j 2 Herald & Lantern 14 November '84

Dreams and Headaches Going to Auction —

< From. Page 1) though it were one lot joined together That's one way they can solve the problem Now you have one lot that's big f enough to build on. " But in many cases, the problem doesn't stop there. Much land is unbuildable in these Rarts simply because the soil is too soggy ( Thirty percent of the entire county is tidai marshes"\Another 40 percent is woodlands, but those woods can be deceptive. j. In summertime, the land) may be firm and dry enough to seem like a good buy to an unsuspecting tourist But in winter, the land turns soft and sloppy as the water table rises to within a foot of the surface. A house'built on such quagmire would sink under its own weight The soil would not allow for proper drainage of a septic tank. "THE LAWS in zoning and subdivision have gotten rpuch more stringent." Rutherford said - "The modern business of real estate is under much more controls than the early days." Yet tourists and speculators still buy up such swampland at public auction without even investigating whether they can build on it. "They come down here in the summer and they fall in love with the place," Rutherford said. Often the lure of cheap land seems too good a bargain to pass up. But eventually the buyers grow tired of paying taxes on land they may never be able to use and — here is what happens on a regular basis in the county : *• Lots registered to 247 owners in Middle Township will be sold for t^ck taxes at public auction Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. in the township hall.< 33 Mechanic St., Court House. BACK TAXES RANGE from as little as $16 to as much as $3,879. Many of the lots being seized have only $20 to $50 in taxes owed. Thirty-four of the Middle Township lots have "unknown" owners because official records were misplaced or destroyed over •the years..

Dennis Township will auction 65 parcels, many of them with buildings on them, at 8 p.m Friday in the township, hall on Petersburg Road.. Dennisville. Back taxes on these properties range from only $10 to as much as $4,490. One parcel containing 31 acres will be sold for its taxes due of $154. That land is also/" registered to an unknown owner IN WOODBINE, some 90 lots will be sold at auction at 11 a.m. Nov. 28 in the borough hall. Franklin and Monroe avenues. Back taxes on these lots range from as little as $11 to as much as $1,560. Many of the properties owe between $70 and $200. Sound like good bargains0 Too gjod to pass up? Only a very small percentage of people who buy land in the County bother to take advantage of a free service that will tell them exactly what they may be buying. The county planning office does not sell lots, but it does offer a free soil Analysis to determine what tlie drainage conditions are. whether a septic tank can be installed, or if the lot needs to be filled. "WE ALSO TRY to acquaint people with the wetlands maps so they won't be restricted by the state," Rutherford said. "The state has riparian rights on a lot of tidal wetlands The state may have a claim on that lot," he added. "If .it's tidal land such as beachfront, we show them the flood hazard maps. In order to get flood insurance, you have to drive pilings and build on top of the pilings." Rutherford explained. "There is no charge for this service," he added. "We suggest that people come in here and tell us where the lot is." The county planning office is located in the county library building, 14-34 Mechanic St.. Court House. OFTEN, RUTHERFORD SAID, a real estate broker will seek such professional advice to protect a client's interest. "The realtors themselves are much more aware thjft the early Realtors were," he addeoSfijg the case of how the old Cape May BeacrvLand Co. sold lots in that city for $150 in 1911. "One thing is, when you lay out a tract of land for a subdivision, you've got to have a

paved street. This outfit actually got a local fanner to plow up mounds of dirt. They put in stakes, and that was the road" Rutherford said. "It was legal then, but not legal today. A lot of this was good land. But the crash came in 1929. By 1970, only one person still had two lots side^by-side She was the ' — daughter of the original buyer,' he explained. )A framed map of that 1911 subdivision nangs over Rutherford's desk. That developer was only one of many around in tlwfce days, hawking dreams that never materialized. SPECULATORS had caned up huge tracts of woodland and even tidal marsh into subdivisions containing thousands of building lots, each 25-feet wide. A few homes were built on the best lots, but most of the land laid idle. Delinquent tax bills piled up. Municipalities were forced to confiscate the lots, offer them for public sale to produce revenue, and to clean up their property records. But the problem and the cycle' would repeat themselves countless times over the years. Cape May County is a sprawling, rural peninsula of 267 square miles, yet only a third of it has been developed. The county juts into the Atlantic and the huge Delaware Bay but chances are the best ground has already been built on. The rest may be too soggy. The days of the early land hucksters, who went for the fast buck and a quick getaway, may be over but their swamp lots still find enough suckers to buy them. A common pitfall is buying a lot years before its owner intends to build on it, thinking that, no matter what the current restrictions are, the land will grow in value.

In fact, such land tends to acquire even more building restrictions with time, as environmental issues become more complicated. Over the years, there has been little development in the Pinelands town of Woodbine, which already incorporates most of the developed portions of the borough. Woodbine's population grew by only 184 persons in 10 years, from 2,625 in 1970 to 2,809 in 1980 About 52 percent of Dennis Township H5.500 acres) lies in the restrictive Pinelands area. Dennis' population grew from 2^5 in 1970 to 3,989 in 1980. UpflF Township has a total land area of 63 square miles, but 34 percent of that is within the Pinelands, including Belleplain State Forest. An additional 32 square miles lie in the Pinelands National Reserve where there has been little development Upper's population grew from 3,413 in 1970 to 6,713 in 1980. Hall Indicted HARRISBURG, PA — A federal grand jury last week indicted John P. Hall, 44 on five counts stemming from his alleged at- • > tempt to peddle in the Bahamas $2 million in securities stolen from his parents, John N. and Miriam Bell Hall. He's charged with interstate transportation of stolen property, fraud by wire, and violating U.S. customs laws. Hall was released on bail of $100,000 cash and the deed to his $500,000 home. Sherrie-John Manor, in Silver Spring Township, Cumberland County Pa. He reportedly owns numerous properties in Stone Harbor and along Stone Harbor Boulevard in Middle Township, ^including Stone Harbor Marina and Scotch Bonnet Marina.

