The mark in the foreground is at the south eastern corner of the property Blogfinger photo. Click to enlarge and read the side of the truck.
This mark is on Lake Avenue at the north western corner of the property.
This view shows the southern edge of the “blighted area in need of re-development”. At the lower edge you can see the orange marker. The hotel (or more condos) will be at this location**, with views of the ocean. Further west on Spray will be a row of single family homes with underground garages. Blogfinger photo July 14, 2015 © Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Orange marks have been placed around Block (1) and a section of the Lake Avenue walkway by a land surveyor who is preparing a survey map that will be used by an architect and engineer in creating site plans that must be submitted for approval to all agencies having jurisdiction over the proposed plan. After those approvals, construction plans can be prepared. These maps will demarcate the outlines of the property which will comprise the bulk of the North End plan. They also will provide documentation regarding the sale of the property.
We know that WAVE, the mysterious LLC that will soon become the sole re-developer of the NERP, has contracted to purchase most of the North End property from the Camp Meeting Association. That purchase is tantamount to owning the land, although it is officially promoted as a 99 year lease in perpetuity.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association stands to receive a large sum of money for selling that valuable property to WAVE. As we have reported, the identities of the individuals behind WAVE have not been released. Meanwhile, the CMA has requested that the Township officially remove them as co-developer. That will require a resolution by the Township.
For some observers it seems like a poor decision for the CMA to give up such valuable property because there is so much money to be made in the future from all sorts of possible uses including parking for the Township. But perhaps the CMA is somehow still involved with WAVE and thus stands to gain in that way. We already know that if the hotel is turned into condos, the CMA will receive a 10% fee for each one sold.
Blogfinger will continue to educate the Ocean Grove public as to the truth of what’s happening with the NERP. We are sticking to this because, according to the Duck Principle, “If it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.”
We plan to report on a variety of issues related to the NERP. Some of them will be surprises. There’s quite a lot to keep us busy.
Among those matters, we want to revisit the outrageous 2007 Planning Board vote which recommended that the Township approve the special designation (“area in need of redevelopment”) which resulted in the zoning being changed despite what was in the best interest of the Grove. That was the key event in this whole story.
Here is a link about that 2007 Planning Board vote: http://blogfinger.net/2015/04/20/2007-the-planning-board-passes-a-resolution-to-allow-an-area-in-need-of-redevelopment-why-did-they-do-that/
Wee will soon report on something else that relates to that Planning Board vote in 2007.
You can forget about the Coaster for information. They merely are stenographers who copy down whatever the HOA and the Committee tell them. And as for the OGHOA, they have no idea about the the real truths beneath the surface, and they don’t want to know. Their last statement was replete with errors.
We will try to find the truths and to assemble the pieces of the puzzle.
**The location of the hotel building is the worst possible choice. The hotel (or probably condos) will be the tallest building (5 stories) in the zone and will block the most views of the Ocean. The tallest building should be placed in the back of the zone, not in front. This decision is arrogant and gives a clue as to the attitude of the developers towards the town of Ocean Grove. The idea that they have reduced the density has been celebrated by the out-to-lunch OGHOA who should be standing on their heads in opposition to this “travesty.”
Credit: Ocean Grover Jack Bredin has been doing important research for Blogfinger as we pursue this story.
BAHA MEN: