Hi Mom! Bamboozle attracted 80,000 people to A. Park. HELD IN MAY, 2012. Many crowded the rentals and parked free in OG. So, is May free of OG glut? Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor. Blogfinger.net. Re-post from 2018. Ocean Grove, NJ
Did you ever hear certain Grovers belittle the parking complaints of residents in this way? I have, and it is a cliché chosen to intimidate residents and trivialize the effects of parking distress on their quality of life. Such talk often emanates from the mouths of realtors and speculators who want to build condos, sell houses, and rent residences and stores.
Here is a quote from a BF parking article last October, 2017. “Jack Green said on Facebook that there are only about 18 days at peak season when there is trouble parking.”
The truth is that there are many 3-day weekends and weekdays each summer and also on some spring and fall weekends where the number of cars exceeds the spaces in the Grove. The “season” actually extends from May through October.
When glut happens, there are issues that adversely affect those who live in town and ironically pay real estate taxes, one way or another.
Here is a link to our article regarding the “Parking Derangement Syndrome” first described at the Blogfinger Offshore School of Medicine in Ocean Grove:
Did you happen to notice the syndrome during the Giant September Flea Market which just happened? The F bombs were flying around the Pathway and landing on the two Norms’ porches.
This problem is about more than parking. Crazed drivers were circling our streets looking for a space. They were frustrated, wild-eyed, hot, and angry. They were lured by advertisements promising a good time. (Fake news and false advertising) None of the organizers provided any parking assistance (such as shuttles.) If a parking space were to appear, its life expectancy was averaging 15 seconds or less.
This is no way to live; I don’t care if it is “only” 50 days each year.
Consider the email we got today from Rosemary of Ocean Grove:
“Good Morning Paul:
I just learned that 20,000 attendees are expected for the 2018 inaugural Sea Hear Now Festival (art, music and surfing) in neighboring Asbury Park on the weekend of September 29 and 30) Much of the available parking near the boardwalk was acquired by the promoters from the city. Not sure if this is to provide parking for attendees or to have space to stage. AP will also receive $1 from each ticket sold.
I assume we Grovers will be competing for spaces over here in Ocean Grove as the spillover would appear inevitable. Just when we were beginning to enjoy the relative quiet of the post season.
Best,
Rosemary
Editor’s note: Thanks Rosemary. Not only is the Camp Meeting Association of Ocean Grove striving to have more tourist weekends year round, so is A. Park whose parkers will be inundating the Grove. The AP crowd won’t be happy until every weekend in their city is filled with tourist lures.
And, if the North End extravaganza eventually gets built here, there will be yet another source of that sucking sound which draws cars, SUV’s and giant trucks into the Grove adding to air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution and culture pollution which we already are experiencing.
My son’s dog Pooja can’t even find a place to poop lately.
The Zombies come by the thousands each October. Last year a few lurched over to the Grove; this year it is OCTOBER 6.
2013 Zombies. A. Park. At least 20,000 will come this fall. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click to enlarge the mob.
* Dictionary.com:
adjectiveSlang. cockamamie
ridiculous,pointless, or nonsensical:full of wildschemesandcockamamieideas.
On December 23, the OGCMA expressed its official opinions in the local news (Asbury Park Press) about parking in the Grove. We responded that day on Blogfinger (scroll down)
So what started out as a project by the Better Parking Alliance (BPA) has evolved into a free-for-all after the Township Committee hacked it to death and now, after the CMA, uncharacteristically, went public in the paper with their self-indulgent parking opinions.
So, once you have stuck your heads out the window to yell, you may comment here about the CMA’s opinions and/or about anything parking related. That topic is the gift that keeps on giving, even after Christmas.
And since everybody’s talking again about parking, here is Harry Nilsson from Midnight Cowboy:
By Jack Bredin and Paul Goldfinger: Blogfinger.net
In our article about the BPA plan dated December 7, we concluded by saying, “Don’t hold your breath for a joyous reception at the Municipal Building to any idea that would help OG with its parking.”
We were referring to the Committee meeting of last night, December 9, when the Better Parking Alliance made a presentation of its parking plan to the Neptuners during their Workshop Session. The pubic was invited to attend but were not permitted to speak. A large crowd assembled for the Workshop. An eyewitness said that the plan “fell flat.”
The Committee made no comments but they then retired to a private “anteroom” where the group discussed the plan in closed session.
Later, the open session began, but that business meeting was brief in order to have the public portion consisting of 5 minute statements by anyone who wished to speak. The crowd was large in the Committee Room.
Our reporter estimated that about half of the commenters were in favor of the BPA plan while half were opposed. The opposition was mostly about how the plan would not produce a net benefit, because Asburian invaders would simply shift gears and move south. Those who were in favor seemed to be supporters without much to justify their support, other than to think that something is better than nothing.
On December 7, Blogfinger reported on the BPA goal:
“To quote Andy Levine, ‘The stated goal (of the plan) is to pinpoint and implement a parking solution that balances the needs of Ocean Grove’s diverse constituencies.’
Blogfinger’s reaction to that goal was: “But for those who have been here for many years, this sounds less like a doable goal and more like a fatal flaw.”
While quite a few speakers had something to say, the Committee just listened and had nothing to say. Our reporter mentions some specifics:
a. The Home Groaners were not supportive of the plan because they didn’t like the polling method.
b. The Camp Meeting Association, as expected, was opposed. Their President, Michael Badger, stiff armed everyone in the room as he announced that the CMA was designing its own plan. He claimed that the CMA had been ignored during prior attempts to solve the parking issues.
c. The Mayor asserted that the Alliance’s plan was “inconsistent” with their survey results. She suggested that the BPA return to “Andy’s kitchen table” to come up with something else. She said that the group should “get together” with the CMA and the Chamber of Commercials.
But why didn’t she include the residents of Ocean Grove in her suggested round-table? It is typical of the Mayor and her marching band to forget about the largest faction in town–those who live here and pay taxes/rents.
c. Jack Green, a well known OG realtor, long-time citizen, and contractor, rose to speak, and that is very unusual for him at these meetings. He made it clear that he was opposed to the plan, but his reasons weren’t explained other than for him to say that the plan wasn’t the answer.
d. Andy Levine stood to announce that he would remain after the meeting to answer questions, but “he made a hasty exit when the meeting was adjourned,” according to our reporter.
So this is what happens when a presentation like this is made in public without clear planning to achieve a result. The worst of it is that the elected officials on the dais do not allow any dialogue—only brief opinions. Is this democracy and free speech?
Here is a link to the Blogfinger post from Dec 7, where we brought up the crux of the problem: too many cars in too small a space.
It was the beginning of a beautiful beach weekend. On Friday afternoon, the floodgates of vehicles had already opened for another gridlocked weekend in the Grove. Ironically, both these parking games were being played out within one block of each other, almost on top of the NTPD substation next to Thornley Chapel.
By Saturday, I had to park over 3 blocks from my house, and while walking back, the sloppiness of parking on our streets was evident, with large segments of curb being empty, but not quite large enough to be a parking space. If only some parkers were more considerate and less arrogant.
Some have suggested marking the parking spaces in town, but that would, I am told, take up even more parking spaces given the sizes required. Have you noticed how large each marked handicapped space is?
JULIO IGLESIAS (” The games of love I played with arrogance and pride, including my parking habits.” )
Delaware Ave. in OG. 7/14, 2018 Blogfinger photo. Two huge vehicles.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
The parking math is fairly simple: The two variables are parking spaces and cars. And when there is gridlock, the number of cars exceeds the number of spaces.
One sub-variable is that so many people are now driving huge cars, SUV’s and vans (as in the photo above); the effect is to reduce the number of spaces. If we all bought little cars, as they do in Europe, parking spaces would be more plentiful and easier to navigate.
Far and away, the major variable is the number of cars in town. And unlike other shore towns with parking issues, we have the Camp Meeting Association, which has considerable programming designed for out-of-towners. And we have a Chamber of Commercials which finds it necessary to have large events and to close our downtown streets intermittently. Who does that benefit? So we have more grid-lock events than other shore towns, and we are the smallest.
