And as for girls in their summer clothes, since 2014 the bottoms got higher and the tops got tighter…it’s all good and now rated PG–at least in A. Park; maybe PG 13 in the Grove.
HOA meeting 6/22/19. Full house, but some questions were banned. Paul Goldfinger photo. Democracy takes a hit.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
June 22, 2019. Ocean Grove, NJ
Barbara Burns, President of the Home Owners Assoc., had invited two members of OGNED, the OG North End Redevelopers, to discuss the latest Plan at today’s meeting, but before letting anyone speak, she set the ground rules:
No questions may be asked if they relate to the past history of the NERP. She said that she didn’t want to “re-litigate” old news. Her guests, “Conditional Redevelopers” William Gannon III and Joel Brenner agreed that they would not answer such questions. They just wanted to talk about the plan as it is today.
But such questions comprise the very foundations of how this controversial plan developed over time, with considerable difficulty, much skepticism, and no results, so it made no sense to limit questioning to the latest point on the timeline. She may think that there is only old news looking back, but that is outrageous. The whole NERP history, 11 years in duration, is flammable and ignitable.
Evidently Burns and Gannon had conspired to keep the subject matter confined only to what he wanted to talk about.
It seems that Mr. Gannon wanted to control the parameters of the meeting—perhaps he didn’t want to be embarrassed by certain questions having their roots in the past. And President Burns went along with that—-she should not have invited him if he were going to disrespect skeptical homeowners in the audience, such as myself and others.
Her demand that only she decide on which questions would be appropriate was arrogant, dumb, overbearing and undemocratic.
In fact, Gannon admitted that his attorneys did not want him to speak at this meeting, but he refused to take their advice, evidently because Burns assured him that there would be no embarrassing questions.
The sorts of questions that she disallowed might have included those having to do with land use procedures in Neptune Township, redevelopment rules and practices, zoning, easements, bidding, RSIS standards, transparency, secrecy, specialist lawyers, and finally, which plan is this one? Only one, from 2008, was ever formally approved.
There is a long list of topics related to the NERP which she inappropriately declared off-limits.
It is idiotic to cut the subject off at the knees when everything that Gannon presented today had its beginnings back in 2008 when the NERP was approved by the Township and the Planning Board. OGNED would not be existing today if it weren’t for the approval of that plan, so all questions dating that far back should have been fair game.
Since that time a great deal has occurred including continuous behind-the-scenes negotiations that went on for years, with no public disclosure, even though a redevelopment plan is a public plan run by the Township, ideally with the utmost in transparency.
Mr. Gannon,a founder of WAVE, tried to tap dance around the fact that the NERP became a public plan in 2008 when WAVE and the CMA succeeded in convincing Neptune to approve the North End as an “area in need of redevelopment.” Neptune Township was to be in charge.
Now, all of a sudden, today, Gannon says that it is a “private redevelopment project,” but he didn’t explain where that term came from nor did he offer to give up the zoning that came with the public “re-development” designation. He should have offered to return the zoning to 25 single family houses if “private” is what it is. And how did he manage to fire Neptune Township as the entity in charge?
My question at the censored meeting was going to be: “In 2008, when the North End was designated as ‘an area in need of redevelopment’ under the supervision of Neptune Township, what was the legal rationale that permitted that designation?”
The CMA back then was capable of building 25 new homes and creating a beautiful new neighborhood. The “redevelopment” designation was not necessary. Then the property lay fallow for 11 years. So now we are getting retail, condos, underground garage, 10 private homes, and a hotel—ie Asbury Park South.
At the meeting, Jack Bredin tried to ask the OGNED duo about the considerable paring down in project density that occurred between 2008 and now, but no straight answer was forthcoming.
Gannon said that the developers originally wanted 224 condos, but now they are down to 78, with 10 single family homes and 40 hotel rooms. So what happened? Why did they willingly give up all that money? Jack and the rest of us want to know.
