Politics & Government

DEP Proposes Changes to Beach Access Rules

Environmental and advocacy groups worry rule changes could hurt public access

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection under Governor Chris Christie and Commissioner Bob Martin has proposed a set of changes to public access rules regarding beaches and waterways.

The Public Access Rule will relax stringent access requirements made under former Governor Jon Corzine's DEP.

According to the DEP the Public Access Rule will:

Find out what's happening in Little Silver-Oceanportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

* Requires new commercial, residential and industrial development to provide public access or pay into a fund created by a municipality with an approved access plan;

* Encourages municipalities to work with the Department to develop town-specific municipal public access plans;

* Expands the definition public access to include certain recreational facilities under the definition amusement pier, thereby opening up opportunities for rehabilitation of piers;

* Maintains all existing public access along the Shore and waterfronts;

* Enables the DEP to rank municipalities without approved access plans lower for shore protection funding projects.

The rule change comes in the wake of a decision by the New Jersey court system striking down Corzine era access rules mandating 24 hour, 7 days a week access to waterways and empowering the DEP to deny funding for beach replenishment projects to municipalities who failed to comply.

"The DEP will work with towns and cities to craft access plans that make local sense and protect the rights and needs of residents and businesses, instead of imposing one-size-fits-all, state-dictated access rules," Martin said in a press release. "The Department, however, still has final authority to approve any municipal access plans. The plans must ultimately meet the needs of the public.''

Find out what's happening in Little Silver-Oceanportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While the DEP feels the rule changes will enhance access for the public, environmental and advocacy groups are wary of the proposed changes.

Advocates have spoken out against the proposed rule changes since they were first brought up in August of 2010. The danger, they say, is that putting more control over access in the hands of municipalities is likely to result in less meaningful access for the public.

The proposed rule changes would no longer tie public funding to access. Advocates say this could lead to taxpayers being spent on beaches that taxpayers may not access.

A late-December 2010 poll conducted by the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest says that 82.1 percent of New Jersey residents feel that when government funds are used to replenish beaches, towns should be required to improve visitor access.

"That's basically what the public feels is a fair trade-off," said Paul Shelly of the Jersey Shore chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. "This is not some kind of offbeat view for New Jersey."

Before officially adopting the rule change, the DEP will hold two public hearings on the rule changes, one at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 12 at the Liberty State Park Railroad Terminal and another at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17 at Richard Stockton College. They will also accept written public comments submitted before June 3. Comments may be sent to:

NJ Department of Environmental Protection

Gary Brower, Esq.

ATTN: DEP Docket No. 05-11-03

Office of Legal Affairs

401 East State Street, 4th Floor

PO Box 402

Trenton, New Jersey 08625


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here