As stated in the Historic Preservation Section by the NJ Office of Cultural and Environmental Services; "This house was one of the principle remaining 19th Century residences associated with Shark River Village, an early settlement in Neptune which developed along an old Indian route (now known as Old Corlies Avenue) that ran along the north side of Shark River to the sea. This 164 year old Victorian style home was built by brothers Charles and James Tilton in 1846, long before the Civil War. Its features included a parlor with an ornate ceiling and fireplace, a living room, seven good sized bedrooms, a front porch, side porch, three chimneys, bay windows, two staircases, and gingerbread detailing in its six roof peaks. It was located next door to the Dewitt Shafto house - the oldest home in Neptune Township dating back to 1790. Because of its historic significance to the community, the 1019 Old Corlies Avenue home was awarded Century Home status by Neptune Township at the time of the Bicentennial. Despite its good repair, it was razed on October 2, 2007 to make room for a car wash and lube facility. The Old Corlies Avenue Preservation Alliance is presently in litigation to prevent further commercial development of the property.

OCAPA’s STRIDES

May 24th, 2010

Thank you for your continued show of support over these past 3 years towards OCAPA’s efforts to preserve and protect the residential and historic corridor of Old Corlies Avenue – the birthplace of Neptune Township and Ocean Grove.

Some of you have recently asked what strides OCAPA has made in this endeavor.

Well, since becoming organized and  registered as a nonprofit  in 2007, OCAPA has so far:

  • Prevented the commercial intrusion of a car wash / oil change / and lubrication facility from being built on the property of 1019 Old Corlies Avenue.  As you may have read on our home page, the case is now pending before the Supreme Court.
  • Reactivated the investigation and remediation effort of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for significant contamination from the gas station adjacent to the 1019 Old Corlies Avenue property. (Note that all the foliage – some being 200 year old trees – will be stripped away if  the car wash / oil change / lube facility project is not stopped.)

  • Unveiled the Neptune Township Board of Adjustment’s negligence to enforce their own Municipal Stormwater Plan intended to protect the Shark River Brook, an FW-2, Trout Maintenance, C-1 Classified Waterway – the area’s main potable water source.
  • Discouraged the development of town houses at the Welsh Farms Dairy site (formerly known as Wardell’s Dairy) and supported the Township’s purchase of it with the assistance from the State Green Acres and County Open Space programs. The township has assured us that it will be used as open space.

  • Brought before the Neptune Township Committee the issue of traffic problems exacerbated by increased commercial development along Routes 33 and 66 i.e. speeding from Route 33 onto Old Corlies Avenue from both the east and west entrances.  Solutions, such as lowering the speed limit along Old Corlies Avenue are currently being sought.

  • Brought before the Township Committee the issue of high speed traffic problems that already exist along Route 33 and that undoubtedly will be compounded if this car wash /lube/ oil change facility is constructed.
  • Ongoingly attended meetings of the Township Committee, Board of Adjustment, Planning Board, and Master Plan Sub-Committee on a regular basis to stay current with the issues that effect the fiber of Old Corlies Avenue.
  • Created several ideas for the beautification of this old Indian trail and stage coach route. Some of these are:
  1. A community cleanup day
  2. Banners commemorating the rich history of the area
  3. Attaining historic designation status from the township for the corridor  and the 18th and 19th century one-hundred-year and older homes that still remain along it
  4. Acquiring and installing on-site plaques presenting the historic facts about the existing historic homes and those that once stood on properties of note
  5. Paying a colorful and striking tribute to the rich history of the area by encouraging residents and property owners along Old Corlies Avenue to plant the Rose Campion – a hearty heirloom plant that can be purchased directly from OCAPA.

The Old Corlies Avenue Preservation Alliance has also:

  • Endorsed a documentary, titled “Critical Juncture”, commemorating the history of Hamilton and its vulnerability to being forever lost  to  the rapid incursion of commercial development as exemplified by OCAPA’s current lawsuit against the Neptune Board of Adjustment and the applicant for the car wash / oil change / lube facility.  This has been shown at many OCAPA functions.
  • Developed this comprehensive web site which presents these current issues and events and provides a blog format to encourage feedback and suggestions from visitors.
  • Kept these issues in the public eye by writing countless letters to the editor of The Asbury Park Press and The Coaster.
  • Published and distributed ongoingly, a newsletter, titled “Our Town”, to keep the residents of West Neptune and supporters of OCAPA informed of current issues, township meetings, and fundraising events.

