SOUTH AMBOY — Lighthouse Bay residents can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that a lingering issue with the state regarding the titles on their homes has been resolved.
The state Bureau of Tidelands Management signed a riparian grant Aug. 1, according to city Law Director John R. Lanza. It was then sent to the state Attorney General’s Office for review and approval; he said he anticipates the process will be completed by the end of the month.
Whether the grant was going to be signed this month was uncertain, as Lanza was tasked with requesting copies of the deeds for the 250 homes in the waterfront development and only had a couple of weeks to gather the information. He sent letters to residents in mid-July.
Had the documents not come in on time, the city would have had to wait for the bureau’s September meeting. Lanza said that in order for the grant to be as accurate as possible, and for current owners to benefit from the release of the claim to the land, accurate deed copies were required.
The grant lifts any claim the state had to Lighthouse Bay property. Lighthouse Bay was once water, and when it was filled, the city obtained a grant from the state, whereby the state deeded the land to the city, with the condition that the land only be used for public roads, Lanza previously said.
A little over a decade ago, Baker Residential bought the land that would become Lighthouse Bay from the South Amboy Redevelopment Agency. The city needed to give Baker clear title, which it did through the procurement of various temporary licenses, given with the anticipation of the riparian grant, Lanza has said.
“When Baker was done, it was determined that the road areas that were laid out and used were 50 feet in width — the grant for these roadways is 60 feet in width. That means that 5 feet on each side of the roadway reverts back to the state of New Jersey,” Lanza explained.
The grant, based on an agreement reached last May, involves a swap for permanent public access to the beach, and in the process the city will pay more than $50,000, including legal fees, said Larry Ragonese, press director for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Would the riparian grant have been needed had Baker stuck to the 60-foot mandate?
Ragonese said the state looked at that. “It’s possible,” he said, but added that the state considered it a moot point and was looking to move forward.
Ragonese said the deal was a win-win, adding that prior to the grant signing, residents might have encountered issues when trying to sell their properties. He said the grant removes a “question mark over the property.”
“Now new buyers will go, ‘What the heck is this?’ ” he said of what would be comparable to a lien on individual properties. “I think the town’s happy with it.”