May 2007 Dear Friend: Late last Fall New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) proposed new shore public access regulations. Waterfront property owners shall be required to convey a dedicated easement to the State to guarantee 24/7 public access from the street through their private property and along the waterfront boundaries of their lot. Owners of industrial, commercial, multi dwelling and single family residences may be affected. The purpose of this letter is to acquaint you with the proposals and to solicit your input. The proposed regulations have not yet been officially adopted. Three public meetings were convened on November 28, 2006, December 1, 2006 and December 4, 2006. Many of us caught up in the holidays were unaware of the proposed regulations and public meetings until 2007. With little time to review the proposal I hastily submitted my objections immediately prior to the public comment deadline on January 4, 2007. 700 hundred other citizens filed comments as well. Since that time I have been studying the proposed regulations, conferring with engineers, environmental attorneys, commercial marina owners, single family residential owners and NJDEP. If your property falls within one of the five categories below and you require a permit from NJDEP for a variety of improvements (See “trigger” below) you must convey the aforementioned public access easement. Property immediately adjoining the following bodies of water are affected: - Atlantic Ocean
- Raritan Bay
- Sandy Hook Bay
- Delaware River
- “Tidal waters” (rivers and other waters affected by tidal changes where a “beach” or a “dune” is present). Definition of the terms in quotation marks appear at the end of this letter.
While I support public access to the shore I believe the proposed regulations are unnecessarily broad in scope, problematic on many levels for property owners and confiscatory in nature. I believe in the public’s right to access nature’s most beautiful resource – the ocean. I also believe that as good stewards for New Jersey’s number two industry – travel and tourism, the State should insure residents and visitors ability to enjoy their day at the Jersey Shore. I also believe that the State can achieve these goals by taking into consideration present and future public access facilities such as State, County and municipal beaches and parks in lieu of a very drastic measure of taking private property without any compensation. I welcome your comments. Definitions: Regarding category 5 please review the following definitions: A. Tidal water B. Beach: "Beach" means a gently sloping area of sand or other unconsolidated material found on tidal shorelines, including ocean, inlet, bay and river shorelines, that extends landward from the mean high water line to either: the vegetation line; a man-made feature generally parallel to the ocean, inlet, bay or river waters such as a retaining structure, seawall, bulkhead, road or boardwalk, except that sandy areas that extend fully under and landward of an elevated boardwalk are considered to be beach areas; or the seaward or bay ward foot of dunes, whichever is closest to the ocean, inlet, bay or river water. C. "Dune" means a wind-or wave-deposited or man-made formation of sand that lies generally parallel to and landward of the beach, and between the upland limit of the beach and foot of the most inland slope of the dune. Dune includes the fore dune, secondary and tertiary dune ridges, and all landward dune ridges and mounds, as well as man-made dunes where they exist. A small mound of loose, windblown sand found in a street or on part of a structure as a result of storm activity is not considered to be a dune. D. Trigger events: CAFRA and perhaps other permits (under review) |
