New N.J. beach access rules a big step back backward: Star-Ledger Editorial

[njdiver]

Posted: 10/22/2012 10:11 AM

The state’s new beach access rules are likely to be embraced by many Shore towns when they go into effect Nov. 5, for a simple reason: The rules require nothing from them.

Under the old rules, these towns had to make sure the public could reach the beach, or risk losing beach replenishment funds. But an appeals court ruled that funding and access could not be connected. Now, the worst that might happen if a town has no plan is that there might be a delay in funding. Maybe.

And that’s a big maybe. State officials say towns have three years to voluntarily deliver a plan — with beach access every half-mile, not every quarter-mile as in the past. Towns without a plan will go to the end of the line for beach replenishment funding or maintenance permits.

Only one problem: Neither penalty is in the actual rules. Which means a Shore town can exert any political or personal leverage to be the exception to a rule that doesn’t even exist. And still receive funds while doing zilch. It’s a huge escape hatch. The state says its hands are tied by the ruling, but its extreme interpretation of the law is not shared by everyone. Opponents say the state is putting all control in the hands of towns that have blocked public use of the beaches for decades. And if you’re a beachgoer chased off the beach? You’ll have to sue in court.

Preserving public access to tidal waters, by law and history, has always been the state’s charge. But the new rules are a giant leap backward. "They’re telling towns, ‘You figure it out,’ without a lot of oversight," said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, an environmental group that has promoted greater access.

Raymond Cantor, chief adviser to Robert Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said towns that submit plans to the state will have to hold public hearings. The plan is not a must, he conceded, "but it’s strictly encouraged." Cantor said many towns see the value of drawing tourism.

That optimistic view ignores a long history of resistance, during which towns and property owners have erected shrubbery and walls, failed to provide restrooms and limited parking to prevent visitors from lingering at the Shore. It’s hard to see how the new rules provide any incentive for towns to do the right thing and provide access to what, in essence, belongs to all people of the state.


http://mobile.nj.com/advnj/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=TKQutWx3&full=true#display

[storminsteve]

That really sucks. Looks like not much can be done about it then njdiver. Why did they give the towns so much power?

[finchaser]

say goodbye to fishing in DEAL and Elberon they will retaliate for what was done there the last few years by the snag and drop/pencil popper crew

[plugcrazy]

Parking is already a no no on Pullman. Very easy to make all the streets that way.

[hookset]

^If I lived there I would ask for that. Fishermen in the spring are pigs. Can you imagine coming home to your house and a guy is cleaning a fish in front of it or left the rack in your garbage can? I dont blame them for the parking closures.

[surferman]

There are some jetties in the cape may area where it already says no fishing in big letters.

[jigfreak]

^If I lived there I would ask for that. Fishermen in the spring are pigs. Can you imagine coming home to your house and a guy is cleaning a fish in front of it or left the rack in your garbage can? I dont blame them for the parking closures.


Close it all down. Some guys will never learn. No sense in trying its useless.

[DarkSkies]

The lines in the access battles are being drawn. The first battles are these easements that are vexing homeowners and officials alike. We can't move forward without the homeowners signing them. There are vaild arguments on both sides. Here is a Brick Patch article that tries to put some of that in perspective. Sent in by Fin, thanks.


http://brick.patch.com/articles/public-access-fears-dominate-brick-beach-replenishment-meeting?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001
Public Access Fears Dominate Brick Beach Replenishment Meeting
Homeowners concerned with easement language, lack of established dune line
3-24-13


By Daniel Nee (http://stripersandanglers.com/users/daniel-nee)



Though Brick officials have pledged the status quo will remain along the township's oceanfront, homeowners at a meeting Saturday said they have concerns over preserving private beach access as well as the lack of an established dune line in a proposed beach replenishment plan.

In order for the project – which is primarily funded by the federal government – to move forward, oceanfront residents and beach associations would have to sign easements to allow the dunes to be built and maintained partially on private property.

The state has set an April 1 deadline for easements to be signed, while Rep. Jon Runyan's office has set a federal deadline (http://brick.patch.com/articles/deadline-set-for-dune-easements-to-be-signed) of May 1.
"I do not want to put Ferris wheels or boardwalks behind anyone's house," Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis told more than 100 residents at the meeting. "I don't want more beaches. We have three beaches and that's enough. I don't want to take anyone's private beach."
Township attorney Jean Cipriani said the easements entitle public officials to access private property only for the scope of the dune renourishment project itself, so the prospect of using the documentation as license to build a boardwalk, restrooms or parking lots is out of the question.