Homeowners do not seem to be Burns’ top priority—instead developers are.
The biggest news of the morning was that OGNED and the Township have still not signed off on a Redevelopment Agreement, and that is needed before the package goes to the Planning Board. It seems that there still is a tangle of issues to be settled, and OGNED was evasive in explaining all that, hiding behind the “we can’t talk about it” excuse.
Gannon promised that there would be plenty of parking, but no smiley face and jokes will disguise the fact that parking will be trouble.
He said that the White Whale is not part of his group, and he doesn’t know what that owner will do, but maybe there will be a Phase 2 in the future to create further congestion over there.
Also, it seems that OGNED will buy the land currently owned by the CMA.
Gannon also said that plans are being made to treat ground water coming off the site. Details are not available. The DEP is still looking at the plan.
Many permits are still not obtained as OGNED and the Township deal with agencies looking at the situation.
This song is dedicated to Barbara Burns and the Home Groaners:
a. Withdrew the 2008 (10 year old) public North End Redevelopment Plan (NERP) prepared by the Neptune Planning Board for the Township Committee.
b. Withdrew the title of “Co-Redevelopers” from both the OGCMA and WAVE.
c. Approved a 2011 private plan prepared by Shore Point Architecture for WAVE that the HOA took credit for negotiating with the CMA. However, the Township is processing it as if it were a public plan.
That plan is now the OGNED plan that includes the Pavilion building in one section of resolution 18-395, but does not include the Pavilion in another section of the same resolution (Attachment A, dated 11-26-2018.)
d. OGNED is now designated as the exclusive Conditional Redeveloper. But it will become the Redeveloper when a Redevelopers Agreement is signed with the Township.
In 2019: The Township Business Administrator reported, “All issues regarding the OGNED plan have been worked out,” and a Redevelopers Agreement is ready to be signed.
It is clear that the Township Committee has already approved the private development plan prepared by WAVE for OGNED.
The next step is off to the Planning Board, and they will decide if the new OGNED plan is the same plan they prepared with Planning Consultants T&M Associates for the Township Committee in 2008.
Of course, it is not the same plan, but they will say “it is,” or they will be replaced
What is the Ocean Grove Homeowners Association’s role in all of this?
With a favorable response at the June 22 meeting of the HOA, the Township Committee can say, “The Home Owners of Ocean Grove support the high density WAVE/OGNED plan.” After all, they supported the first 2008 plan and took credit for negotiating the new plan.
But to make the record clear on this matter, the Homeowners Association at their upcoming meeting should entertain a Motion of the Membership that they approve or do not approve the OGNED plan for the North End.
As to the HPC, they only make a recommendation, but the HOA represents the “conscience of the community of Ocean Grove” as well as the “will” of the people.
Is there any hope for Ocean Grove?
Editor’s note: HOA members—be sure to demand a vote as to whether the group wants to support the plan presented to them by Mr. Gannon.
That vote should only take place after all audience questions are answered and discussed.
And make sure that the individual who is presenting the plan is giving you confidence that he can be trusted to do the right thing for the residential and historic town of Ocean Grove.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net.
BAN THE PLAN!
THE PLATTERS. Perhaps the HOA leadership will say they’re sorry for supporting the Township on this:
Jack Bredin and Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net. May 30, 2019. Ocean Grove, NJ.
If you read the Blogfinger North End Update below, you will see that Administrator Vito Gadaleta painted a portrait of deceptive simplicity when he described the procedure for getting the latest North End plan off the ground.
He said that all the “issues” have been resolved, so a signed Redevelopers Agreement, which has been missing in action since 2008, is now on the launching pad.
His statement made it seem so easy: just take it to the Neptune Planning Board and then on to the Historic Preservation Commission: a piece of cake.
But not so fast Mr. Gadaleta! You seem to have left out some important issues which, according to New Jersey Land Use Law, require your attention.
