Ocean Grove North End Redevelopment Zone. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger and Jack Bredin, reporter and researcher @ Blogfinger.
On July 27, 2016, we posted a summary regarding the North End Redevelopment Plan. You should read it before you proceed with this article. Link below:
Committeeman Brantley showing the North End project to a “developer.” on July 27, 2016. Blogfinger photo ©
One issue that was raised on July 27 was: “Why was Committeeman Michael Brantley inspecting the North End property on July 27, 2016, at 11 am? He wasn’t going swimming. He was dressed in a business suit and was with two other ‘suits.’ Shouldn’t he explain himself since the North End Redevelopment Plan (NERP) is a public project? Doesn’t this look peculiar?”
At the August 22, 2016 Neptune Township Committee meeting, Brantley volunteered that he indeed wasn’t swimming when he visited the North End on July 27 wearing business attire. He explained that he was there showing the re-development property to a developer who evidently was not WAVE, the developer who has been sitting on this project for 8 years.
This information tells us that the Township is tired of waiting for that derelict property to be turned into something functional, historical and beautiful. We know that despite the long engagement, the Township is not married to WAVE, because those parties never signed a redevelopers agreement.
Some of us hoped that if the WAVE plan fell through, that the Township and the CMA, especially with new Committeemen on board, would do the right thing and revert to original zoning for 25 single family homes. But evidently that is not in the cards since Brantley, the Committeeman who made the motion to adopt the NERP in 2008, is still looking for a big commercial project, and why not, since it means more money for the Township, the developers, the CMA and perhaps others who are in play to get rich on such a plan. The heck with the Master Plan and the wishes of most citizens in the Grove. Check the Blogfinger poll below from January, 2016. Click on “view results:”
Also, in our July 27 piece: The Township Attorney Gene Anthony said that he had nothing to report publicly at the Committee meeting about the North End negotiations because he hadn’t heard from WAVE or their attorney.
Well, it seems that the Township has been taken for a ride by WAVE because at the August 22 Committee meeting, the Township attorney once again reported that WAVE (represented by William Gannon III) failed to contact him with certain financial information.
The entire process continues to be cloaked in secrecy—it’s a fog that doesn’t lift, but since it is a public project, transparency should be required. But not in Neptune Township where they ignore NJ RSIS laws, where they hold secret, behind-closed-doors meetings regarding the North End, where they don’t reveal the identities of those who would develop the North End—ie WAVE, and where they don’t represent the views of those who elected them .
And, Committeeman Brantley, who was the developer that you were showing around? Why have you failed to reveal publicly that you are conducting such a search, and are all the Neptune Township Committee members aware of your efforts? And has the Committee formally put out a required public request for developers to look at the project? And, Dr. Brantley, which other developers are you speaking or negotiating with? And, finally, Dr. Brantley, how about explaining to the public why you believe the NERP to be the best course of action for the people of Ocean Grove?
Back in 2007, WAVE was handed the redevelopers mantle without such a public search process. We know that some developers did look at the project, but WAVE was predestined to be the crown prince no matter what. Consider this email to Blogfinger from a developer who tried to be hired for the job:
Entire content of an email from the president of a major developer regarding a North End proposal. Blogfinger.net ©
The Neptune Township Committee is behind the NERP (North End Redevelopment Plan). In 2007 they provided legal cover for the CMA/WAVE planners to get the zoning that would be essential to substitute 160 condos for the 25 Victorian single family homes that was the original zoning.
Our new Committeemen (2016) have now inherited the zoning charade and all that goes with it including the secrecy and the questionable motives of all concerned including the OGCMA. If the NERP gets into legal trouble, the entire Committee will be exposed including you freshmen. Is this what you entered public office to do?
We ask that the Neptune Committee give up on WAVE and cancel the phony re-development zoning, returning the Grove to single family housing at the North End.
Editor’s Note: If you enter “North End Redevelopment” into our search box at the top of this homepage, on the right, you can catch up on our many articles about this subject.
Huey Lewis and the News:
Problem is that the CMA wants the high density development laid out in the NERP…it wouldn’t be there if it didn’t. The CMA is all about its mission, not about the community. And its mission requires money, of which there will be a lot more with high density condos v. 25 single family homes. And its worth their time to wait.
Every day this is outstanding is another day of lost revenue. This over analysis and subsequent paralysis is disgraceful. Single family homes fit our town’s needs and I motion we move ahead with this plan- who agrees?
Doug: Your ideas are interesting, but currently they are fantasies. The only plan which has been approved for redevelopment of the North End at this time is the NERP. To get anything else requires trashing the NERP (which includes the zoning changes) and starting the whole process from scratch including the re-development designation which today would be difficult to slip by with all the scrutiny and transparency that would be attracted to the process (unlike the 2007 version.)
The simplest and most feasible approach would be to revert to the prior single family house zoning, as Jack said, and give the project back to the CMA for a normal private development project. The CMA would make money on the real estate, and OG would gain a beautiful family oriented neighborhood for all of us to enjoy. A small condo building would not fit the zoning.
A garage on private land on Main Street would require appropriate approvals under the mantle of a private project. —-Paul @Blogfinger
I don’t think parking is a very good use for the North End property:
#1. Most of it will be used by AP visitors and not by OG home owners.
#2. It is not the best use of the property. It is acres of prime oceanfront property, worth millions and millions, charging for parking for 10 weeks out of the year will never equal the amount it is worth as housing. You can put parking anywhere; it would be a great use for the lot next to the old high school! A low 2-3 level garage with access on Main Street, landscaped with trees and disguised as a Victorian Hotel? Plus do we want a bunch of cars driving to the end of town, just to park?
The best use for the area for the town would be a landscaped park, but considering the land is worth millions and millions of dollars, that is not going to happen. No one has that kind of money.
Probably the best we will get is single family housing, something akin to the Greenville development on the south side. I would even go with a small condo building on a small footprint, disguised as a small Victorian hotel as part of the mix with the single family housing as a compromise (Maybe 5-6 units), in return for some open space.
Obviously all of the units (condo and single family) would need to have parking included and maybe a few extra to help solve the town’s parking woes!
BF: I Couldn’t have said it better. I agree with you 100%. It’s time.
Just observing: You are quite right. This town has reached a tipping point. It has become more and more popular to visitors. As we have all been saying, the numbers of cars need to be controlled——partly by following RSIS rules about allowing construction of anything that does not offer off street parking, but also by finding other means to reduce the glut of visitors who take much more than they give and who affect the quality of life for those who live in this small and crowded town.
A parking lot will enable more parking, but when day trippers hear about it, it will also make people think things have changed with parking, so even more people will come expecting parking to be better. There will be no end.
Although a lot will only open a certain number of spots, it just goes on and on and on………………………
For the development of the North End , the Township Committee is the “Development Entity,” acting on behalf of the property owner (the OGCMA), to develop the property.
The Township prepared a useless plan that cannot be used by a redeveloper (WAVE) to develop the property, and that plan (the NERP) is the only redevelopment plan the Committee can sign a Redeveloper’s Agreement for to allow the development of the property.
Preparing a “Site Plan” for one of the most prime properties on the Jersey Shore would have been a “walk in the park” for any developer having waterfront development experience.
However, the entire process is now back to “square one.”
After 10 years of wasting everyone’s time and tax dollars, it is time for the Township to get out of the business of trying to develop the North End and to release the property back to the OGCMA and let them go forward with the legal process of developing their property.
I don’t know if there is another community in the history of this state where two small groups of people, the Board of the OGHOA, who has supported, and the Neptune Township committee who has set in motion such a devastating and misguided narrow minded program of failed zoning that has done as much harm, as it clearly has been designed to do, against this small community of Ocean Grove. For these two groups to continue to foster the most intense use of land over single unit use makes me question what is behind their actions. Since actions speak louder than words, their actions show, that they have no interest in the protection of this community, but to reap the greatest profit for developers, and why would that be?
