Isn’t this the feel we would have hoped for at the N. End? Main Avenue, OG. USA. Paul Goldfinger photo. 2009.
Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor, Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, NJ, USA
3/5/24:
The new open letter to the Neptune Township Committee is courageous but will it be a waste of time? If the HOA wins will it be a Pyrrhic victory?
Since 2009 when Blogfinger was founded we have posted many articles. (ie open letters) about the North End, but at no time over the last 15 years has the Neptune Committee paid any attention to our opinions. (with the exception of Mary Beth Jahn.)
It is a failure of representative government in Ocean Grove; something that should be investigated.
We had pushed for a redevelopers agreement for many years, and finally one occurred where Mayor Rizzo signed off in secret in 2018. But one truth is clear: once a redevelopers agreement is signed in a redevelopment project, it cannot be changed without starting the whole process over again.
Yet even recently it has been changed again without the requirement of going back to square one.
We will present some examples of Blogfinger’s reporting about the North End since 2009. This will illustrate how hard we tried to block the North End Redevelopment Plan and to question when a “redevelopment agreement” would happen. We were concerned because no such agreement appeared even though one was required by the N.J. Land Use Laws.
Our earliest note in Blogfinger about the North End is based on a 2006 news item:
The quote below is from a 2008 article by journalist Stephen Froias entitled “Split Decision or Knockout from the Planning Board.” * Stephen had been editing the online Ocean Grove Record at that time:
“Plans were announced in 2006 for a major new hotel and condominium development on property which has been vacant since the 1970s, when the old North End Hotel – once Ocean Grove’s largest – was damaged by fire and subsequently demolished in 1980.
“These plans have become controversial though, and in January 2008 the Planning Board of Neptune stated the ‘North End Redevelopment Proposal was inconsistent with the town’s Master Plan’”
This is an early BF note: 2007:
In January, 2007, a Memo of Understanding says that WAVE and the CMA had signed a “Developer’s Agreement” which designates WAVE and the CMA as “Co-Redevelopers” for the North End Re-development Plan.
In June 2008, the Township passed a resolution designating WAVE and the CMA as Co-Redevelopers.
The link below is another early post (2011). where Blogfinger points out the importance of a redevelopment agreement with the Township:
In April 2015 we have a quote from BF (below):
Now there is speculation that the efforts to re-negotiate and sign a redevelopment agreement may soon be underway again. It should be noted that such an agreement must be based on the original 2008 plan. Although small changes could be made, any fundamental change such as substituting single family homes instead of condos, could require trashing the plan and starting the process over, including public meetings.
And here is a post from 2015 about all this after 7 years of diddling around by all concerned including the feckless HOA.
2015. From Township Clerk. Rick Cutrell: “The next step in the process is to negotiate and execute a Redevelopment Agreement with the Redeveloper. Plans cannot be submitted, and hence no approvals from public agencies granted, without the existence of a signed Redevelopment Agreement. “
In 2017 we published a complex analysis of the North End. In all these quotes you can see that the authorities have failed to produce a legal redevelopment agreement.
Comment from Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor Blogfinger.net—-2017:
Jack. The political situation in Ocean Grove is an aberrancy (The definition of aberrant is something that does not follow the correct or expected course or something that is not typical or normal. )
In a democracy, the people are supposed to be represented by their elected officials. Whoever is elected is expected to be concerned with the best interests of all the electorate.
But in the Township of Neptune, with its one party rule and its inexplicable indifference and actual abhorrence towards the “town” of Ocean Grove, we are left with no representation, leaving us vulnerable to what we now see: cash cow taxes; disrespect for laws that they don’t like, such as RSIS and zoning; double standards that allow exploitation by developers; disregard for the lifestyles of those who live in the Grove, especially the worsening of congestion which is not only about parking; and the failure to protect historic standards.
Ordinarily we would look to the Homeowners Association to “have our backs,” but that group has been a failure in that regard, and the motives for their disregard are unclear. And public apathy supports them as they leave the citizens without effective or informed advocacy.
A new political reformation (such as secession) is required and/or a grass roots revolution beginning with a new activist citizens organization to replace the Homegroaners.
Here is a related link from 2018 BF:
And another from 6 years ago (2018). which shows Blogfinger banging its heads against the wall created by CMA, HOA and Neptune.
2019. Comment from Jack Bredin: “The OG Home Owners Association is already on record from day one, 2008, supporting the North End Redevelopment project.”
So here we are now with the HOA hammering on the Township door (2024) asking them to change their mind about the HPC settlement.
Whether the decision remains “yes” or changes to “no” doesn’t matter. We still wind up with a massive ugly mess at the North End and many unanswered questions.
The most to hope for is that the HPC retains its original power in historic replica construction in the Grove.
Let’s give the legal committee of the HOA a round of applause. But 15 years of opinions about the North End on Blogfinger have been unsuccessful to turn our North End into small town, single-family home, historic America like most of the rest of the Grove.
Media opinions may persuade some, but real action is what might work, and we haven’t seen that.
The real historic villain at the North End is Neptune Township, and the real motives for their actions since 2009-2024 will likely never be revealed.
“A Little Tin Box”. Original Broadway Cast of Fiorello.