Part of the calculation is that many times, especially in the “off season,” there are plenty of spaces available for residents, but that doesn’t lessen the problems in-season which is now a minimum of 4 months each year. During that time-span, parking often creates problems for those who live in town, including many folks who pay taxes and others who pay rents to help pay taxes. Why are tourists considered to be more important than residents?
Hey Mayor: What do you say about that?? The mayor of Belmar says that his residents are the most important.
And then there are the games people play which affect the number of spaces. We’ve been reporting on that.
We recently mentioned handicap spaces which are plentiful in the Grove and reduce the number of available (not total) space, and which may be used inappropriately . For example, if a handicapped person has two cars, and has stickers for two cars, his wife may be seen parking one of those cars in the handicap space, but she has no handicap, only the car does. That is wrong!
There are those who say that the parking issues in the Grove are insoluble. And that is definitely true if no one tries to solve the problem. Someone pointed out that less shoppers come into town in season because people hate the “find a parking spot” quest. If so, there should be less cars and perhaps more spaces. Such a dynamic would hurt the downtown shops, but not one of the businesses in town or the Chamber of Commercials has concerned itself with resident parking.
Similarly, less big-time Saturday night shows will result in less cars on those Saturday evenings.
And every time the Township approves a multi-unit building, as will probably happen with the single-family Aurora (applying to become a 4 family site contrary to zoning and the Master Plan) and as happened many times in the past with condo conversions/no parking provided, the number of cars keeps growing while the numbers of spaces pretty much stands still.
Or if the township ignores zoning and allows the North End to become a redevelopment area with a “get-out-of-jail” card to do whatever they want, such as 165 condos and a hotel, there will be fewer spaces available and more cars, even if there is a garage for hotel guests and homeowners.
Imagine what the effect of a hotel alone would be. How about a wedding on a Saturday night? Or the opening of Hooters inside the hotel.
The parking issue is not just that; parking creates a ripple affect that can affect other variables—-such as quality of life for residents—-something which the Township and the local organizations such as the Groaners routinely ignore.
So, if you can’t get a parking space, we wish you shelter from the storm, lemonade in July, and love.
This conversation was begun in the context of storm news, as a snow storm hit Ocean Grove on January 27, 2015. Comments are posted chronologically here instead of the usual location. Editing might be required for clarity, grammar, spelling, and sanity.
Mr. Right Jan. 27, 2015 —–“Something needs to be said about parking etiquette. If one neighbor spends 30 minutes digging his car out only for his **#$@% neighbor to pull into that spot as soon as he leaves, that is wrong! In the past, diggers have placed garbage cans, etc. to hold their spot, and as far as I am concerned, that is perfectly ethical to do, even though the police will not back you up if someone removes the can and parks there anyhow.”
Marie Coppinger. Jan. 27, 2015—- “May I comment on “parking etiquette”? I have been in O.G. for many years and this comes up every year. These are public streets. You cannot “hold” a parking space just because you shoveled it out. How would I know who shoveled any given space? And if I do park in my neighbor’s spot, it is because some one has parked in the space I recently shoveled. Let’s be reasonable.”
Blogfinger. Marie is correct that this topic has appeared before, but some subjects are worth rehashing. Here is a link to July 2013 when there were many comments about this subject. holding spaces link
Plump Mike. Jan 28. “I guess Mary took her neighbor’s parking spot. If each homeowner took the time to dig out one space near their home, making it easy to enter and exit, then this wouldn’t be as much an issue. It’s a shame that OG taxpayers don’t have a space reserved for each home like they have in many north Jersey towns. If you could dig out your space, it would be there for you when you get home from the grocery store. Taxpayers should get a break from the town on the parking situation, especially in the winter where it can be a hardship to walk four blocks in the cold.”
Pam. Jan 28. “It is a shame that as tax payers we aren’t entitled to one parking spot. Nevertheless my husband and I try to show courtesy to our neighbors even in the summer and other seasons. We try very hard to park in the same spots every time thus leaving spots free for our neighbors to park in front of their houses.
