume that what we think is true is truly true. And that applies to the NERP. Let’s review what has happened:
The original NERP was signed into law by the Neptune Township Committee in 2008, and no other plan, despite all the talk (see below) has been officially/legally approved to take its place.
And that original plan included an underground garage with two levels of parking for over 200 cars. A couple of years ago, the Township tried to get Trenton to pass a “special standard” (exemption) to bypass State RSIS (parking) rules in Ocean Grove, but the Township withdrew its application (without prejudice) when Grovers showed up at the State Site Improvement Advisory Board meeting; so RSIS law must apply to the NERP.
In 2012, the CMA announced that they would “break ground” in 2013, but then Sandy hit in October 2012.
In 2013, the CMA announced that because of Sandy, the developers would “have to go back to the drawing board.” It seems that Sandy drove the Atlantic Ocean over the boardwalk and into Wesley Lake. Obviously, if that underground garage had been built prior to Sandy, it could have washed away.
On April 28, 2015, a “Memo of Understanding” was signed by William Gannon/WAVE (Wesley Atlantic Village Enterprises) and by Dale Whilden of the OGCMA. The witness was JP Gradone. This document is available from the Neptune Township Clerk. (Open Public Records Act.) Anyone can request it.
The Memo contained a new plan for the North End. It defined the project as a “commercial development,” and it called for a one level garage to hold +/_ 140 spaces. It did not say if the garage would be above ground or under. It described 39 condominiums, 10 single family homes, a hotel with 40 units, and other elements.
Of interest is the fact that an appropriately designed hotel plan could allow for that hotel to be turned into condominiums after the project is completed. (ie a sneaky back door plot to get more condos at the North End—it’s possible.)
Committeeman Randy Bishop and the OGHOA proclaimed this new plan publicly in April, 2015, with the Groaners actually trying to take credit for it. Here is a link, nearly 3 years ago, about the newly proclaimed North End plan as presented at the Township Committee:
The “new” 2015 North End plan— BF post
But, since then, the Township has not tried to validate this “new plan” with appropriate public hearings and votes.
Despite that, the current CMA president, Michael Badger, presented this “new plan” at the Feb 1, 2018 HOA meeting “North End update” as if it were the legally approved plan to move forward with.
So the question now is which plan will emerge once the three-legged stool (WAVE, CMA, Township) decides to apply for site plan approvals?
And finally, is there a secret third plan (the “true” one) which, we suspect, would have two phases? The first phase would be a “scaled down” (put on a happy face) version discussed on Feb 1 by the CMA President; with a second unannounced phase lurking in the shadows, later implemented to get the number of condos up to a total of 165 as in the original NERP
Will anyone in charge stand up for the three T’s:——- trust, transparency and the truth, or will we get more of the sound of silence?
DISTURBED
“Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping…”
I.M. – The HPC is very much alive and well if you are a powerless individual homeowner in Ocean Grove. They can and do enforce the Guidelines, legally and not. The point of my post is that the same rules that apply to us should be imposed on developers too, including those that want to invest in the North End.
HPC is a non-entity Not for Everybody. It has fallen, as they say, by the wayside. (Now that’s Victorian talk.) How long is it taking for HPC to assert its knowledge to promulgate new rules to maintain our historic presence.
Above-ground garage? It will only need a bit of rick-rack from rafters to “qualify.” There may be a few horse-tie-ups for. the dogs–instead of a park.
There will be no underground garage because the water table is too high. And it is easy to determine. Pay the guy that does this $400 to drill a hole to determine where it is. And then get an engineer to look at the published, copiously documented water table variation data to see where water is at any time of the year. So if there is an above-ground garage instead, where will it be? And how does the HPC approve that? And if they approve that, then why can’t I do anything I want with my property without their authoritarian intervention?
I think land use rules have gone out the window. Check out the new monstrosity on the first ocean block on Webb.
With all due respect Penny–and all Blogfinger advocates–the Township Attorney marches to the same bureaucratic tune as the rest of the Township Committee: “Ocean Grove Is Our Cash Cow.”
If you are looking for the truth, you will find it at the bottom of a bottomless pit, located in the Neptune Township Committee Meeting room, at 25 Neptune Blvd.
And if something happens where the Township violates land use law, will the township Attorney step up and report this to the public?? Does he not work for us through the Committee?
This 50 year old song just won a Grammy nomination for “Best Rock Performance” as performed by Disturbed. If you listen carefully you will hear the orchestral strings in the background. That’s why BF likes to find new renditions of old music.
A cheap strategy to determine viability of an underground garage: have kids this summer dig a hole till they hit water.
Editor’s note: We suspect that the 3-legged-stool has no plans to build underground, despite the promise of the NERP. Instead they will propose an above- ground garage.
But can it get approved? Developers in the Grove have a way of getting what they want.
Can we trust people who keep secrets?