July 20, 2018
It was revealed today that the ATF arson investigation was ended last October, and then the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office ended theirs in November. But because of poor communication between the agencies, the arsonist may have been able to slip away. The recent muckraking by NJ.com prompted the two agencies to re-open their investigations now..
Monmouth County Prosecutors office makes the announcement. NJ.com photo by Patti Sapone.
Quote posted by NJ.com from the Monmouth Co. Prosecutor’s Office: “I freely admit it’s incumbent on us to make sure that in cases like this, we have clarity in communications with the agencies we’re working with,” he said. “We own the breakdown in communication as much as the ATF does.”
Both agencies had agreed that arson was the cause of the Warrington fire on March 3, 2017 and they had several suspects in their sights when the agencies quit the scene. But now, thanks to the journalism of NJ.com, Alex Napoliello was able to post today’s jaw dropping and outrageous revelations. The link is below.
And thanks to an Ocean Grover who tipped us off to today’s headline.
www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2018/07/someone_set_a_massive_hotel_fire_that_left_98_peop.html
Here is a link to our 2017 article about whether we can trust fire investigations in this town:
fire investigations in Ocean Grove
AWOL NATION: “I’m on Fire.”
The building was no longer a hotel without a hotel license, yet the Attorney at the Board of Adjustment and the Planner for the Board put on the record that it was a hotel to continue a use they were fully aware was not permitted by law.
Both representatives of the Township refused to address this building properly. Once the building lost its hotel license and boarding house license it became a single family use. Not only were the finding of the Board founded on improper evidence, but the overlay zone for OG is in violation of law and that is why the Judge had to rule against the Warrington.
It is the responsibility of the Attorney for the Board of Adjustment to take the Planning Board to court to force the Planning Board it bring the zoning for all of OG into conformity with law. Instead, the Attorney continues using illegal zoning to grant high density variances.
The Board of Adjustment Attorney and Neptune’s other two Attorneys and its planner continue promoting zoning in direct violation of law to rape the community of OG. The Township and its Attorney’s are directly responsible for the loss that all of these people on the North End have suffered because of a case created by illegal zoning.
Kevin Chambers
In reviewing some of the articles by NJ.com, we have discovered the following:
1. The current owner of the Warrington paid $1,275,000 for the property in 2006
2. The place had been a hotel, but it wasn’t making enough money to stay afloat, so it became a crummy boarding house.
3. The State decertified the place and shut it down in June, 2012.
4. The owner, Jack Ancona, got permission from Neptune to convert the old building into a boutique hotel. In March, 2015, he received a permit for interior demolition. In 2017, before the fire, workers from a local construction company were hammering daily inside. Neighbors (and I) saw the workers who were doing demo tasks.
Yet the lawyer for the owner, Jennifer Krimko, was quoted in a NJ.com interview after the fire as saying that “There was no construction work before the fire.”