Do Y our Gift Shopping Now At These Fabulous Reductions'! 30% .60% o« All Apparel 20% off All Boutique & Accessories LAST FEW DAYS Storewide Sale Prior To Closing Million t54UuA STONE HARBOR 95th Street (off 2nd Avenuel OCEAN CITY 846 Boardwalk (off 9th Streetl r- -

Nearly 80% Voted Tues.

(From Page 1) Patrolman James Plousis beat retired . Villas lawyer Nick Zagone 25,369-12,406 in the political newcomers' bids for the $32,500 a year sheriff's job. In the four-way race for two seats on the county's Board of Choosen Freeholders. Plousis' running mates, incumbent Gerald Thornton and former West Wildwood Mayor Herbert "Chuck" Frederick, easily defeated their Democratic rivals, former Lower Township Mayor Peggie Bieberbach and Middle Township businessman Rodney Downs. Thornton collected 24,881 votes and Frederick garnered 23,906 to Bieberbach's 14,392 and Downs' 12,416. IN THE MUNICIPAL RACES: • Middle Township Mayor Michael Voll won reelection over his Rio Grande neighbor and Republican rival, James Allax, 2,963-2,134. • Dennis voters also returned incumbent Democrats to seats on township committee. they chose Mayor Frank Murphy over Barry Grasso 1,075-634 and Albert J. Knoll over Edward N. Williams 1,011-634. • North Wildwood's First Ward voters selected Republican Robert McCullion over Democrat Robert Plum, a former councilman, 853-529, for a seat on the seven-member city council. Second Ward voters picked Republican James E, McGoldrick 795-611 over Democrat Joseph T. Duncan. • Upper Township's newest committeeman will be regular Republican George Betts. He was declared the GOP standard bearer after a tied Republican primary wijh incumbent Leonard Migliaccio left the choice uf candidate up to regular GOP organization. In the three-way general election, Betts B took 2,095 votes to 1,456 for Republican Bruno Tropeano, standing as a Democrat, and 665 cast for Republican Frederick M. Armand, standing as an independent. • Woodbine's incumbent Republican councilmen William Pikolycky and Theodore DeSantis, president, were unopposed in the primary and faced no Democrats last week. They were up against Independent Walter Guy Chalow, however, in the race for two council seats! DeSantis finished first with 289 votes; Pikolycky finished second with 260. Chalow collected 170 votes. • Stone Harbor Mayor Arden W. Hand ran unopposed in the GOP primary and in the general election; he garnered 642 votes. Standing unopposed for two borough council seats, Republicans Robert J Boyer and William W. Cathcart collected 624 and 609 votes«jj£spectivelv. SEA ISLE CITY, Avalon, Stone Harbor and Lower Township voters approved municipal ballot questions authorizing their police to transfer from the Public Employes' Retirement System to the

Police and Firemen's Retirement System. The change will permit police to retire at 60 percent of their final year's pay after 25 years' service. Approval of the ballot question passes on the costs of the change to each municipality. Lower Township voters approved the question 4,399-2,527; Sea Isle, 917-630; Stone Harbor, 402-370; and Avalon, 749-511. Avalon voters also approved, 811-424J a ballot question that asked: "Do you consider movies and videotapes... similarfo X-rated films, to be patently offensive and indecent and . .therefore, that the sale or rental of such items in Avalon should be deemed an offense?" MIDDLE S VOTERS were asked: "Should the Township Committee... investigate and, if appropriate, pursue a program of (trash) incineration...?" Yes votes outnumbered Nos 3,222-893. Six statewide ballot questions won approval from local voters and those across New Jersey. The questions, with their winning state (unofficial) and (official) county margins, follow in that order. No. 1— $90 in bonds for college hi-tech centers: 274,236-168,537; 18,796-13,265. No. 2 — $60 in bonds to improve state human service facilities: 269,461-165-690; 19,655-12,447. No. 3 — earmarks 2.5 cents from the current eight-cent state gasoline tax for road and bridge rebuilding: 281,090-156,153; 21,467-10,728. No. 4 — authorizes senior citizens' organizations to hold fund-raising raffles: 392,239-69-361 ; 27,771-5,748. No. 5 — allows elderly veterans to collect $50 property tax deductions as both vets and senior citizens: 441,231-71,168; 28,890-5,119. No. 6 — prohibits state taxes on Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits: 368,964-111,856 ; 26,025-7,097. STATEWIDE UNOFFICIAL voting results gave Republican incumbents Ronald Reagan and George Bush a 1,914,924-1,255,115 victory over Democrates Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. U.S. Sen. BUI Bradley beat- Republican Mary Mochary 1,968, 461-1, 074J220 statewide, and Congressman Bill Hughes beat Republican Raymond Massie 128,398-74,888 in unofficial results from the Second District (Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland and Salem counties plus portions of Ocean and Burlington counties). In Cape May County, Hughes of Ocean City officiaUy topped Massie of Brigantine 24,583-15,628. Bradley defeated Mochary 21,859-18,365 here with another 199 votes scattered among five third party candidates. Reagan-Bush topped Mondale-Ferraro 'n the county, 28,786-13,378, with 133 votes divided by seven third party tickets.