This huge commercial, mixed-use-development at the North End is on the verge of being approved, along with the consequent big money that will ensue, and the citizens need to take a close look.
So here are the issues which worry us, even though Mr. Gadaleta and the Fabulous Five failed to mention them in their announcement at the last Workshop meeting.
a. Are they going to persist in calling Lake Avenue a “roadway?” Are they planning to turn the north end boardwalk into a roadway? Or are they planning a new road parallel to the boardwalk?
b. What plans do they have for processing dirty street water runoff ?
c. Have they applied for a CAFRA/DEP permit to protect our coastal waters?
d. Where is the site plan that will show pilings and elevations according to post-Sandy construction regulations?
e. Have they obtained a security bond that will guarantee that the redevelopment project will be built as promised in the Redevelopment Agreement, soon to be signed as promised by Gadaleta? Where is the letter of credit from a financial institution?
f. If they are proposing something different than the original (2008) North End Redevelopment Plan (NERP) then will they be scheduling public meetings for the input of citizens/residents ?
g. What environmental studies have been done? And what about engineering studies regarding the underground garage?
h. If they plan to rebuild the Pavilion property, site of the recent fire, then will they get permission from the CMA to provide access for trucks and other vehicles? Will they provide parking as required by RSIS? That property, east of the boardwalk, would not get parking access to the new garage.
I If OGNED is the contract purchaser of the North End land, then will OGNED pay all the back taxes on the property? And if the CMA sells the land to OGNED, then will the CMA be able to charge ground rents to those residents?
J. And for the part of the NERP west of the boardwalk, will there be enough parking to satisfy a traffic/parking study and will there be a way to get trucks and other vehicles as well as utility access to those properties that face Wesley Lake?
K. Will the Planning Board be able to approve the new NERP (which no one has seen yet) if some or all of the questions above remain unanswered?
So Blogfinger doesn’t know how many of these issues will apply, but it sure doesn’t sound as simple as portrayed by Vito Gadaleta, spokesperson for Neptune Township.
TEDDY THOMPSON AND KELLY JONES “Wondering.”
“Wondering
Yes, I’m wondering
Wondering if you might be wondering too
Lately, I’ve been wondering about this brand new rhythm in my heart
Lately, I’ve been been wondering why these thoughts won’t stop tearing me apart..”
Jean says, “A lot of musicians take advantage of the acoustics in the Casino building.” “Dantana” (his nickname) is the guitarist in the video. Jean tells us that “Dantana” has a running feud with the carousel music man Paul Eichlin. Evidently these two musicians are not compatible in that Casino echo chamber. Is this the start of the “casino wars?”
The building has been hallowed out by A. Park developers with plans to remodel it at some time in the distant future. But, despite that, Grovers love to walk through our North End with its expansive views of the Ocean and then enter the Casino to hear the echoes of laughter, chatter, bikes riding by, children running around, and live music in the air. Fanciful art is painted on the walls.
Thomas Mato Blanchot feat. WAWA: “Isn’t She Lovely”
Editor’s Note: This Stevie Wonder song is about his newborn daughter, but in a larger sense he is writing about the beauty of God’s gifts.
Shouldn’t we try to preserve one of the few remaining open vistas at the Jersey Shore for all to enjoy, not just a select few? Go take a walk at the North End of OG and look around, especially at the open views of the ocean. Why not start by sending letters to the Township Committee. They have the power to cancel that zoning disaster in favor of a gift to the people.
In Morris County, they pay farmers to keep the land forever as farms. Why don’t our elected officials campaign in Trenton and Washington to do the same sort of thing here by turning the North End into a wonderful seaside park (perhaps with a vast underground parking garage to soften the financial loss for the Camp Meeting Association.)
A reasonable Plan B would be to return to single family zoning for that project.
Link to the 1986 rejection of a South End project (posted in 2016):
By Jack Bredin and Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net
A resolution, 19-85, was presented at the Committee meeting of January 28, 2019.
