Garbage on the OG beach. Sunday morning 6/14/20. A metaphor perhaps for the North End mess? Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net
By Paul Goldfinger, MD and Jack Bredin, Blogfinger.net. June 14, 2020. Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
If you read the June 11, 2020 Coaster regarding the “stalled North End redevelopment project” you will find a classic example of fake news, both stated and unspoken. What was stated is blatantly false or misleading, and what was unstated was vital and ignored.
This article shows why the Coaster is such a poor source of information in Ocean Grove, and why we can’t rely on our representatives at the Mother Ship to tell us the truth and act with trust in our behalf.
The Neptune Business Administrator Vito Gadaleta is identified as the source of information, but he is not an elected official. We never get to hear essential news and discussion from our Township Committee. Gadaleta is the mouthpiece for that group.
In its pathetically inadequate article the Coaster says that the project is stalled because a “required hearing before the Historic Preservation Committee is on hold.” This assertion is nonsense.
Not only do they have the Historic Preservation Commission’s name wrong, but they fail to explain the roll of the HPC in this situation.
The HPC has already published its critical opinions about the North End Plan in November 2019. It is an advisory source to the Planning Board and has no power.
The piece says that OGNED, the developer, wants to “improve” the North End. Does anyone want to parse the word “improve” in a way that we might believe?
There is mention of “a lot of needed approvals” but no details, and certainly the devil is in the details.
And there is no mention of the document (“Redevelopers’ Agreement”) which Mayor Rizzo signed in 2019 or of the horrible and outrageous Planning Board meeting in November 2019 when the HPC was not allowed to speak.
And there is no mention of the DEP’s refusal in May 2020 to approve the plan for an underground garage and no disclosure of whether OGNED has filed another application and whether the DEP will hold requested hearings for the OG public regarding the CAFRA application. We are seeking more information on this topic from Trenton.
The article offers no information about the OGNED assertion that the 2019 NERP is substantially identical to the 2008 plan and thus already approved, leaving nothing further for the HPC to do.
But “we the people” need to see the plan which Rizzo signed. It is our understanding that it contains only a surface parking facility and other changes which have not been officially approved by the Neptuner Committee.
It is required that the 2019 OGNED plan agree with the 2008 approved plan which had a two level underground garage and has been the only approved plan by the Township to date.
And that “official” 2008 plan was never blessed with a legal Redevelopers Agreement to this day, unless the Rizzo document agrees with 2008.
These issues are complex, and “we the people” need to have it all revealed in public hearings. The bizarre November Planning Board meeting needs to be thrown out in court regardless of what OGNED’s lawyer says.
This Coaster piece pretends to be a simple summary of the North End situation, but this is a big coverup, either with the Coaster‘s competence at stake or the Coaster is just spitting out a press release force-fed to them.
In either case, take your Coaster and wrap fish with it.
Since November, Blogfinger has published 3 posts about these matters and here are the links:
OGHOA posts vital HPC documents Nov. 11 2019
Preemptive strikes at HPC 11/26/19 Planning Boards meeting
DEP rejects North End underground garage May 3, 2020
Blogfinger will return with some more of the real deal.
MATTHEW CAVENAUGH FROM WEST SIDE STORY:
So how are they addressing the water table and storm surge, so close to the ocean? Oh that’s right. I forgot. They do what they want for moolah and tax revenue. What a shame if it floods.
Curmudgeon: I hope that you are not devaluing our “unofficial” information on Blogfinger. This Coaster article already contains “official” information and it is essentially worthless.
Do you really want monthly information from people who have a long history of denying the truth to “we the people?”
But I hope that you get your wish; then Blogfinger will have more fodder for our literary cannonades.
Is it too much to ask for a North End Development status update from the Township on a monthly basis? Maybe the OGHOA could request something like that so we could be officially informed.
To add to “North End” unknowns, Neptune Twp. Committee finalizes this week a new code section on the outside appearance of our residences. A critical component requires external ductwork to capture storm and other runoff. Becomes effective immediately upon adoption.
Will it be adhered to–or required –of North End developers? Or will the township ignore the lesson of Asbury Park’s lakeside housing that continues to pollute Wesley Lake.