Noting the "substantial power" that Mayor Jay Gillian will wield with the passage of a
proposed "Abandoned Properties" ordinance, and expressing a desire to make that ordinance "bulletproof," City Solicitor Dottie McCrosson on Thursday advised City Council to table the initiative.
"I'm not sure it's necessary, but I do believe it's prudent," she said.
According to McCrosson, who met Wednesday with other municipal solicitors, conflicting language in various state statutes has "raised a question" about the legal viability of the ordinance in light of how it arrived before City Council.
To that end, McCrosson recommended that City Council bring forth a resolution at its May 28 meeting acknowledging that blighted and abandoned properties in Ocean City are indeed a problem, and proceed with a reintroduction of the ordinance on June 11.
"First, we need a resolution saying that the ordinance is needed. This will ultimately strengthen the ordinance, and give the Mayor the support he needs if he is ever to exercise the power that it gives him," McCrosson said.
Council agreed to table the ordinance at Thursday's meeting.
The ordinance comes in the form of an addition to the Administrative Code, and effectively grants the City the right to take control of properties deemed abandoned, borrow money for their renovation or rehabilitation and then recoup those costs through property liens at the time of sale.
Long-vacant Getty and BP gas stations at the foot of the Ninth Street Bridge in Ocean City, NJ would be subject to a new abandoned properties ordinance approved by City Council on Thursday, April 14
Gillian
previously singled out three "eyesore properties" for inclusion in the City's new initiative: a former Exxon at 903 Bay Ave.; a former BP at 19 W. 9th St.; and a former Getty at 1 W. 9th St.
On Thursday, Gillian again suggested that the trio of vacant gas stations — which greet visitors and residents returning to Ocean City via the Ninth Street Bridge — would be among the first properties targeted by the ordinance, and revealed his goal to retain the lots as open space.
"We don't want new construction there, we don't want houses. We are not trying to develop this land," he said. "We are doing what we can to clean Ocean City up."
Both the former Getty and Exxon are considered by the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to be "Active Sites with Confirmed Contamination."
Gregory Carr, a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) authorized by the state to oversee 1 W. 9th St., said Thursday that "natural attenuation" is occurring with regard to the Getty petroleum tanks and that environmental impacts at this time are considered "low level." The LSRP for 903 Bay Ave. was unavailable for comment.
A public officer will be tasked with maintaining a list of properties that meet the criteria for "abandoned" as defined by the Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act (APRA) one of two statutes previously cited by Gillian in support of the ordinance.
According to the APRA, a property is considered abandoned if it has not been legally occupied for six months and has been deemed in need of rehabilitation "in the reasonable judgment" of the public officer, has not received any rehabilitation in the preceding six months or where construction started and stopped prior to completion, is unsuitable for occupancy, is delinquent on at least one property tax installment and which is deemed a nuisance.
The statute defines "nuisance" as, among other things, a property which has been found unfit for human habitation, occupancy or use, in a condition that "materially increases" the risk of fire for either itself or adjacent buildings, or which features a "dilapidated appearance" materially affecting the welfare, economic or otherwise, of neighboring residents.
The owners of properties added to the list may challenge the "abandoned" designation and petition for reinstatement and control of their property.