The stated reason for the resolution is that the Township Engineer, Leann Hoffmann, is incapable of handling a matter that needs a “coastal engineer.” The funny thing is that the specific reason for needing such a “specialist” is not stated in the resolution.
The resolution says that the Township “desires to appoint a pool of consulting engineers for services on specific Township projects.”
The wording in the “Be It Resolved” portion is that these engineers, already chosen, will be “solicited for proposals on larger and/or specialized coastal engineering projects beyond the scope of the Township Engineer and in-house staff for the year 2019.”
The resolution indicates that the Township will be “appointing” CME Associates and Andrew Rella of ECOncrete Inc.as consultants.”
Well, golly…do you suppose that this is about the oft-mentioned underground parking garage which is part of the North End Redevelopment Plan near the Ocean and the Lake?
Some members of the citizen audience asked if this had to do with the North End, and Vito Gadaleta, Business Administrator for Neptune, somehow got the job of responding. You would think that the elected Committee mavens could answer the question.
However Mr. Gadaleta caused some eyebrows to go up when he asserted that the North End Redevelopment project was “not a public project.” Therefore he seemed to be saying that it is not a public concern. And does he really believe what he just said?
Does he not know that an “Area in Need of Redevelopment” is, by definition, a public project?
Already the meeting sank into a dark hole of subterfuge.
Then he went on to explain that the coastal engineers just appointed would not be looking at the North End project. Instead they would be used for some other un-named coastal issues.
So why were they appointed just now? He said, “We are looking to create living shore lines.”
Wow…where did that come from?
In brief, according to the National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, “Living shorelines are a green infrastructure technique using native vegetation alone or in combination with offshore sills to stabilize the shoreline. Living shorelines provide a natural alternative to ‘hard’ shoreline stabilization methods like stone sills or bulkheads, and provide numerous benefits including nutrient pollution remediation, essential fish habitat provision, and buffering of shoreline from waves and storms.”
Well, if you believe that, we will sell you an underground parking garage. And don’t forget, there already is a darn good bulkhead at the North End boardwalk, one that was highly touted by the CMA after Sandy.
Let’s consider a couple of basic facts. If the Township wants an underground garage for the North End, it would have to obtain DEP approval. But the DEP doesn’t have its own engineers. Instead, for any particular project involving the shore, the developers must hire engineers who are approved by the DEP. Maybe that’s what’s going on here.
As usual, we get opaque gobbledygook at these meetings, instead of clear information. We are forced to speculate.
Interestingly, the Ocean Grove Home Groaners Ass. departed from its usual position at these meetings, which is semi-comatose, where it throws softballs at the dais, to an unusual sight where two of them actually went to the mic and challenged Gadaleta to explain the hiring of those engineers.
But then, after hearing his nonsensical replies, instead of forcefully leaning on him, they offered him an invitation to one of their dopey meetings where he can come, have coffee and cookies, and play patty cakes with Barbara Burns and her merry band of soft shoe dancers.
The Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove. Does this look like a town in need of a special redevelopment zone? Paul Goldfinger photograph. Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
The copy below is from the “NJ Statutes for Counties and Municipalities,” section 40A:12A-5: Determination of need for redevelopment:
As many of you know, the way that the CMA, WAVE, and Neptune Township were able to bury the single family zoning for the North End of Ocean Grove was to fraudulently declare the property an “area in need of redevelopment.”
That is how they justified turning that property into a commercial zone. That is how they were able to grant permission for condominiums, an underground garage, retail, restaurants, etc.
All of this is contrary to the goals of Ocean Grove’s Master Plan which stressed the residential /historic nature of the town.
Currently the latest consortium of big shots in town will push hard to begin a revised version of that project.
It’s not clear from the gobbledygook that they are putting out lately, that the changes which they are now happily promoting will avoid complications such as environmental damage, congestion, worsened parking distress, and further deterioration of quality of life for residents. Nor is it clear that those changes are legal and proper according to land use laws in New Jersey. We think not, on both counts.
