We recently reported that the Neptune Board of Adjustment granted a use variance to the new owner of the Aurora which would allow him to turn that historic building into 4 condominium apartments. That property had been zoned for a single family home, which is what it was when the last owner bought it and sold it.
This variance ruling is suspect because the Board of Adjustment OK’d the application on the grounds that the Aurora lot could legally accommodate 4 single family houses. But, it is possible that this reasoning presented by the developer may be fraudulent.
And this is the basis for the suit which has been filed in Monmouth Superior Court by a Grover, and thus the progress of this new zoning decision has been brought to a grinding halt pending resolution of the suit.
We have not seen the suit , but we are told that the developer and the property owner have been named.
The Aurora Goddess of the Dawn (2018) by Jack Bredin, OG artist–a historic theme. Study it carefully; look at the North End
By Paul Goldfinger, M.D. Editor @ BLOGFINGER.net. This post is updated from 2018.
But a review of what happened to the Aurora is useful now (2021) that the North End plan is under scrutiny by the HPC. Also the comments from then are quite interesting.
It was finally sold and turned into 4 condos. The Board of Adjustment gave the developer a user variance.
2018–before the sale: The Aurora was built in 1890. Ocean Grove historian Ted Bell says that the former hotel is a “national treasure.” Below this post is a background article from September 2017 on Blogfinger.
The Aurora has 30 bedrooms, 4 floors and a finished basement. The listing says that it has ocean views on every level and sits on 4 lots. It fronts on Surf and Atlantic Avenues and has a driveway and a garage. The lot size is 4,622 square feet.
Inside the building contains 6,615 square feet. The most recent property taxes were $33,979 in 2014.
When the current owner bought it, he changed its legal standing to a single family home. He became famous for flying huge American flags on both sides of his home for July 4.
The word on the street says that a developer will buy the historic building and turn it into 4 luxury condominiums. Such a plan would require all sorts of approvals at the local level and at the state. Hopefully this idea is just an unbelievable rumor, but the history of Neptune Township in Ocean Grove suggests that anything could happen, legal or not.
The first issue that comes to mind is that the HPC would never let this building be altered in a major way, and a multifamily condo conversion would be illegal from a zoning perspective.
The second thing is that there would be essentially no on-site parking, so it’s not likely that the State Site Improvement Advisory Board would ever give this project a “special standard” to make it exempt from the law.
But, if the rumors are true, the public must be told which officials and realtors reassured the prospective buyer; and what contingencies are built into the offer. We all have a stake in enforcement of the law and protection of our town’s precious architectural history.
Your comments and speculation are welcome below, but remember that so far we have no facts on the table other than that a buyer has been found and the sale is “pending.” Maybe that buyer has a big family like the current owner.
