After Sandy hit, Bob Bowné took this photo on Ocean Avenue. Special to Blogfinger. Oct. 2012. ©
From I.M. Radar
February 6, 2010.
I have been a resident of Ocean Grove for 20 years. This is the historic enclave granted
by NJ Supreme Court to Neptune Township. It is a small, intimate community noted for
its Victorian homes.
Today it faces two detrimental challenges: climate change and developers who
would deny the realities of that change and focus on excessive building efforts.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–the weather and
ocean/coastline component of the U.S. Department of Commerce reports climate
change has created more furious Atlantic Ocean hurricanes. Such intensification will
make it obviously more lethal. It will also make it more difficult to forecast.
Nor’Easters are more frequent to Ocean Grove. They can be just as,
not more, destructive to fragile coastlines and beaches such as ours.
East coastal cities at risk from storm surges and rising seas are concerned.
Unfortunately Neptune Township does not share that concern. Some extremely
vulnerable communities are planning to adapt land use and building policies to address
climate change. Neptune Township appears to be going in the opposite direction
authorizing the project before you.
What is the most vulnerable area of Neptune Township? Ocean Grove ! The
North End ! Aside from developer sales, the area will provide Neptune Township the
highest real estate taxes with its proximity to the ocean, and the Ocean Grove Camp
Meeting Association will benefit from increasing land-rental agreements because it owns the
land.
Homeowners paying real estate taxes to Neptune Township don’t even own the
land. Hotel, condos, single-family homes, and retail shops in the plan will be the triumvirate
source of sales, taxes, and land-rental dollars.
Vulnerability of the area was critically increased following Hurricane Sandy when
New Jersey coastal flood zones were expanded and as a result extended North End
further inland to the potential development areas.
In addition, an underground garage violates the State’s coastal flood zone. Greater vulnerability as yet undiscovered are the ancient
underground pathways from bathhouses to the beach.