"The Army Corps has confirmed through their project engineer that the public access that would be constructed is only to replace the exact access points that exist now," said Cipriani.
But some residents have doubts.
Homeowner Ed Pilot, as well as many others at the meeting, pointed to a subsection of the easement that states one of the goals of the project is to "implement the Public Trust Doctrine and ensure permanent public access, use and enjoyment of the beach and ocean."
"What's to prevent the DEP to come in after the project is finished and sue everyone to allow public access to their beach?" asked Pilot.
Attorney John Paul Doyle, representing 14 homeowners, also pointed to the public acces language, asking whether the easement – the boundaries of which are not technically defined yet in Brick – could mean private streets would be opened for public parking.
Cipriani said the easement is "limited by the project area," meaning the dune renourishment project itself.

Though some residents at the meeting claimed the section on the public trust doctrine – a legal principle that maintains certain lands are held in trust for the use of the public – was not present in earlier versions of coastal easements, a check of public records by Patch found that easement agreements in Long Beach Township and Mantoloking going back to 2007 included the same language.
In Long Beach Township, Surf City and Harvey Cedars, public access points did not change since replenishment projects were completed there, nor were showers, parking lots or other amenities constructed.
Acropolis said even advocates for more public beach access have been largely satisfied by Brick's current access level.
"There is a group of people around here where that's all they do - sue for public access," he said. "They've never sued Brick Township."

Cipriani said the state Department of Environmental Protection will not allow changes to be made to the easement document itself, though the township may be able to add a supplemental section explaining its position on certain issues.

Acropolis said eventually, the debate over whether to sign easements may be ended by legislation.
"There is a deadline, and it will move forward," said Acropolis. "I would much rather have input at the local level with you than have someone in Trenton set the policy as for what should happen."
Legislation that would empower municipalities or the state to condemn the easement areas and factor in the added value of the project to reduce payouts to homeowners is pending, and Gov. Chris Christie has come out strongly in favor of the replenishment project.

Acropolis also spoke of the need for replenishment to protect all of Brick's residents, including those on neighboring streets on the barrier island as well as those across the bay.
"Most of the professionals believe that if the breach [in Mantoloking] hadn't happened, most of the homes on the mainland would not have flooded," the mayor said.

[bababooey]

I don't see compliance with all the folks who are lawyered upalready. This will probably have to be handled in the courts. my .02

[bababooey]

Something to think about - an article detailing how Bay Head ws saved from further damage. I really feel we need barriers along the whole NJ Coast. The homeowners who don't agree should have to have a minimum of $5 million insurance policy.

What do you guys think?

http://weather.yahoo.com/long-forgotten-seawall-fended-off-sandy-115800832.html

How Long-Forgotten Seawall Fended Off Sandy

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Z5.JelXUZ8zWnC6p4xZ8fQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9Mjc-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/logo/livescience/livesci_logo_73.jpg (http://www.livescience.com/)By By Laura Poppick, Staff Writer | LiveScience.com – 11 hours ago



http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kgRaNpyZn4wRWHGywKzYtQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9Mzc4O2NyPTE7Y3c9NTc1O2R4PTA7ZH k9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD0zNzg7cT04NTt3PTU3NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/sandy.jpg1374184573
(http://stripersandanglers.com/photos/long-forgotten-seawall-fended-off-sandy-photo-115800383.html)LiveScience.com/Jennifer Irish, Virginia Tech - A relic seawall in Bay Head, N.J., dating back to 1882, was uncovered by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The forgotten structure staved off a significant amount …more of property damage. less







A buried and forgotten seawall built in 1882 may have significantly weakened Hurricane Sandy's grip on one New Jersey town, new research shows.
Bay Head — a beach town located along the northeast shores of New Jersey — lay directly in the violent path of Hurricane Sandy (http://www.livescience.com/24380-hurricane-sandy-status-data.html) when the storm barreled toward the Eastern Seaboard last October. And yet only one house from the town was lost to the storm. The neighboring town of Mantoloking, on the other hand, lost more than a quarter of its houses.

To figure out how Bay Head thwarted Sandy's blow, a team of coastal engineers from Virginia Tech visited the region within two weeks of the storm to survey the area. They found what they believe to be their answer in a 4,000-foot-long (1,200 meters) wall of rocks that many residents hadn't even known was there, they reported earlier this month in the journal Coastal Engineering. [Jersey Shore: Before & After Hurricane Sandy (http://www.livescience.com/24695-before-and-after-hurricane-sandy-new-jersey.html)]

"Once we got there, we immediately saw the seawall," Jennifer Irish, an engineer at Virginia Tech and a co-author of the study, said in a statement. The team noted that dunes along the beaches of both Mantoloking and Bay Head likely helped beat back some waves, but that the seawall provided a clear advantage for Bay Head. "The beach and dunes did their job to a certain point, then the seawall took over, providing significant dampening of the waves. It was the difference between houses that were flooded in Bay Head and houses that were reduced to piles of rubble in Mantoloking."

Two towns
The team examined satellite imagery (http://www.space.com/18236-frankenstorm-hurricane-sandy-satellite-photos.html) and beach data from the two regions to assess whether other factors could have played a role, but found nothing that stood out as strongly as the seawall.
"Because of [the towns'] close proximity, and based on our survey, I feel confident that the conditions that they were exposed to were virtually identical," Irish told Livescience.

The team believes that the combination of the hard seawall — which stands about 5 feet (1.5 m) above the sand — and overlying soft sand dune likely accounts for the structure's effectiveness.
"A seawall on its own is detrimental to the beach," said Patrick Lynett, an engineer at the University of Southern California who was a co-author on the study. By deflecting waves seaward, seawalls increase the amount of wave energy hitting beaches and cause more sand to wash away, he explained. "The seawall is good at protecting the town from being flooded, but for an extreme storm, it's not good."
The sand on top of the seawall provided extra cushioning, dampening the energy channeled back to the beach.

Extreme erosion
Other structures, like jetties that run perpendicular to beaches and breakwaters that sit underwater near shores, can also help prevent erosion, but usually not under extreme conditions like Hurricane Sandy (http://www.livescience.com/topics/hurricane-sandy-frankenstorm-news/). The team thinks that the combined seawall and dune could provide a good model for other beach towns looking to prevent erosion. But every beach is different and should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, Lynett said.

The team now plans to look more closely at their data to try to better understand how storms as large as Sandy affect erosion (http://www.livescience.com/24518-east-coast-beach-storm-threat.html) and other beach processes.
"We really hope we can learn a lot from this terrible event, and improve our ability to recover and increase the resiliency of coastal communities," Irish said.

[Monty]

I hate beach replenishment.

General Media News

http://atl.gmnews.com/news/2013-07-11/Front_Page/Army_Corps_to_begin_beach_replenishment_this_month .html

Army Corps to begin beach replenishment this month
Staff Writer
The first phase of a $102 million project that will replenish beaches from the Manasquan Inlet to Sea Bright will begin later this month in Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright.
Chris Gardner, public affairs specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers, said approximately 8 million cubic yards of sand were lost along the coast from Sea Bright to the inlet during the Oct. 29 storm.
“We’re authorized to use federal dollars to replace that sand,” he said. “With the Sandy relief bill, we are authorized to not just replace the sand lost, but to restore the project to its original design profile.”
During the first phase, 2.5 million cubic yards of sand will be pumped onto the beaches at the two oceanfront towns. The $25.6 million contract for the work was awarded to Illinois-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co.
According to Gardner, the project involves restoring sand to the specifications of the original beach replenishment work done along the same stretch of coastline that began in the mid-1990s and concluded in 2001.
He said that because the original project did not involve the construction of sand dunes, they would not be included in this phase.
“It’s repairing and restoring the original project, and the original project did not include dunes,” Gardner said. “So it is what the Corps of Engineers and the state of New Jersey constructed originally.”
The issue of dunes was discussed at a previous council meeting, where Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long suggested that dunes be built on the municipal beach once the sand replenishment project is completed.
According to Gardner, the state is divided into two districts, with the New York office of the Army Corps having jurisdiction north of the Manasquan Inlet and the Philadelphia office having oversight south of the inlet. The northern district is divided into four regions: Manasquan to Belmar; Avon to Asbury Park; Long Branch; and Monmouth Beach to Sea Bright.
According to Gardner, the reason that Long Branch stands alone in the replenishment project is because the area between Long Branch and Asbury Park was not part of the original sand replenishment project.
“There’s a gap in the project in the towns of Deal and Elberon,” he said. “That project was never constructed, so we have no authority to repair.
“As I understand it, back in the 1990s it was never constructed, [and] the reason was related to public access issues.”
Replenishment of the beachfront in Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach for the first contract will likely begin by the end of July and be completed in the winter.
The contracts for the other project areas are slated to be awarded throughout the summer and early fall.
Gardner said it is a misconception that sand replenishment is beneficial only for recreational uses.
“We’re excited to do this work along the beaches,” he said. “A lot of people view them as recreation, but the fact of the matter is they do provide a lot of risk reduction.”
“[The engineered beaches] prevent a lot of potential damages,” he added. “They still mitigated the damage, and it could have been a lot worse if the work that had been done in past years hadn’t been done.”
The replenishment about to get underway will have some impact on day-to-day beach operations, but will not result in large-scale beach closures, he said.
“There will be small sections closed while they are actually doing the work with the heavy equipment,” he said. “They shouldn’t be closing entire stretches. The idea is to limit it to where the work is going on.”
He also explained how the sand is sourced for replenishment.
“The process of getting sand involves really large, specialized equipment,” Gardner said. “For this particular project, there is a borrow area off the coast of Sea Bright, a few miles offshore.
“These massive vessels will go out with vacuum arms on the side of the boat [that] lower down into the water and **** it up, and there will be filters to make sure nothing bad gets on the beach.”
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) said in a press release that the replenishment would benefit the storm-battered towns in his district, including Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach.
“Unfortunately, superstorm Sandy made the conditions of some of our beaches go from bad to worse. But once this project is complete, our beaches will be replenished and wider than they were even before the storm,” he said.