Our most recent newsletter, “Our Town”, documents the quid pro quo deal between the Board of Adjustment and the car wash applicant that took place before the hearings on the  application were even held and the untruthful and inaccurate statements  that were made by the applicant during the hearings in a vain attempt to  justify an unnecessary storm sewer (i.e.,the applicant`s part of the deal in exchange for approval of the application). Our position is that there is more than adequate basis for the approval of the application to be  rescinded. Yet our  elected officials, i.e., the Township Committee, refuse to rein in the Board of Adjustment which they  appointed, and make them live up to the condition they placed upon their approval of the application, i.e., that all testimony be accurate and truthful.

OCAPA’s most recent flyer distribution elaborates on the application which was to be heard by the Board of Adjustment in  June regarding the 120-foot T-Mobil cell tower proposed for a site immediately adjacent to the Hamilton Cemetery and highly visible from Old Corlies Avenue and elsewhere.  We have been informed that T-Mobil has withdrawn the application but still has the option to present it again in September.   Just in case, OCAPA is continuing to collect signed petitions from residents to oppose this project.  (Please download it from our web site under the “Petitions” category to the right.)

The historic and residential character of Old Corlies Avenue has become increasingly vulnerable to degradation brought about by the increase of commercial businesses along Routes 33 and 66.  In the past 3 years, every section of this stretch of road has been under threat of commercial incursion which, if allowed, would forever change its historic and residential landscape.

It truly does “take a village” to make a stand to preserve and protect what has taken centuries to build.  Know that you can make a difference.  If you would like to assist this community effort, please contact OCAPA via email:  newsletter@oldcorlies.com  or phone:  732.904.0866.

We welcome your participation.

The Old Corlies Avenue Preservation Alliance

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BASIS FOR NEPTUNE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT TO RESCIND ITS APPROVAL OF THE APPLICATION FOR A CAR WASH / OIL CHANGE / LUBE FACILITY AT 1019 OLD CORLIES AVENUE, NEPTUNE, NJ

January 31st, 2010

On September 21, 2007 the Neptune Township Board of Adjustment (BOA) finalized a decision to approve an application for a car wash / oil change / lube facility to be built on 1019 Old Corlies Avenue, the site occupied by an historic, 164-year-old, 11-room, Victorian-style house which was one of the core remaining structures from the earliest settlement in what became Neptune Township. Consecutively known as Trap, Shark River Village, Greenville and Hamilton, it was from here that colonial settlement of the area began and grew. Also, it was from here that the Methodist minister, Rev. William B. Osborn, held the first Camp Meeting at what has become Ocean Grove.

The BOA`s decision, despite valid testimony in opposition, so angered residents of the area that they formed the Old Corlies Avenue Preservation Alliance (OCAPA) that contested the decision in court. In the beginning, even the Township Committee joined with OCAPA and went to court against its own BOA in trying to save the house. The effort failed and on October 2, 2007 the house was demolished. OCAPA continues to fight the decision and currently the case is before the State Court of Appeals. The fact that OCAPA has presented at least three petitions to the Township, each with hundreds of signatures in support of its efforts, demonstrates the sizable public support that it has.

There is a condition in the BOA`s Memorialization of its decision that  states that it is “o. SUBJECT TO ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND TESTIMONY OF THE APPLICANT BEING TRUTHFUL AND ACCURATE”. It is obvious that there are numerous instances where the testimony of the representatives for the applicant were neither truthful nor accurate, and that these had a significant impact in swaying the outcome of the decision. It is believed that the BOA must be aware of at least some, if not all, of these by now and has more than adequate reason to rescind their approval of the application, make the threat of the car wash/oil change/lube facility go away and open the door for the Township Committee to rezone the property single-family residential as they were petitioned to do by OCAPA and hundreds of signatories. The people along Old Corlies Avenue realize that loss of this property to commercialization will severely damage the historic and residential character of their community.