If you are curious about what went down in 2008, read this to see what the State had in mind for “areas in need of redevelopment.”
40A:12A-5 Determination of need for redevelopment:
5.A delineated area may be determined to be in need of redevelopment if, after investigation, notice and hearing as provided in section 6 of P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-6), the governing body of the municipality by resolution concludes that within the delineated area any of the following conditions is found:
a. The generality of buildings are substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated, or obsolescent, or possess any of such characteristics, or are so lacking in light, air, or space, as to be conducive to unwholesome living or working conditions.
b. The discontinuance of the use of buildings previously used for commercial, manufacturing, or industrial purposes; the abandonment of such buildings; or the same being allowed to fall into so great a state of disrepair as to be untenable.
c. Land that is owned by the municipality, the county, a local housing authority, redevelopment agency or redevelopment entity, or unimproved vacant land that has remained so for a period of ten years prior to adoption of the resolution, and that by reason of its location, remoteness, lack of means of access to developed sections or portions of the municipality, or topography, or nature of the soil, is not likely to be developed through the instrumentality of private capital.
d. Areas with buildings or improvements which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community.
e. A growing lack or total lack of proper utilization of areas caused by the condition of the title, diverse ownership of the real property therein or other conditions, resulting in a stagnant or not fully productive condition of land potentially useful and valuable for contributing to and serving the public health, safety and welfare.
f. Areas, in excess of five contiguous acres, whereon buildings or improvements have been destroyed, consumed by fire, demolished or altered by the action of storm, fire, cyclone, tornado, earthquake or other casualty in such a way that the aggregate assessed value of the area has been materially depreciated.
g. In any municipality in which an enterprise zone has been designated pursuant to the “New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Act,” P.L.1983, c.303 (C.52:27H-60 et seq.) etc.
h. The designation of the delineated area is consistent with smart growth planning principles adopted pursuant to law or regulation.
L.1992,c.79,s.5; amended 2003, c.125, s.3.
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL: “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright.”
“So long, Frank Lloyd Wright
I can’t believe your song is gone so soon
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.”
Jack Bredin is covering the home front for Blogfinger these days. Here he is with a North End bulletin: a commentary on the Township Comedy Meeting of December 20, 2018—the last opaque words for this year from this gang that can’t shoot straight.*
“The Approved NERP was for 165 units. After approval it was put into cold storage for ten years.
“Since then, the Mayor and the Township Committee, the Mayor’s Re-development Committee, the OGCMA, the OGHOA, the former Re-developers, and the new Re-developers, have all said the following :
‘There is a new Re-development Plan that cuts the proposed density 50%, down to 80 units.’
“Early this month the Township Committee reported they were voting on this new plan, and they did. And, the Mayor signed off on the plan they voted on.
“At the Dec. 20, 2018 meeting, an OG resident from Heck Ave (not Jack Bredin) said to the Committee: ‘The Township website is not clear as to what plan was approved at the last meeting.’
So, what plan was approved?’
“The answer from the Township Attorney was, ‘The 2008 plan was the only plan we were ever considering.’ “
* “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” is the story of Papa Baccala, a Brooklyn Mafia boss, and Kid Sally Palumbo, a would-be capo who “couldn’t run a gas station at a profit even if he stole the customers’ cars”.
This Broadway tune is the perfect backdrop for the comedy of errors described above by Jack Bredin. We have Zero Mostel with a ditty from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” It goes to show how local government around here has deteriorated since the days of the Roman Forum when Jack was a prefect in a short skirt.
When Jack and I first read the new North End Resolution which was passed on Nov. 26, 2018, we looked at each other and asked, “What is this?” It wasn’t clear what the main point of the Resolution was. It included an itemized list of over 30 important elements of the plan, none of which were explained in detail.
It not only wasn’t clear as to what the Resolution was all about or why it was necessary, but it was impossible to figure out if the Resolution was attempting to actually pass the “new” 2018 North End Redevelopment Plan.
Here is the official title of the Resolution #18 -395 as obtained from the Neptune Comedy agenda:
“Authorize the execution of a conditional designation and interim cost agreement with OG North End Development (OGNED) including provisions for a deposit of project funds to defray costs incurred by the Township of Neptune in connection with the negotiation of a Redevelopment Agreement, pursuant to the local redevelopment and housing law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1, ET Seq.”
Got it?
We thought the language was gobbledygook, and below is a link to Part I of our discussion of the Resolution.
The Township Redevelopment Attorney for the “Proposal” did speak to the public at the Comedy meeting, and some of his quotes are mentioned (below) in a Coaster front-page article dated Nov. 29, 2018
Isn’t it interesting that none of our elected officials tried to explain the Resolution to the public–instead the Neptune Comedy brought their hired gun out of the shadows and asked him to explain the Resolution to the citizens.
Below are some Qoaster quotes from the Township Redevelopment Attorney Joseph Maraziti of Short Hills. He said:
“It’s important for the community to understand the project.”
“…this is not a redevelopment agreement but part of negotiations towards a redevelopment agreement with Ocean Grove North End Development LLC.”
“There will be many topics at many levels discussed and resolved (in the agreement.) Nothing is even resolved at this time.”
The Coaster reporter said, “Redevelopment of the long-neglected North End of Ocean Grove took a step forward this week when Neptune officials approved an official agreement that is expected to eventually result in a comprehensive redevelopment plan.”
And finally, Mayor Nicholas Williams cleared it up by saying, “This is just the first step and that’s where we are tonight.”
So, Mr. Mayor, you say that ” ‘this’ is just the first step,” and now that we all know what the meaning of “this” is, we can be reassured that we now understand the Resolution.
Last June we posted this Mayor’s photo with the lead-in: “Portrait of a leader who represents the electorate or just one of the boys? What will Nicholas Williams legacy be?”
Are they kidding? “Le Dejeuner Sur L’herbe” by Yue Minjun. Paul Goldfinger photo. Princeton U. Art Museum.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor and Jack Bredin, citizen activist, reporter and researcher for Blogfinger.net
There will be a resolution on the menu for the November 26 Township Committee meeting regarding a new plan for the Ocean Grove North End. The language is such that it will be very difficult for any of you citizens who are not lawyers to know precisely what is going on. The resolution is long and has multiple parts, and they probably won’t read the whole thing at the meeting.
But either way, it will leave your head spinning due to lack of transparency and lucid explanations of what it all is about.
As you know, a North End Redevelopment Plan was approved in 2008 with the CMA and WAVE designated as co-redevelopers. Over the years, the principles could not figure out how to make the Plan happen. In 2015 Randy Bishop presented a scaled-down plan, but that was never approved. Until now, only the 2008 NERP has been valid. But now, with this resolution, the Township is re-introducing the “Randy Bishop Plan.”
About 6 months ago, the President of the CMA said that a new plan would take effect soon. Lately a new redeveloper (OGNED) appeared on the North End scene and has been “negotiating” with the Township. That group is called Ocean Grove North End Developer. It is a “joint venture” consisting of WAVE and a few more LLC players.
If you want to read the entire new Resolution, go to neptunetownship.org and click on agendas/minutes. Then click on Township Committee and choose the agenda for Nov. 26, 2018.
In brief, the title of the Resolution #18-395 says “Authorize the execution of a conditional designation and interim cost agreement with OG North End Development (OGNED) including provisions for a deposit of project funds to defray costs incurred by the Township of Neptune in connection with the negotiation of a Redevelopment Agreement, pursuant to the local redevelopment and housing law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1, ET Seq.” Got it?