“I wish something could be done for our OG elderly who should be able to park in their spot. It’s hard for them to have to carry groceries or maneuver in the snow if their car is a ways from their houses; and they shouldn’t have to search for a parking spot during the height of the summer. If only a little civility could be shown to our neighbors and the elderly. Then we could get busy figuring out a way to provide parking for tourists and for those owning commercial trucks so they don’t take our spots away.”
Mary Lou. Jan 28. “We are all pretty respectful of each others “parking territory” on my street. I like to park in the usual space nearest to my front door because I leave for work at 6 am in the morning. On a dark, icy winter morning, I appreciate the fact that I have a short distance to get to my car. During the summer, I don’t care if I’m parked at a distance.”
Doubting Thomas. Jan 28. This reminds me of internet etiquette, which is still evolving. Rules of politeness must be written down and acknowledged by most civilized citizens if they are to be honored, but such rules don’t exist for Grovers with snow drifts. So we must rely on the instincts of residents who perhaps have certain values in their DNA, or, at, least in their subconscious where common themes exist based on our culture. Having said that, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, because the NTPD won’t get in the middle of this unless there is blood on the snow.
Embury Resident. Jan. 29. This is intended for the parking etiquette conversation. I have a driveway and only come down on weekends. I try to be a good neighbor and pay someone to clean my (empty) driveway & sidewalk after a snow fall. I did this yesterday. He cleaned everything, only to call me today to let me know that one of my “neighbors” threw all the snow he shoveled from his property onto my driveway. Not very neighborly.
Paul Devine. Jan. 30. I am not in OG many weekends in the winter. Without reserved spots neighbors are able to use the spot which eases parking for our wonderful neighbors. I do agree that something should be done with cars that are warehoused on the street and not used.
Jo Ann Marino. Jan 30. Homeowners in Lavallette who do not have a driveway pay an annual fee to the town for a designated parking space on the street near or outside their home. A win win situation.
Paul Goldfinger. Jan 30. Jo Ann—There are a number of constituencies in Ocean Grove including tourists, homeowners, renters, merchants and others. The group that is ignored in this conversation are the homeowners who live here year round or part time. They have been ignored as far as the parking situation is concerned. I totally agree that we too should receive a reserved space in front of our homes. This is a common solution around the state of New Jersey.
Wisher. Feb. 1—I am bothered that few people shovel. Now ice and snow have solidified around cars, and cannot be removed. So instead of winter in New England, the scene looks more like Arctic Station Ocean Grove. There are many able-bodied hipsters renting in my Asbury Ave. neighborhood with nice cars and no shovel. Out of the whole two blocks around me, it was just me and another older guy shoveling our spaces. Then we pull out, and someone is there in the space when we get back.
It is a shame because it is great exercise and a way to meet people through simple acts of kindness.
The Blogfinger cow is covering the Committee meetings and any undder events where he/she can report on fake news.
And support the Blogfinger cow. Our milk is organic, and contains no methane gas.
From the Neptune Township Committee meeting minutes on January 8. Only 3 committeemen were present.
REGARDING PERMIT PARKING: (excerpts of the minutes)
“DR BRANTLEY stated that he could support moving forward with the permit parking proposal. Parking is a free commodity and the Committee needs to find a way to better manage this commodity. He suggested working with Asbury Park on this issue.”
“COMMITTEEMAN LANE commended Ms. Rizzo for the proposal. He stated that he could not move forward with permits at this time. He is concerned with all the residents. Permits will not decrease the number of people parking in Ocean Grove and then walking to Asbury Park. The Committee will be talking to Asbury Park on this issue.”
“MAYOR WILLIAMS stated that he was a member of the Parking Task Force. There are still unanswered questions about permit parking. There were good comments received on December 21st but there are a lot of questions including eligibility of Neptune Township residents who do not reside in Ocean Grove, how would the permits be handled at Town Hall, and how much staff would be needed. He recommended not to move forward with the permit parking plan.”
