The presentations at the Saturday Nov. 25, 2023 HOA session brought out two more issues that add a fascinating twist to the discussion:
a. Historic designations. OG historians broke their buns obtaining National and State registers of historic places for Ocean Grove. Someone at the meeting asked if this pseudo-Victorian plan could threaten our designations.
Mr. Robert Ignato, HOA legal committee lawyer, said that it might. If that happens, our home values could be affected, and the Historical Society might have to move into Centennial Cottage.
So maybe Mr. Ignato should have reminded the group of the HOA mission : “The mission of the OGHOA is to protect and enhance property values and the quality of life in Ocean Grove.”
We haven’t heard an official whisper from the Historical Society of OG about any of this North End stuff. What do they think?
b. Several years ago Jack Bredin told me that if the North End hotel were to fail, or some other excuse would prevail, OGNED, or whoever becomes the actual developer, could change from hotel to condos—ie 40 more condos on the boardwalk.
We were skeptical about the idea of a hotel there since there was a new hotel on the Asbury side. If short term rentals were to continue being successful in town, then maybe this option might be invoked. But if the official NERP only mentions a hotel there, then they couldn’t switch to condos later…..or could they?
Now we hear that such a provision actually exists in the new North End Plan, or the Amended North End Plan, or the new Redevelopers Agreement with the Township.
How about the OGHOA digging into this concern and verifying this assertion?
The Township never has responded to legitimate Blogfinger concerns since we began in 2009. And neither has the OGHOA. These policies don’t do any good for we-the-people.
ABBA