Beach Access: NJ beach access DEP Hearing 6-2-11 Long Beach Twp

[DarkSkies]

I can't figure out how to open the comments thingy?? DOH!!

FC

I didn't get to it yet, FC, still have to fill in your comments and the pics I took, and all the other things I left blank in this thread.
Way behind on everything, been fishin.
My bad, sorry. hope to get to it this week.

You should think about makin a trip to NJ soon if you can, late afternoon bite. Call me when ya wanna come up.

[surferman]

Thanks for keeping us informed, guys!

[DarkSkies]

Joe Loreti and Jason from StriperCoast Surfcasters.... a club in which I'm a founding member. Nice to meet ya's in person.







Jim Hill (Fishin Crazy) and Dante Soriente, both there to show their support. Great job on your comments, Jim! There wasn't a dry eye in the house when you got done.

[DarkSkies]

Paul Harris and the folks at NJBBA. They were strong supporters at these meetings as they are frequent users of the beach and fighting for the rights of all of us. They were the ones handing out the

(NO) No public access rule

stickers...get in touch with them if you want some, they may have some left.

[bababooey]

Great job on the reports DS and everyone else, keep up the good work!

[basshunter]

Now they are claiming access should be limited because some areas have wetlands. What BS!


Long Beach Township residents say beach path plan in Loveladies section would endanger wetlands

Posted: Monday, June 6, 2011 10:15 pm | Updated: 6:55 am, Tue Jun 7, 2011.
By DONNA WEAVER Staff Writer Press of Atlantic City

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP ? Neighbors of Station Avenue in the Loveladies section of the township say they are angry that the site has been chosen for a public beach accessway because they want to protect freshwater wetlands there.

Loveladies is among the most inaccessible sections of beach on Long Beach Island. Multimillion-dollar homes line the oceanfront. Near those homes are no-trespassing signs warning of prohibited beach access and private driveways.

?It?s the age-old NIMBY thing ? not in my backyard,? township Mayor Joseph Mancini said.
The neighbors expressed their concerns days after the state Department of Environmental Protection held its final public hearing on new statewide beach access rules. Station Avenue has been identified as the fifth and final public beach-access point in Loveladies to meet access requirements imposed by the DEP. The street is partially wooded and undeveloped.
Mancini said the township owns Station Avenue, a 50-foot wide, 800-foot-long, dead-end street. He said the township plans to cut an 8-foot walking path into the street and called that path ?an innocuous and unaffecting thing.?

?We could make it a road, pave it and park 70 cars on that street and add bathrooms, but we?re trying to be as neighborly as possible,? Mancini said Monday afternoon. ?We have an additional access a block away, but this is the only undeveloped street we have left in Loveladies. So if we have it, let?s use it.?

Station Avenue homeowners say it is not about stopping tourists from accessing their otherwise private driveways and using their usually deserted beaches, but they are concerned about the environmental impact of creating a public accessway, as well as their safety.
Ellen Weisberg, 64, said she does not think an area with wetlands should be touched or developed. Weisberg, of Philadelphia, owns a second home on Station Avenue.

?It?s not about having people on our beach. Even if it weren?t about wetlands, it would be about us not being safe. We?d be open for stealing off-season. This is more inviting because they?d have easier access,? said Weisberg, noting that an environmental-impact study exists showing ?there are wetlands on that paper street.?

An environmental analysis of the property was prepared in April for Station Avenue resident Jeffery Sussman.
Claudia Rocca, senior environmental specialist for Bohler Engineering, wrote in the report that environmental and regulatory constraints were identified on Station Avenue, some of which ?merit protection from development.?

A qualified wetlands specialist identified an area of freshwater wetlands on Station Avenue, the report shows, adding that the land would likely be considered ?intermediate resource value wetlands.? Rocca wrote in the report that the freshwater wetlands on Station Avenue are a ?rare habitat and ecotone within a highly developed area.?

The boundary of the freshwater wetlands found on the property was recognized by the Department of Environmental Protection in a Letter of Interpretation from the early 1990s, the report states. Rocca suggested pursuing a new wetlands-boundary delineation from the DEP since the previous one has expired.

The report also states that several threatened or endangered species have been found by the DEP adjacent to Station Avenue, including the roseate tern, least tern, common tern and black skimmer. Rocca wrote that the habitat should be preserved because it could be used as resting and foraging habitat for wildlife species, including the threatened and endangered species that were identified nearby.

?There?s wetlands all over the place on the island ? saltwater and freshwater. But it?s not like we?re building a road there. The bottom line is, it?s not severe wetlands,? Mancini said.
Mancini said DEP officials told township officials last week that creating an accessway on Station Avenue was a great idea. DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese said Mancini took DEP officials on a tour of Station Avenue to show them their plans for the accessway.
Ragonese said he has not seen the independent environmental analysis of the area and could not comment specifically on the alleged freshwater wetlands that were identified in the report.
?In general, if you disturb wetlands, you have to get a permit,? Ragonese said. ?All rules and regulations will still be in place. If and when the township comes to us with a specific proposal for access, if there were to be an environmental issue, of course we would deal with it and have to consider it. But it?s premature for me to comment on something that is not before us.?

Weisberg's husband, Joseph Nagy, said he wants the DEP to investigate the wetlands at the site during the approval process for the township?s access plan. Nagy said the wetlands that were identified in the study are located in a wooded area and are a unique habitat in a developed area.

[jigfreak]

Bunch of elite a-holes they dont care about wetlands they just don't want us to fish and will use any excuse.

[surferman]

Here is a nj news video on access

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=8168979

[bababooey]

Meeting tues june 27, this was sudsys comments, and I didn't notice sudsy having any posts asking for peoples names and addresses. Thanks guy, and didn't he also do something for Sandy Hook access about 10 years ago?

I still would be happy if someone took a dump on Bob Martin's driveway, it would make my day. dark, bueller, dirty deeds done dirt cheap, anyone?


"Interesting meeting. They promised us the world - no loss of access, Public Trust Doctrine as regards the mean high tide line remains part of law. I quote Mr. Cantor ~ "Public Trust Doctrine will be the minimum standard". "There will be absolutely no loss of access"

What I don't like is that the rule is going to be approved as it is right now, no matter what we say or do, then amended afterwards. This leaves us in a very weak position ( I'm worried it could end like it did for the American Indians after hearing "We're from the government, you can trust us")

The marinas, existing business and most new one and two house developments are let off the hook for access requirements. New construction - industrial and larger developments are not.
I'm somewhat OK with that but I suspect the Littoral Society people are going to have a cow

Towns will be writing their own access rules (there is no getting around it - God knows we tried) but they will be subject to the approval of the DEP. We will be notified and have access to every one of these plans before they are approved and will have the ability to comment on them. We let it be known quite firmly that we absolutely expect some towns to do whatever they can to restrict our access and we will NOT accept that.

As a group we were extremely skeptical and very distrustful of the whole situation and we let it be known in no uncertain terms.
As an individual I still am. But for some reason, and I'm not sure why, I feel a bit hopeful. Perhaps it's because the State now is now very aware that we exist and we are a force to be reckoned with - and that's a very good thing. "

[stripermania]

Well, that seems ok for now, but I still don't trust them. Politicians say one thing one moment and then next day they change it. I thought the Public Trust Doctrine was a lot stronger and would prevent this underhanded manipulation. What I don't like is they will let the towns make their own rules and then the DEP says they will have the final say. That seems manipulative to me. Thanks to Sudsy and all the guys who hammered them on this.