N.J. to beach towns: Make way for public

By Todd B. Bates • and Kirk Moore • STAFF WRITERS • December 19, 2007

Towns seeking a share of the state’s annual $25 million for shore-protection projects have a new mandate to provide public access to tidal waterways, beaches and shores, under broad new state rules adopted Monday.

Oceanside communities must provide public restrooms every half-mile along the beach as well as parking, according to a newly issued state Department of Environmental Protection fact sheet. The requirements have been discussed for more than a year in negotiations over beach replenishment projects, and municipal officials say they have contributed to some of the recent resistance to beach-building among seaside homeowners.

In their final form, the rules contain some modifications to address complaints from private marina operators, and allay fears that public access would be forced through bayside lagoon neighborhoods. In addition, the rules specify that towns, counties and nonprofit organizations seeking state Green Acres funding for sites along tidal waterways must provide public access, the fact sheet says.

Advocates for environmental and recreational groups welcomed the announcement.

“Having access doesn’t mean much if you don’t have a place to park,” said Thomas P. Fote, legislative chairman for the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, which pushes for better waterfront access for fishermen.

It’s a contentious issue for fishermen, even in places where public access was promised in earlier shore-protection projects, he said.

“The state needs to enforce the access in places like Deal and Sea Bright,” Fote said.

Along the Point Pleasant Canal, neighbors have tried to block access, “and we’ve paid for that bulkhead and the maintenance with our tax dollars,” Fote added.

In Sea Bright, Councilman Thomas E. Scriven said “We are deeply committed to public access.”

In September 2006, the DEP sued Sea Bright and several beach clubs in the town over access. The borough maintained in a counterclaim filed in January that it has kept its promise to provide more access and public parking under a 1993 agreement, even though it contends the state changed its interpretation of the pact.

The newly adopted rules, Scriven said, address the same issues that the state raised in the lawsuit.

Beaches belong to all

Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter, commended DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson for the new requirements.

“I think the rules were the first big step in a long time to open up access for the public to get to the beach,” Tittel said. “The coast is a resource that belongs to all of us, and these rules will help make that so.”

However, Harvey Cedars Mayor Jonathan S. Oldham said he favored more options and flexibility for coastal towns.

“I’m disappointed that the state didn’t seem to listen a whole lot to what was said in the public hearings,” Oldham said. “I think we have most of our issues covered in the beach access plan we submitted to the state two years ago.”

That plan may fall just short of fulfilling mandated distances for parking and bathrooms, but Harvey Cedars has all of that at its bayside public park a couple of blocks from the ocean, Oldham said.

First proposed in November 2006, the rules seek to “maintain and enhance” public access to the beaches and tidal waters. The rules take legal justification from the public trust doctrine, a legal principle that dates back to Roman civil law, which New Jersey courts have held to be a guarantee of public access to and use of tidal waters.

The initial rule proposal surprised the marina industry, whose members said it made unreasonable demands for round-the-clock public access to boat yards and would expose them to liability from accidents.

As published, the rules would provide certain exceptions for some marinas, but clearly indicate that public access will be required at marinas that also have townhouse dwelling units and nonmarine commercial development.

The New Jersey Marine Trades Association asked the DEP to make changes, and the group needs to examine the document before commenting, said Melissa Danko, the organization’s executive director.

Other exceptions

Other exceptions to public access are specified to cover issues such as military and homeland security, and natural resources problems, such as closing a shoreside area to protect endangered species.

Mindful of the coming rules, some beachfront communities have begun to think about meeting the new rule for public bathrooms every half-mile. Mantoloking officials are looking into providing portable, “luxury grade” lavatories that would be parked near the beach during the day and towed away at night during the summer.

The bathrooms demand has alarmed some residents who worry about the prospect of portable toilets like those used on construction sites. But the bathrooms are a comparatively minor issue compared with controversy over the perpetual easement access agreements the state wants from beachfront property owners before proceeding with the replenishment project on Long Beach Island, said Long Beach Township Mayor DiAnne C. Gove.

“The real step forward here is making sure that . . . access is usable by providing pathways to the beach parking spaces and bathrooms,” said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society.

The rules are “a tremendous step forward in . . . really guaranteeing the public that they can get to the ocean and to the beach and use it as their right,” he said.

Dillingham said he’s a little concerned about one change in the rules proposed Monday that would apply public access requirements only to the beach sections getting additional sand.

But if towns want beach replenishment, they will have to provide public access to that part of the beach, he said. It’s an important issue because some towns for years have tried to reserve part of their beach for private homeowners by not building access ways, and “now they’re going to face a real decision as to whether or not they want to protect that real estate through beach nourishment” he said.

The rules affect hundreds of miles of shoreline, including the 127-mile oceanfront and 83 miles of shoreline along Raritan and Delaware bays, according to the DEP documents.

ON THE WEB: Visit our Web site, www.app.com, and click on this story for a link to DEP’s public access rules. Also join the online conversation on this topic in Story Chat.

Staff writer Nina Rizzo contributed to this story, which includes material from Asbury Park Press archives. Todd B. Bates: (732) 643-4237 or tbates@app.com