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
“JOAN VENEZIA, 107 Mt. Hermon Way, stated that the parking decision should have been postponed until Ms. Rizzo is present. She asked the Committee how the Township will manage parking and what are the reasons why permit parking will not move forward. The Committee indicated that they would discuss the matter with Asbury Park.”
“Mr. Lane stated that permits would be a hardship to tourism and most do not want permits. Mayor Williams mentioned legal liability and the outstanding issue whether everyone in Neptune Township would be eligible for a permit.”
“BARBARA BURNS, 4 Ocean Avenue, stated that in regards to permit parking, the Committee provided statements without evidence and no discussion. The Committee needs to get answers to any questions they have and it is not acceptable to give up. Parking is not free, there is a cost in lost time and opportunity. Unanswered questions are not a reason to not go forward. The Mayor stated that the proposal on December 18th was totally different from the proposal that they had for months.”
“Dr. Brantley stated that the Committee will not abandon the idea of looking for solutions. We will talk to Asbury Park and use their expertise”
“RAY DEFARIA, 12 New York Avenue stated the Parking Task Force did a very extensive review. Ocean Grove was founded on inviting people to come, not to keep people out. The Ocean Grove Homeowners Association, who is supporting permits, has about 200 members but 3100 people live year round in Ocean Grove. The Committee made a hard decision, but a good decision.”
Editor’s note: The mayor refers to “eligibility of Neptune Township residents who do not reside in Ocean Grove.” This suggests that the Mayor is out of touch with the reason for a permit plan.
And,the opinions put out by Committeeman Lane that “a permit plan would be a hardship to tourism and most do not want permits” are two unsubstantiated fake news remarks unworthy of a high Township official.
Scene: The coffee bar at Ocean Wegman’s. Two employees are discussing what they did the day before
He: “Yesterday I went to Asbury Park to take a walk on the boardwalk. I parked in Ocean Grove because they have free parking. Most other shore towns, except maybe Spring Lake, have meters.”
She: “I know. I do the same thing. The Asbury meters can get expensive at $2.00 or more per hour.”
Editor’s note: About 6 months ago we reported that Asbury employees such as restaurant workers are intentionally going straight to Ocean Grove for parking, especially at the north end near Wesley Lake and behind the Windmill. From there they walk a few blocks to work by crossing the access bridge nearby.
This has proven to make parking an even bigger issue for those of us who live in that part of the Grove. We live near that access bridge and we often see visitors, mostly 20 and 30 somethings, pile out of a car, often trailing suitcases, as they head for the New Jersey Avenue bridge to A.Park. And there are large numbers who, heading for dinner out or bar hopping, do the same thing except without the suitcases. And then they come back late and loud.
This is a new and growing situation which we first reported on in 2015.
The conversation above indicates that the knowledge about free parking in OG has spread to a wider circle of parking manipulators.
Here is a link to the night life in A. Park post written last year on Blogfinger, and it is a must re-read:
In a Coaster article (Jan. 25, 2017) it was reported that the Township Committee approved “almost 100 new parking spaces”and that the Committee was “acting on recommendations presented by the ad hoc OG Parking Task Force.” That task force has members on it from the OGHOA.
The plan includes creating diagonal head-on parking on the north side of Main Ave. from New Jersey Ave. to Lawrence Ave. The same is planned on the west side of Central Avenue from Heck to Webb avenues.
But diagonal parking is ugly. The “new spaces” are created by cramming more cars into a given space where currently there is parallel parking. Diagonal parking may be OK for commercial areas, but in residential areas it is not suitable.
On Main Avenue, starting from the eastern edge of Firemen’s Park and heading west, the diagonal parking will look congested and will visually and actually narrow Main Avenue. Currently that portion of the Avenue has an impressive and welcoming boulevard look.
For visitors who come into our historic town, they will not enjoy the same openness that currently shows off the Grove at its best with historic homes and a lovely park. In addition the town will lose one of the few places where a bus or truck can legally pull over and give some respite for the drivers to get their bearings or have a coffee.
