In Neptune Special Meeting Scheduled on North End
By DON STINE
Plans for the redevelopment of the North End in historic Ocean Grove will not be referred to the Planning Board until after the Neptune Township Committee discusses a report from the local Historic Preservation Commission, which has rejected the project.
The committee will hold a special workshop session to discuss the HPC recommendations on Monday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at the townships Senior Citizen Center at Neptune Blvd. and Route 33. The public is invited to attend but will not be allowed to comment since it is a workshop meeting only.
The HPC said it cannot support, endorse or approve the plan so why send it on to the Planning Board unless the plan has support, said Deputy Mayor Randy Bishop.
The Township Committee had referred the preliminary North End plans to the HPC for comment and the commission issued its findings on Dec. 6.
HPC members feel the project, which calls for an underground parking garage for about 300 vehicles and a hotel and condominiums, is not in keeping with the historic character of Ocean Grove.
In addition to other problems, the commission feels the high density of the project is driving other factors, like requiring the underground parking garage that will raise the ground level in areas of the North End by as much as 16 feet.
The project eventually needs a certificate of appropriateness from the HPC to move forward but denial of the certificate can be appealed by the developer to the committee, which can then overturn the HPCs decision after a public hearing.
We have to decide where to go from this point, said Mayor James Manning Jr.
Manning said he feels the plans should still move on to the Planning Board so they can put it on their busy schedule and eventually make their report to the governing body.
Then we will have all of the input and can make a decision, he said.
Manning said he does believe an independent workshop on the issue should be held, however.
Bishop thanked HPC members for preparing the report.
They came up with a very thorough report, he said.
Bishop said comments from the HPC and the Ocean Grove Homeowners Association, which also prepared a report, should be discussed in a workshop session before being sent on to the Planning Board.
These reports raise great concerns for meand we should figure out what we are doing before sending this on to the board, he said.
I think we will have an interesting discussion among us (at the workshop), Bishop said.
Committeewoman Mary Beth Jahn said she also thinks the workshop should be held before passing the plans on.
She said the project needs a certificate of appropriateness and it will not get one as the plan stands now
The plan needs to be within (Ocean Groves) historic mandate and even if the Planning Board gives its approval it still needs a certificate of appropriateness, she said.
Committeeman Dr. Michael Brantley questioned if the lack of a certificate of appropriateness stops the project.
Township Attorney Gene Anthony said he does not believe it does since, at this point, the HPC is an advisory board and this is just an initial report.
I think it is too early to make any such determination and the HPC must have a legitimate basis to deny the certificate, which usually happens at the site plan approval stage, he said after the workshop meeting.
Brantley said he believes the Planning Board should get the plans now.
Then they can meet on it, he said.
Bishop, in turn, said such an action is unfair to the Planning Board.
We will be (possibly) changing the plan while they reviewing it, he said.
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