We can tell you some of the provisions, but the Resolution is full of more holes than a bagel factory. Here are some of the components:
a. The project site is now 3 acres, not 5 acres as before. The entire new plan is about half the size of the original 2008 NERP.
b. The new “Proposal” calls for a mixed use development with a hotel, 36 condos, 10 single family homes, 9,000 square feet boardwalk retail, 20 surface parking spaces and a 144 car “subterranean parking structure.” There also will be “public open space, view corridors and a promenade along Wesley Lake.”
c. The Township Redevelopment Committee has “vetted the Proposal.”
d. The Township has decided that OGNED has the “necessary experience and qualifications” to implement the Proposal.
e. The Township and OGNED must negotiate a Redevelopment Agreement.
f. CMA, the land owner, is no longer designated as a co-redeveloper, as requested by WAVE.
g. With this Resolution, OGNED is designated as the “Conditional Redeveloper of the Project Site.” This is pending further negotiations involving the Township. If they cannot agree to a Redevelopers Agreement, then the deal is terminated.
We are concerned that the proper redevelopment legal procedures are not being followed as this “new Plan” is propelled into reality by this Resolution. Of course, we are not lawyers, and wouldn’t it be great if the Home Groaners hired an expert to vett this stuff for we the people?
We are just scratching the surface, but our concerns include:
A. Why were there no public meetings/input prior to putting this gobbledygook on the table. The public deserves a transparent explanation, in detail, to understand what this is all about. Why isn’t normal English used–for example, what are a “conditional designation, a conditional redeveloper, and an interim cost agreement?”
B. What is the relationship of the original (2008 and still in effect) NERP to this new “proposal?” Could the OGNED developers decide to change their minds and shift gears back to the original and larger NERP provisions?
C. the Resolution says that the original 2008 NERP has been “amended from time to time,” but that is not true.
D. A sketchy presentation of the “new proposal” is found in the resolution, but does this Resolution pretend to officially approve the “new proposal” now? The title doesn’t say that.
E. Is there an engineering estimate of the cost of this project?
F. The resolution gives OGNED exclusive negotiation rights with the Township. Why has there been no bidding requested to let other developers have a chance to get this project? The redevelopment law requires bidding.
G. Terminology: What are the definitions of: “concept plan,” “consent agenda,” “option agreement,” “interim cost agreement,” “pre-submission forms,” and “preliminary plans?” And what is the definition of the “Proposal?”
Does approval of this Resolution indicate approval of the new “scaled-down” North End Re-Development Plan? There are 34 items listed as part of the “scope” of the plan, and there are few details. So how can such a plan be approved now?
H. It’s been ten years. The Township owes it to the people of Ocean Grove to reconsider the out-of-date “Zone in Need of Redevelopment” designation. Why should these developers with their new “Proposal” be given a free ride to overthrow the original single family zoning?
There is nothing about that property that would make the North End site in need of re-development. The CMA and OGNED are perfectly able to develop that area without local government handing them zoning relief.
I. And finally, after 10 years of diddly-squat at the North End, are they kidding??
By Jack Bredin, reporter/researcher and Paul Goldfinger, Editor. Blogfinger.net
Let’s review some of the background of the North End Redevelopment Plan and then bring us all up to date. At the heart of this post is the Township Committee meeting of October 22, 2018.
Redevelopment is a public project. A developer does not become a Redeveloper with the authority to develop an “area in need of redevelopment” until they have signed a contract with a Township called a Redevelopers Agreement. In Neptune Township there are “areas in need of redevelopment”, but there are no officially approved redevelopers. What went wrong, and how can this happen?
In 2005, and again in 2008, at a time after redevelopers were selected by the Township for two large projects, the Mayor’s Redevelopment Committee went into executive session behind closed doors to negotiate Redevelopment Agreements for:
West Lake Avenue in Midtown
North End in Ocean Grove
But the choice of redevelopers was done out of sequence in the Grove, and Redevelopers Agreements were ever finalized. The Township should have waited for the Township Attorney to first negotiate and have signed the Redevelopers Agreements before selecting anyone as a Redeveloper.