As for how our leaders feel about this idea, here are two quotes borrowed from the Coaster:
Deputy Mayor Nick Williams, a member of the Township’s parking task force said, “We are going to move forward with these recommendations, and I think the task force did a good job.”
Resident Joyce Klein who is a member of the OGHOA and chairman of their parking committee said, “This is a great start* but I hope to think that this is the beginning and not the end of the parking study.” She is also on the task force.
So we will get some more spaces, but we don’t need more congestion and density as the price to pay in our residential areas while the town continues its slide downhill. The policy makers think that this will be wonderful, but do you think these task force people are doing the right thing?
It seems that they believe that all Grovers care about is parking and that we will accept any new spaces no matter the price. Do you think the task force gave any consideration to the appearance of our town—–how about the more important variables such as air, space and light? How about our quality of life?
This plan of squeezing more cars onto our streets fits in with the worrisome current pattern of more condos, more density, and more crowding. Making more spaces is not necessarily better than leaving those streets alone.
Who is this really helping?–the commercial and real estate interests, or the people who live here? Help the residents with parking stickers and do something to reduce the numbers of cars coming into town and the number of town-clogging events that are too often and create temporary paralysis for OG tax payers. Or build a parking garage somewhere.
This plan will be implemented by Memorial Day. Other ideas are also being considered, including even more diagonal parking on other parts of Central Avenue.
When it comes to policies that hurt our historic town, if no one complains, they will soon do it again:
While riding our bikes in Allenhurst today my wife and I came across the solution to Ocean Grove’s parking problem. Apparently, winners of the car raffle have a designated spot. How creative.
Paul Devine, Citizen reporter
Editor’s note: If only our town would pass an ordinance to take special care of OG home owners. But Neptune (the town, not the planet) seems to have little interest in our issues; so, even if breaking up is hard to do, perhaps we citizens should take another shot at seceding from the Township ; we could even merge with Allenhurst. Or we could become the northern part of Palm Beach.
NEIL SEDAKA (who once got out of a limo in front of the Great Auditorium and revealed himself to be four feet tall.) But he put on a fine concert including this song about secession (comma, comma):
“Mr. Henry parks here most days when, we assume, he is working in town. In fact,the truck remains overnight as well as now spending the weekends. He has clued in the owner of the next truck, who also remains all weekend. These guys commute from elsewhere to these vehicles. One sign says Manchester. They are at Central between Surf and Atlantic facing Founders Park.” A new piece added to the parking puzzle.
#3 From the front lines of the parking wars in Ocean Grove we hear from Paul Devine:
“Blogman- Upon returning to the Grove at 7:30 pm, parking proved to be elusive. After driving up many streets we saw someone getting into at van on Abbott near Pilgrim. We politely waited for the space when a passenger placed two cones on the street as he was pulling out. I asked him why he did that, he ignored my query and drove away.
The people sitting on the porch in front of the “coned” space informed me that it was their next door neighbor and not them who encumbered the space. The cones even had a house number on them, which corresponded with the house next door.
I removed the cones, placed them on the sidewalk in front of the house matching the number and parked in the space.
Hopefully, the car will not be vandalized by the illegal “coner”.
Talk about chutzpah!”
Editor’s note:
Here is a link to a 2013 BF post on this subject with over 30 comments:
Autos jammed in on the Saturday of Bridgefest. Delaware Avenue. Blogfinger photo, June 25, 2016
Paul: I’m sad to leave, but on the other hand, logistics in Ocean Grove are not favorable for aging Baby Boomers. It’s unbelievable to me that even Arlington Court, a 55-plus coop complex, has no parking spots for its senior (not me of course!) residents.
One of my neighbors in Arlington told me that she’d invited her elderly (but still driving) mother down to visit but her mother turned her down because she’d have to park too far away. It’s hard to understand why those responsible for development in the town allowed this to happen. It’s a major inconvenience that affects so many aspects of people’s daily lives.
Fran Hopkins
June 26, 2016
Editor’s note: Do you get far away eyes when this subject comes up? Here are the Rolling Stones:
