By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger. net. Followup on 11/13/19 news.
When we reported on that infamous Planning Board meeting of November 13, 2019, we complained that the HPC was not allowed to present its report. The lawyer Krimko said that the HPC could not be heard, but it wasn’t clear why.
But since that meeting, we have heard nothing further from the HPC, and now we know why they have been silent.
Now we learn that the death blow for the local approval process was delivered preemptively on September 9, 2019 when the Neptune Mayor Rizzo secretly signed a Redevelopers Agreement with OGNED.
Here is Jack Bredin’s latest analysis dated November 27, 2019:
“What Paul Goldfinger and I reported was true as we reported on that 11/13/19 Planning Board meeting.
What Jennifer Krimko, OGNED attorney, advised the Board regarding the HPC report was also true.
The problem is: Mayor Rizzo signed the Redevelopers Agreement with OGNED before the Planning Board made its decision.
Her premature signing ended the local approval process, giving OGNED a signed contract with Neptune Township in its pocket.
At the time of the Planning Board meeting, the HPC report, the public’s opinion, and the Planning Board’s decision would all have been irrelevant.”
Editor’s note: If this process seems confusing, I believe that is because it intentionally was laid out in an opaque and helter-skelter manner so as to prevent awareness by the public.
This is not democracy in action. This is corruption. By now the HPC’s lawyer should be going to court, but, of course, that won’t happen, and the Planning Board, an arm of Neptune Township, will not bring an ethics violation complaint.
And the Home Groaners? Forget it! ——PG
If you look at the online agenda of the Neptune Township Planning Board of 25 Jan. 2023, you will see a request for an extension of the OGNED application. According to a request letter, approvals expire two years after the memorialization of a zoning resolution. The board can then extend approval for a term of one year for a total of three times. This request was made as the applicant needed additional time to obtain approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Historic Preservation Commission. It seems the 2019 date has expired.
“Just Read the Documents” advises us all to click on his/her link and “read the redevelopment plan, proposed site plan, and HPC comments.”
His/her link takes us to the Home Groaners web site where there is no document called “Redevelopment Plan.” There is something called “OGNED Site Plan Document” dated one year ago, but that document doesn’t open.
And there is something called “HPC draft comments” from this month, but Blogfinger already reported on the HPC’s “9 points”
Here is a link to Blogfinger’s post about that HPC report:
https://wp.me/pqmj2-Fea
Where is the Redevelopers Agreement??
You all should follow that HOA link to see the useless posting of unreadable documents. Another example of the useless HOme Groaners attempts to educate the rest of us.
It was written over 2,000 years ago, “When you know the truth, the truth shall set you free”.
The latest interpretation is from an anonymous source “Just Read the Documents, Politicians always tell the truth .”
Just Read: Thank you for your helpful comment. We appreciate knowledgeable citizens who participate in our discussions, but why in the world would you not give us your real name?
Some of your comment contains your opinions, so wouldn’t you like to have the credibility that comes with telling us who you are?
A redeveloper’s agreement may have been signed, but the proposed site plan has not yet received the governmental approvals required by that very agreement. The site plan is now before the Planning Board. Even if the Planning Board approves, which it should not, the site plan would still require approval from the HPC. This is all stated clearly in both in the redeveloper’s agreement and redevelopment plan.
I don’t think there is a conspiracy here, but I do see a lot of confusion, and much of it comes from our own governmental officials who don’t seem to understand the process themselves.
The Planning Board still has full power to turn this site plan down (I believe they should). That is why it’s before them now. If this site plan makes it to the HPC, they still have the power to deny a Certificate of Appropriateness (and I believe they should).
To quote from the minutes from the Township Committee Meeting Minutes of September 9th:
“If approved by the Township Committee, the Redevelopment Agreement, once executed, will permit OGNED to submit their formal application and plans to the Township Planning Board, followed by submission to the Historic Preservation Committee. During these application processes the public will have the opportunity to fully vet out the project and present questions and testimony before the Planning Board and HPC. Tonight does not end the process, rather it allows the process to begin.”
At the very least, everybody should read the redevelopment plan, proposed site plan, and HPC comments (you can find these here: https://oghoa.org/committees/north-end-committee). Then attend the next Planning Board meeting on Dec. 11 to make your voices heard.
Art James,
DEP approval and/or FBI investigation..
So —- when OGNED goes for building permits they won’t need HPC approval??
I’m new here can someone lay out the process ongoing from here
What other approvals if any, state, environmental or otherwise will they need.
Or not