The mission of 16-34 Community Association is to protect and promote the best interests of the property owners and residents of the City of Ocean City. To encourage civic interest by all its citizens. To support the improvement of the general welfare, health, comfort, safety and environment of the whole island.
________________________________________________________________________ UPDATE ON THE RESIDENTIAL ZONING ORDINANCE: Since the adoption of the 2001 Master Plan, 16-34 Community Association has been advocating Residential Zoning Reform to protect existing neighborhoods, encourage compatible buildings rather than community-changing development, and reduce building mass and bulk. It has been a top issue in every municipal election since then. Both major mayoral candidates promised change and Mayor Perillo initiated that task with the Planning Board following his taking office in July of 2006. Over the next year and a half many hours were devoted to this project by the Planning Board, its Residential Ordinance subcommittee, and the City Planning Department. An Ordinance was introduced at City Council in May of 2008. A majority of Council approved changes to the proposed Ordinance which the Planning Board subsequently voted unanimously to be inconsistent with the Master Plan. Those changes included the following: 1. Council removed porches and decks from the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) calculation. The result could result in multiple stacked porches which add to the mass of buildings. It replaced the Planning Board’s recommendation which excluded first floor porches as an incentive to create more traditional porches. But it only excluded 50% and 25% for 2nd and 3rd floors to prevent massing of multiple stacked porches. 2. Council removed the Planning Board’s prohibition on rooftop decks in single family zones. This ignores the safety, privacy and aesthetic concerns we have raised for years. The bizarre result of this change is that there are now more controls on rooftop decks in Business zones than in residential zones. 3. Council doubled the allowed size of secondary building elements and dormers. The Planning Board warned in a letter from its Chairman, Dr. Fred Weber, that this change in addition to half stories “…could allow 90% of the roof of a home to be occupied by half story and the secondary element…” in some zones. This last change was introduced by Council President, Keith Hartzell. He supported his argument with pictures of attractive buildings which he alleged result but no corresponding numerical data was presented. Also, no examples were shown of what could be built if constructed to the maximum limits. Due to the above concerns, Mayor Perillo vetoed the ordinance with the hope that the newly elected Council would seriously consider the consequences of the above changes and reinstate the original ordinance. However in spite of urging from several of our board members attending the Council meeting, a majority of the new Council voted to override the veto leaving the above changes in effect. Only Councilpersons Wagner and Sheppard supported our request. One question I asked remains unanswered. If the third change mentioned above was such a good idea, why was it not introduced during the 1 ½ years the Planning Board has been working on this ordinance? Which leads to other questions: Who did not want the idea to undergo scrutiny, and why? Jim Tweed President, 16-34 Community Association YOUR HELP IS NEEDED The Save Our Station (SOS) coalition is trying to find a private buyer to purchase and restore the 4th St. Life Saving Station and put it to public/private use. NO taxpayer dollars will be used. This historic building was built in the 1880’s and is the last remaining station of a chain of over 50 stations which at one time provided rescue services to shipwrecked vessels on the Great Egg Harbor Inlet sandbar. In the days of sail this was a fairly common occurrence. The current owner seeks to demolish and build multiple family living units on this site and will do so if a private buyer cannot be found. SOS has incurred significant legal expenses in its efforts to save this historic site. If you value preservation of something unique to ________________________________________________________________________
View Our Newsletters:
Spring 2008
Fall/Winter 2007
Links:
City of Ocean City
OC Board of Realtors
OC Chamber of Commerce
Fairness in Taxes
Bikeocnj.org
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