These agreements would have provided the Township Committee with guaranteed provisions to insure the timely construction of the redevelopment projects, the qualifications, and the financial capabilities and financial guarantees of the redeveloper (s) before the Committee selected a Redeveloper for either project.
Signing a Redevelopers Agreement would usually take place at a special 10 am meeting on the same day the Redeveloper is officially selected by resolution. In the event that a developer does not sign an agreement within 10 days of being selected, he should be dismissed.
Ten years ago, our Governing Body did not properly vet their Redeveloper friends for the North End of OG (CMA and WAVE,) and after being appointed as the only horses in a horse race, they never crossed the finish line due to the fact that they could not come up with the necessary money and then they all backed out. Thus the North End Plan was never implemented.
As a result of that failure, the Mayor’s Redevelopment Committee is technically still in executive session for all these years and that is why the Mayor’s Committee will not now reveal any information to the public. And thus there are still no Redevelopers for these two projects.
Now, after 10 years of nothing being developed through the redevelopment process, and while everything is being developed all around us by “general development,” Dr. Brantley said, “I think we have to review all the redevelopment projects,” and then the Township hired a “special redevelopment attorney” for the unenviable job of trying to pull these projects out of the mud.
Shortly after that, this past month, our new Mayor, Nicholas Williams, reports the following: “Thanks to the non-stop work of our Redevelopment Committee, residents will soon be hearing about two major investments that will transform our community for the better…..”
And then, like magic, there appears on the agenda of the October 22, 2018 Township Committee meeting, a Resolution, No. 18-369, regarding the West Lake Avenue project in Midtown. The Resolution was approved, appointing BAW Development, LLC, as a “Conditional Redeveloper” while also approving a “Pre-Redevelopers Agreement.” This agreement is for a 6 month period of time when a formal Redevelopment Agreement will be signed.
We believe that this so called “Pre-Redevelopment” process is not permitted by State Standards, Municipal Land Use Law, and Redevelopment Law. We think that this new process has been invented to find an end-run around the usual legal procedures to move such projects along and which have failed so far in Neptune Township. In addition, this maneuver will prevent any other developers from bidding on these projects while the Township dithers.
The new Redevelopment Attorney said at the meeting that they will use the same process with the North End project in OG. That is why we are extrapolating what was said about West Lake to what will likely happen for the North End.
We think that the Mayor’s Redevelopment Committee is failing we the people by remaining silent. Where is the transparency?
Ocean Grovers: Keep your eyes and ears open as this situation evolves—our local government seems to be placing the best interests of Grovers at the bottom of the pile.
At the September 24, 2018 Township Committee meeting, Michael Brantley, who also is on the Mayor’s Negotiating Committee, said that he met with the North End Redeveloper (OGNED) about the North End Redevelopment project.
As a result, he said, “I hope to have some very good news about the North End plan before the next month is out.”
This is his way of saying “by the end of October.” Of course, this announcement now is a nothing-burger.*
But, in view of this “where’s the beef” moment, let us speculate:
We guess that the Committeeman will announce something that will please the new Redeveloper so that he might make a ton of money defacing the North End of OG. And/or it is news that will please the Township Committee because of all the tax money. And/or it will please the CMA for a variety of financial reasons.
What will he have to say that will please the citizens of Ocean Grove? Probably “gornish,” (A Yiddish word which means “nothing.”)
Meanwhile, two residents previously asked the Committee to have the Redevelopment Attorney attend this meeting to explain the violations of land use law going on here. Do you think he came? Of course, he did not, and this is another example of the massive indifference towards the people of OG by the Township Committee.
* Merriam Webster definition: “The term nothing-burger emerges in the media whenever something is downplayed as irrelevant or insignificant. Although the term itself is not new, it has taken on new life in recent months as the au courant way of saying “there’s nothing to see here.”
Committee Theme Song. “Ain’t Misbehaven.” HANK WILLIAMS, JR.
