{"id":5141,"date":"2020-11-23T03:43:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T08:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=5141"},"modified":"2020-11-23T03:43:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T08:43:49","slug":"ortley-beach-residents-expected-lobby-for-surf-club-purchase-after-county-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2020\/11\/ortley-beach-residents-expected-lobby-for-surf-club-purchase-after-county-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Ortley Beach Residents Expected Lobby for Surf Club Purchase After County Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joey<\/a>

Joey Harrison\u2019s Surf Club property, Sept. 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ortley Beach residents are planning to converge upon the Toms River township council meeting Tuesday night to urge the council to find a way to fund the purchase of the former Joey Harrison\u2019s Surf Club property after a blow to the plan came last week at the county level.<\/p>\n

Shorebeat had previously learned that after negotiations handled by a mediator hired by the Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers\u2019 Association, Toms River officials and the Barcelona family, which owns the property, were still significantly apart in their valuation of the former night spot. The parties developed a plan under which Toms River would sell parcels of land near Ocean County College and Cattus Island County Park to bridge the gap between what the state has offered toward the purchase \u2013 $6.6 million \u2013 and the asking price. County policy, however, prohibits the purchase of land that is already owned by municipal governments. In a 3-2 vote, the county freeholders turned down a change to that policy<\/a>, with some members arguing that if the revision to the policy was enacted, politicians could use the county\u2019s open space fund as a \u201cpiggy bank\u201d to help plug budget holes and pay favors to political allies.<\/p>\n

An unintended consequence of the board\u2019s vote is that it upended the immediate plan to purchase the Surf Club property and operate it as a public beach and recreation space, with additional parking for beachgoers. Residents of Ortley Beach have long lobbied for the purchase, saying more space is needed along the oceanfront and more visitors could translate to a better business environment in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs recently as last week, the OBVTA was assured by our mediator, Toms River council members and mayor, the Ocean County Planning Board and an Ocean County Freeholder that the legislative actions required of the Ocean County Freeholders were on track, and we would be notified of any red flags,\u201d an e-mail from the group said over the weekend. \u201cNow we are back at square one. A gap between buyer and seller exists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The e-mailed called last week\u2019s vote a \u201cbetrayal,\u201d but acknowledged that purchasing the property and preserving it as open space for residents is ultimately the responsibility of Toms River\u2019s municipal government rather than the county.<\/p>\n

Mayor Maurice \u201cMo\u201d Hill told Shorebeat negotiations are ongoing despite the county\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still negotiating with the Surf Club and we\u2019ll see,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have not talked about it on the council level because nothing is finalized, but we\u2019re still talking. There are figures bouncing around all over the place, but I\u2019m not comfortable talking about them because they may change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill also said he was disappointed that so much focus was placed on Toms River during the county discussion, which would have affected the Open Space Master Plan that applies to all municipalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I didn\u2019t think was necessary in the conversation was why Toms River was singled out,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI understand Freeholder Little\u2019s objection in that he didn\u2019t want to buy any municipal land, but it should have been kept on a general basis. They mentioned me being in the audience and I was uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/a>

Joey Harrison\u2019s Surf Club property, Sept. 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

For the OBVTA\u2019s part, the group\u2019s membership is being encouraged to attend Tuesday night\u2019s meeting of the Toms River township council.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the freeholders\u2019 failure to approve the Open Space Plan Land Trust changes betrayed Ortley Beach, Toms River and all of Ocean County, ultimately it is Toms River that is responsible for the acquisition of the three Surf Club lots,\u201d the group\u2019s e-mail said. \u201cThe position of the OBVTA is that Toms River must come up with a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill said that negotiations are confidential, but they remain ongoing and the township is still hopeful an agreement can be reached.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still pursuing it \u2013 the state is going to use Blue Acres money \u2013 and hopefully we can consummate this deal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The council meeting will be held Tuesday in person at the Toms River municipal complex at 6 p.m. There is limited seating due to social distancing regulations, however a live stream is also available on the township\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ortley Beach residents are planning to converge upon the Toms River township council meeting Tuesday night to urge the council to find a way to fund the purchase of the former Joey Harrison\u2019s Surf Club property after a blow to the plan came last week at the county level. Shorebeat had previously learned that after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,17],"tags":[808,11],"class_list":["post-5141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-ocean-county-news","tag-joey-harrisons-surf-club","tag-toms-river-nj-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/surf_club_property_ortley_beach_2020_040-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}