SEA BRIGHT — A borough business owner and a group of commercial fishermen have filed suit against the state Department of Transportation (DOT) for damages they claim were caused by construction of the new Highlands Bridge.
In the suit filed in state Superior Court in Freehold on May 4, Kathleen Brooks, owner of Something Fishy restaurant and Brooks Marina, located adjacent to the bridge, is calling on the DOT and its contractor for the bridge project, JH Reid General Contractor, to construct a buffer near her marina to offset wind and tidal changes caused by the new bridge.
“We are asking the judge for an immediate hearing to construct some type of bulkhead or breakwater, some type of buffer to protect the marina from those currents,” Brooks’ attorney, Richard Sciria, explained last week.
Sciria is also representing several commercial fishermen who rent slips at Brooks Marina, who claim the tidal changes have made the marina too dangerous for fishing boats and is driving fishermen away.
According to Sciria, the support columns for the new bridge are larger than those that held the previous bridge. As a result, the depth of that portion of the Shrewsbury River has changed; creating a stronger tidal flow and exposure to winds that have damaged several boats owned by fishermen who rent slips at the marina.
“Their boats have been severely damaged due to these winds,” Sciria said.
“One boat actually sank. All of the boats have sustained thousands of dollars in damages. And the commercial fishermen are threatening to leave the marina, so there would be essentially no more clamming. And they’ve been there for generations.”
Representatives of the DOT declined to comment on the suit, citing the agency’s policy not to discuss pending litigation.
Walt Fleischer, the attorney representing JH Reid, however, said he has filed the appropriate paperwork with the court opposing Brooks’ request for the immediate construction of a bulkhead.
Fleischer said he hopes to establish for the court “why that relief is completely inappropriate.”
Sciria said he is currently working with an engineer who is analyzing the tidal flow in the area in an effort to back up Brooks’ claims.
“The new bridge changed the Shrewsbury River. It changed the whole dynamic of the water flow, the tides and the wind,” Sciria said.
“[The old] bridge acted as a strong buffer to the wind. And we are saying that the state of New Jersey and JH Reid … didn’t take that into consideration when they built the bridge,” he said.
In addition to the injunction for the bulkhead, Brooks is also suing for damages to her restaurant that she claims were caused when workers were driving pylons to support the bridge.
“All of those vibrations caused substantial property damage to her business,” Sciria said.
“There are cracks in the walls, the structure of the framing has been tilted, the ceiling is collapsing, there is structural damage throughout the restaurant, cracks throughout the restaurant,” he added.
The final portion of the suit is seeking damages for lost business Brooks alleges resulted from traffic pattern changes during construction.
“Two years ago you couldn’t drive from Sandy Hook to Something Fishy restaurant because everyone had to drive west over the bridge,” Sciria said.
“She lost a lot of business that way, greater than anyone else, because no one from Sandy Hook would drive to Sea Bright at all; they had to drive over the bridge. She lost over half of her receipts.
“The state of New Jersey and the contractor JH Reid General Contractor did not perform specific inspections, analysis, all of the proper things to plan for, vibration testing to make sure that the vibrations on that sandy soil did not affect her property, plan for the traffic, the traffic pattern,” Sciria said.
“When they finished the bridge construction, that’s when we knew all of the effects and what was going to happen, so we immediately filed the lawsuit after the bridge was completed,” he said.
Sciria said he believes the damages to Brooks’ restaurant could have been avoided had the state taken the proper precautions.
“They basically cared more about the Atlantic Highlands side. [Brooks’] business is in a lot of jeopardy — property damage, loss of business. And she leases the slips to the commercial fishermen, and they are leaving because it’s too dangerous out there.”
Fleischer said he is unaware of any damage that has occurred to Brooks’ property.
“At this stage, we have no discovery. At this stage, we don’t know the underlying facts. But we certainly don’t concede that there is any damage to the property, or if there has been damage to the property, that it’s been done by anything JH Reid did,” Fleischer said.