It is the position of OCAPA that the BOA’s decision was part of a QUID PRO QUO DEAL between the applicant and the BOA, or at least its engineers, in which they arranged before the hearings the approval of the application in exchange for 619 feet of unnecessary storm sewer infrastructure along Old Corlies Avenue. OCAPA believes that the Administrative Officer of the BOA knew of this pre-hearing agreement when, early in the hearings, she expressed surprise at the many objectors present (pre-OCAPA) and told a number of them that this was a “done deal”. OCAPA believes she knew this because, before the hearings on the application even commenced, the applicant and the representatives of the BOA and the County had met on site and agreed on the storm sewer (p. 18, hearing I), i.e., THE DEAL.

In order to facilitate the DEAL, the BOA granted four variances and allowed a use (i.e., car wash/lube) in the C-5 zone where it is not permitted.

What they did in agreeing to the DEAL (ie. the placing of the storm sewer along Old Corlies Avenue) was to convert a small, less than an acre (the size of the 1019 property) easily manageable stormwater  matter into a much larger 14-acre (or more) matter with real and potentially severe environmental consequences. The consequences, in addition to those from actual construction, are that the enlarged area to be served by the proposed storm sewer would cause the washings and spills from the yards, streets, roofs and a gasoline station (with a documented and uncorrected petroleum contamination problem) to be discharged directly into Shark River Brook.  The Brook is classified FW-2, Trout Maintenance, Category I, by the NJDEP, because of its unique biological character, its use as a major source of our public potable water supply, and its being the core of Monmouth County’s Shark River Park.

It is difficult to believe that the BOA would be part of such a deal, especially when it violates the township’s own stormwater management ordinance and since there is a more practical, environmentally sound, less expensive, less health threatening, and more neighborhood compatible alternative available.  The alternative is that of an existing storm sewer that could readily be connected to in the dirt shoulder about 75 feet downgrade from the car wash site along Route 33. This alternative storm sewer already discharges into a multi acre stormwater detention/infiltration basin on Wells Brook, a stream of lower classification and lesser uses. This alternative was never mentioned in the hearings

OCAPA believes that the BOA, or those who conceived of the DEAL, tried to justify it  by having the applicant’s professionals misrepresent the facts about existing conditions along Old Corlies Avenue and claim that the proposed storm sewer was necessary to correct them. For example, John A. Paulus, a professional engineer and professional planner for the applicant, a principal with Dynamic Engineering Consultants (ref. Hearing I, p.18) states “There’s some soil disturbance, soil erosion that you’ll see.” referring to Old Corlies Avenue. Again, on p.38 he states “—, and if you come along Old Corlies Road, you will see there’s a drainage ditch on the north side of the road, and essentially there’s soil erosion along the road bed itself,—”. Again, at the second hearing (May 16, 2007 p.13) he states “—, and you’ll see substantial erosion up and down Old Corlies Road” “So (referring to Old Corlies Avenue and the proposed storm sewer) its helped eliminating and mitigating any soil erosion that currently occurs.”  

None of these statements are true. There has never been an erosion problem along this stretch of Old Corlies Avenue and Mr. Golub (former Township Committeeman and local resident of the Hamilton section)  tried to set the record straight by testifying in the later public questioning portion of the second hearing(5/16/07), p.26, “ There is no ravine along Old Corlies Avenue. I know that watershed better than he does, probably better than most of the people who live in this town.—These folks live on Old Corlies Avenue, not Old Corlies Road, they know of no ravine. The water may drain along the surface, but there`s no erosion. That’s basically a sales pitch that’s being told to you as a way of producing this or moving this plan further ahead.”