Wondering: I think you hit the nail on the head. If the group that is supposed to support the home owners don’t, who needs them? Why are they in bed with the Township Committee? Agatha Christie
I do not understand why the Home Owners Association would not want to support the zoning (single family homes). Has anyone ever asked this at one of their meetings? Seems like supporting the town’s historic zoning should be a key priority for them. Or have they been corrupted by the developers somehow? If the HOA will not support the town’s zoning, then what is their purpose?
Retired: The idea that the players involved would be content with a parking lot is naive, and their priority certainly is not “serving a public need.”
The developers would make a fortune if condos were built as would the Camp Meeting Association which likely has a contract to sell the land to WAVE if the NERP is implemented. Somebody (developer or CMA) will be making money from leasing the lots to condo buyers in perpetuity. Also, the CMA may be destined to receive some sort of payment each time a condo is sold.
As for the Home Groaners, we can only speculate about their support for NERP; It’s just too weird.
The Township will collect large amounts of money from real estate taxes if the condos are built. And perhaps WAVE has promised certain politicians a reward for sticking their necks out and playing ball—perhaps some donations to their re-election campaigns or family foundations, or maybe a nice discount on a condo overlooking the ocean.
If the CMA (the land owner) were to turn that property into a parking lot they would have a long term source of income, but they did the math and decided on the current course of action back in 2007 at least, and so far they have remained supportive of the plan; as they did at the South End in 1986.
So there are quite a few incentives for all the players to push for the NERP. None of those incentives includes pleasing the residents of Ocean Grove.
And a parking lot is probably out of the question unless Neptune turns the table and takes the land by eminent domaine to help solve the parking problem which is causing we the people to suffer. It probably has more rationale than the re-development three-card-monte zoning.
OhGee may be onto something. A parking lot would probably generate more revenue than property taxes and it will serve a public need.
OhGee: A parking sticker could still have you parking 8-10 blocks away from your home. Not the solution.
Annoyed Citizen:
Do you have proof that the hold-up on proceeding with the NERP relates to ground rents? You know, the re-development according to NERP has lots of problems besides ground rents—namely worrisome legal issues about how the zoning was changed, about financial concerns—do they have enough money, about subdivisions that are illegal, about environmental issues, about condos on the beach, and, of course, about parking—the NERP promises an underground garage to satisfy RSIS parking laws. So far no actual plan has been presented for the NERP–just sketchy drawings, and certainly no details about that environmentally worrisome garage.
The WAVE/CMA/Township partnership hasn’t revealed the nature of the NERP delay, so we can only speculate.
AS for the hotel, it’s hard to imagine that a North End re-developer would want a hotel there now that the unique Asbury Hotel has been built and is functioning just a few blocks away.
And don’t forget that the NERP requires that some 2 lane roads be approved over by Lake Avenue; they even already renamed that part of Lake Avenue calling it Beach Avenue. We reported on that before.
The OG Home Groaners have supported and proposed the pro-condo demon-plan to re-do those streets under the guise of parking recommendations. Will they get away with all that? That will be another report forthcoming on Blogfinger. –Paul
The heck with building 25 homes. The OGCMA has the parking resolution right in their hands. Restore the land as a parking lot, charge $20/day like Asbury Park does, parking meters on Ocean Ave, Main Ave, part of Broadway.
Give parking stickers/hand-tags to residents for on-street parking, effective Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The problem with developing the North End project are the ground fees being charged on a sliding scale. They can’t compete with the development in Asbury Park where there are tax abatements and no ground fees, and let’s face it, Ocean Grove has the highest taxes in the entire area.
IMHO the best development for that area is single family homes. There are few single family homes that close to the Beach in Asbury, and single family homes even with a sliding scale ground rent would pull a greater amount of interest then any condo complex would.
As far as a hotel, that would not work well with Ocean Grove because we have a 24/7 noise ordinance.
Have you been to the Asbury Hotel? Definitely not for the Ocean Grove community…
Great article Finger. Very sketchy stuff going on. You make some great points and your research is amazing.