Here is the email which I received from Mr. John Lago of the Department of Community Affairs in Trenton:

“The Site Improvement Advisory Board will meet online on Thursday, June 16, 2022 to discuss parking and stormwater management requirements in the Residential Site Improvement Standards.  The meeting will begin at 10 AM and end by noon.  A link to the virtual public meeting is below.”   (BF bold)

Thank you,

John Lago

(609) 292-7899

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Mr. John Lago is an official with the N.J .Dept. of Community Affairs, and he represents the Site Improvement Advisory Board.

He knows Kevin Chambers,  Jack Bredin and myself from the time when we went to one of their Advisory Board meetings in Trenton where we scared the Neptuners away with our presence.  They were looking for an exemption from parking standards, but they left when they heard that Grovers were coming.

Since then Mr. Lago keeps us informed and will always take our calls.  That board consists of committed experts in their fields.  It makes you proud to see them doing their duty  on behalf of we the people..

The attitude of the Board regarding parking is to understand that most towns have their own characteristics and circumstances, and when it comes to shore towns that is particularly true.

And they view Ocean Grove as a shore town with particularly unique circumstances.  They do know who we are!

Mr. Lago  reiterated these concepts to me today when he said that the Board likes each town to design its own regulations about parking. But the standards are important and cannot be dismissed.

They don’t like to impose heavy standards regarding parking, and they are flexible with approving “light” standards.  But if a town is to have light standards, there has to be a reason.

For example in a place where few people drive, such as a community for disabled veterans, then light is OK.

But in Ocean Grove they might approve light standards* if that is what the town wants,  but they will never allow no standards at all in the Grove, which  is what Neptune wanted in the past: to be given an exemption which would allow condo conversions with no off street parking requirements.

And that would be too oppressive, because if you buy a condo for $800,000.00 you should have parking.

The Board wants to be flexible, but if a town wants a special reduction in standards*, then they have to make their case.

The “stormwater management” aspect of this meeting has to do with inquiries from environmental groups who are interested in flooding and climate change.

This meeting is a more informal session where the Board members and interested members of the public can discuss these topics, and the meeting will not be too long.

However, these topics could potentially impact  Ocean Grove in the future,, especially in terms of parking associated with new construction or condo conversions and maintenance of water standards in Wesley Lake.

However, this session is not specifically about the Grove.

From my discussion with Mr. Lago, it looks like the June 16 meeting will be more about water concerns and less about parking  but we should still pay attention.

Try to attend on line—you will find it to be interesting to see how these matters are handled at the State level.  We Grovarians need to keep an eye on the maneuvers of Neptuners as they continue to allow violations of parking standards by approving condominiums without parking.

We will try to keep an eye on these topics at the State level.  Don’t count on Neptune or the OGHOA to encourage you to pay attention.

Paul Goldfinger editor.  Blogfinger.net

“Driving”   Hans Zimmer from the soundtrack of Driving Miss Daisy