Later, in answer to BOA member Sears’ question (Hearing 2, p. 37) “Is there or is there not a ravine off Old Corlies?” Mr. Lobosco, BOA Engineer, answered, “There’s not really a ravine there.  I think they meant that because there’s no curb, water travels along the edge of the pavement and it could possibly erode the soil.  But I hadn’t noticed any erosion.” Then Mr. Pape, attorney for the applicant, states, “The storm water system that is offered by the applicant came as a result of prompting from your engineer that we solve that.  So that was a report that we received a few months ago. That’s why we added it in.”

Mr. Paulus failed to bring to the attention of the BOA the fact of the existence of the alternative storm drain connection only 75 feet away in the dirt shoulder along Route 33. Also, the BOA’s engineers, Matt Shafai and Louis Lobosco, also failed to bring this same fact to the BOA’s attention. Furthermore, they, as well as the BOA’s attorney, failed to advise the BOA of the consequences of the 619 feet of storm sewer and its impact upon the Shark River Brook and it’s environs. The township’s own ordinance (04-23) requires an environmental impact statement for projects of this magnitude,  but one was never required to address the expanded area of impact resulting from the quid pro quo deal.

Apparently, these omissions of pertinent facts had the desired effect on those members of the BOA that were not familiar with the subject area since BOA member Johnson in a question to Mr. Paulus refers to the alleged drainage ditch as the “trench that comes from Gully Road to this site” (Hearing 2, p.18).

Later, during Mr. Pape`s attempt to summarize the hearings, (Hearing 3, p.69) he sheds further light on the quid pro quo deal  when he stated (referring to Mr. Paulus’ testimony) “He also indicated that at the request of both the Township and of the County, that he had designed an extensive storm water system that handled existing storm water issues along Old Corlies and that it traveled some 500` away from the site.” Apparently, the fact that there were no storm water issues along Old Corlies Avenue seems to have been ignored by Mr. Pape since later in his summarization (Hearing 3, p.72) he perpetuates the factual inaccuracies of the applicant’s professionals by stating “The storm water system addresses not only the on site condition but the regional existing problem.”  Again, there is no existing storm water problem along Old Corlies Avenue nor any regional storm water problem that the proposed storm sewer would have relevance to.  And, the storm water from the proposed car wash could easily be handled by connecting to the existing storm water system along Route 33.

Also, Mr. Pape states in his summary , “With regard to the historic building, —and in fact, this building is in disrepair and the property has been offered for sale, it’s been on the market for sale for many years.” This again is inaccurate. The building was not in disrepair. It had excellent structural lines and the owner, Paul Politan, had put a new roof on it about one year before the hearings. Also, according to the records of the Township’s Code Enforcement Officer, it was being lived in during the last few months before it was demolished. Furthermore, there was never any outward evidence that it was for sale.   

The public made it known that there were “untruthful and inaccurate” representations of the facts in Mr. Pape`s testimony and the stenographer recorded their shouts, “There were lies in that!”; “There were lies in that!”

Ergo, there was no justification for the lengthy storm sewer and no basis for the quid pro quo deal that they were trying to foist upon the public, and the “untruthful and inaccurate” testimony given to try to support it should be more than adequate basis for the BOA to rescind approval of the application.

The consequences of the BOA’s misled decision are great. Without their approval the 164-year-old, historic Victorian-style house might not have been demolished and its presence as one of the historic features of the Hamilton area maintained; the quality and uses of Shark River Brook would not be threatened; the community would not be threatened with an unwanted incursion of a commercial establishment; the community would not be damaged and inconvenienced by the tearing up of the road and their front yards during and after construction of the unnecessary storm sewer; and OCAPA would not have had to expend the large amount of time and money it has  taken to fight the  BOA`s decision.

A further consequence is the impact this case has upon the credibility of the BOA. This unit of government is supposed to objectively judge the applications that come before it. When they conceive of or go along with DEALS such as this, their credibility is damaged and their objectivity in judging future applications that come before it will be suspect.

Furthermore, the Township Committee can rezone the 1019 Old Corlies Avenue property to single family residential NOW;  courts have historically upheld sudden zoning changes even while a case is on legal appeal.

Respectfully submitted to  all members of the Neptune Township Committee and the Neptune Board of Adjustment,

The Old Corlies Avenue Preservation Alliance

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