Crews worked through the night to get to this point. Blogfinger photo © 4/15/19. 10:00 am. Ocean Grove North End boardwalk.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
The fire site is quiet this morning. All fire fighting equipment is gone, and two Camp Meeting Associates observers are looking around before leaving in their truck. There is no police presence now.
We did speak to those CMA workers, and they told Blogfinger that the CMA was conferring with the building’s owner, Bob Dweck, to come up with a short term plan. The owner is officially known as “Maplewood Ocean Grove Associates, Inc.” Neptune Township is not part of the management team currently planning the next steps.
It reminds me of the post Sandy situation when the Township would not send any help east of Ocean Avenue because it is private property.
It brings back the uncomfortable private vs. public issues that were raised in conjunction with FEMA funding. Undoubtedly the building is insured. The CMA “owns” the land, and that lot is part of the North End Revelopment Plan.
The short term prognosis is that no one is being allowed at the site for now. All the rubble will be removed, and then a path will be created to enable pedestrians to go back and forth through the Casino. Despite early reports of “collapse” of the boardwalk at the site, we are told this morning that the boardwalk is fine.
But if, for some reason, the boardwalk cannot be used back and forth, then a path will be created through the open lot just west of the boardwalk, ie the “North End Area in Need of Redevelopment.”
It is remarkable how quickly the site was transformed into what you see in the image above. Those who were responsible for that cleanup should be commended for turning that depressing burned wreck into a safe place for hope.
In a way it seems like the dawning of a new day, because that stretch of beach will be open–a visual delight for all to enjoy, as the sun rises and sets over OG ‘s North End—pending subsequent plans, of course.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: “Land of Hope and Dreams.” (live)
Let this day be the last
Tomorrow there’ll be sunshine
And all this darkness past
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams”
Joe, as a land surveyor, you must know that the beach in Ocean Grove is part of New Jersey’s riparian lands and cannot be zoned by the township.
The “mean high water line” you refer to on the beach changes with each northeast storm and cannot be used to determine property ownership or lot lines.
Property ownership is recorded in a deed from information by a land surveyor like yourself in “meets and bounds” that determine the lot lines of a property, and the lot lines are used to establish front, side , and rear yard requirements of municipal zoning.
In order to use beach property for residential or commercial use, as the Pavilion property is zoned by the Township, the property owner must first have a riparian grant or permission from the DEP attached to the deed and filed with County, and the lot must front on an approved street.
Only the State can lease riparian lands, not the CMA, and the lease payments would go to the State.
The restaurant can be rebuilt at the proper elevation, but only the Tax Collector would encourage rebuilding the 9 unit commercial building, as property taxes go to the Township.
Jack Bredin says, “The beach is held in trust by the State of NJ under the jurisdiction of the DEP and reserved for recreation and conservation and is public open space”
Could you explain what this mean? I though the CMA owns the beach outright down to the mean high water line?
Wouldn’t this property be subject to a 99 year lease like all other properties in OG?
Based on an interview with Jack Bredin: One could say that only the Neptune Committee should be handling the situation at the fire site, because that Pavilion is part of the “Area in Need of Redevelopment” (NERP 2007) which is a public project under the jurisdiction of Neptune Township.
This may sound like a technicality, but it is another example of Neptune Township and its redevelopment allies twisting the NJ Land Use Laws.
The CMA signed off its role as a redeveloper, but does its involvement after the fire indicate that it wants in again?
PG, Editor @Blogfinger.net
The Pavilion Building was owned by Maplewood OG Associates. The Boardwalk is owned by the CMA. The land underneath (the beach) is held in trust by the State of NJ under the jurisdiction of the DEP and reserved for recreation and conservation and is Public Open Space.
Anything rebuilt must be incidental to the recreational use of the beach.
The Township Committee illegally confiscated, subdivided, and then zoned the new lot “mixed use commercial and residential.”
It was the State Assembly that granted the OGCMA the right to prevent people from landing on its beach, not the Federal Gov. This was to uphold the OGCMA’s blue laws which the State later removed through a law suit.
The North End pavilion was an accessory use to the primary use, the North End hotel, since it was not built on a road way, which the law requires for a primary use.
I doubt that either state or federal law will permit the rebuilding of the structure since the MLUL requires that any structure must border a roadway and must provide parking. Neither of which this property can meet.
Kevin Chambers
The CMA owns the beach and 1500 feet out into the ocean under a deal with the Federal government in the 19th century. Who knows if it is enforceable.
Many people think the CMA owns it. Blogfinger has asserted that the State of New Jersey owns it. That is why I placed the quotes around the word “own.”
Looking for clarification. The CMA may control access to the beach and maintain it, I don’t believe they ‘own’ it. This lot is on the beach, on the sand, I don’t understand how they can develop it or even lease it..
Was there any fire suppression in the building?
Let’s hope for the best solution.
The public has no input going forward on this piece of land. The CMA and the Township are in business together to redevelop the area, and neither could give a rip about how residents feel about it.
But I do think there should be some sort of investigation about the decisions that permitted the building to survive after Sandy. Who would do that? Certainly not the Township, who has less than no credibility. Maybe the state entity that assigns the director of code enforcement to the Township could get involved. I would like to know how permits were issued when some experts thought the building should be torn down.