New Jersey’s world-famous beaches are public spaces that bring people together as equals. Yet, if Gov. Chris Christie gets his way, it is possible that new beach access rules will dramatically reduce a New Jerseyan’s right to view, use and enjoy the state’s rivers, bays and coast for fishing, swimming, jogging, surfing, kayaking, birding, beachcombing, walking the dog or simply enjoying a stroll in the surf or along an urban waterfront.
New rules recently announced by Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin will roll back years of hard-won progress by placing much of the control and authority over beach access squarely in the hands of local towns. This is a system that has proved disastrous for decades, as more than 40 years of litigation over easy public beach access has demonstrated.
Easy access to public beaches is not a tradition in New Jersey. It has only come about after hardfought litigation between coastal advocates and towns or business. Decades of poor planning by local politicians and planning boards has led to quite a few beachfronts now bordered by either a concrete wall or a wall of private homes, townhouses and commercial businesses.
There is a long history of many beach towns working against public access by limiting on-street parking, limiting access from only dawn to dusk, installing parking meters, prohibiting food and drink, and providing no public bathrooms. It seems clear that many coastal towns are not accommodating the public’s right to enjoy their water, but accommodating their desire to control public land use for their financial benefit.
New beach access rules will only make matters worse and undo decades of progress in ensuring the public’s right to walk on their beaches— many of which are currently maintained with state tax dollars. New rules do not protect year-round, 24-hour access, nor do they preserve current public access points.
New rules do not offer much in the way of public participation, and there is no provision on how DEP will enforce the plan or provide oversight to make sure coastal communities provide ample and fair beach access.
While Gov. Christie says you should be able to freely enjoy our state’s beautiful coastline, unfortunately his new beach access rules will make it increasingly difficult to reach them.
I strongly encourage you to opposes the new public beach access rules and urge anyone who wants to protect their right to enjoy New Jersey’s coastal waterways (including the Delaware Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, Barnegat Bay, and the Hudson/Raritan estuary) to make your voice heard. Please contact Gov. Christie and DEP Commissioner Bob Martin to demand that more public hearings be held so that the working people who will be most severely impacted by the proposed rules will actually be able to be part of the public discussion.
For more information, check out the American Littoral Society at http://www.littoralsociety.org/.
Joseph Reynolds Co-chair Bayshore Regional Watershed Council Middletown