SEA BRIGHT — Enhancing the borough’s streetscape, reinforcing the seawall and restoring dunes along the beachfront are among the top priorities for projects expected to make the borough more resilient in the face of future storms.
At the final community workshop on Nov. 6, the Sea Bright 2020 steering committee, charged with formulating a vision for the future, unveiled the top nine projects that will make up a long-term planning document to guide the borough in recovering from superstorm Sandy.
“We are pleased with the projects that came out, and it reflects a realistic look at recovery projects that are feasible and achievable,” Mayor Dina Long said in an interview.
“The projects that were not deemed strategic in this plan are still priority projects for the governing body.”
According to Sea Bright 2020 Committee Chairman Frank Lawrence, the purpose of the meeting was to give members of the community an opportunity to review the priorities and provide feedback.
At the October meeting, residents reviewed 15 projects and voted on their choice of the top 10 recovery projects.
Lawrence said that while many of the projects voted on made the final list, projects were prioritized based on five additional criteria, which included how well the projects were defined; the impact on the larger population; whether the work would be visible or inspiring to the community; and the amount of time it would take to complete.
“Something that we could get done quickly got a higher score than something that may take seven or eight years to complete,” Lawrence told the group.
The fifth criterion was based on whether a project was a prerequisite for other projects.
“If you need to get one project done to do another project, that first project becomes more important,” he said.
After going through the prioritizing process, projects were divided into three categories: strategic, important and desirable.
Of the 15, nine were identified as strategic. In addition to the streetscape, seawall and dunes, strategic projects include a housing survey; identity and branding; business development and recruitment; traffic calming, parking and municipal consolidation; and beach pavilion and boardwalk.
Of these, streetscape and appearance rank highest and involve developing an ongoing streetscape program to enhance the appearance for the borough’s commercial area to encourage year-round shoppers and diners.
Developing the streetscape plan is expected to cost $10,000 to $25,000, while implementation — ranging from purchasing outdoor furniture to sidewalk replacement — is expected to cost from $30,000 to $1.5 million.
According to Lawrence, most of the cost could be offset by Community Development Block Grant funding, which is currently available.
The streetscape project could take up to three years to complete.
“Cityscape clearly has the potential to add an important element to the town,” Lawrence said. “The business community believes that and the residents believe that, because a vibrant downtown will not only draw tourists [and] clients; it will draw residents, as well.”
Five projects were deemed important, including bulkheads, restoring the neighborhoods, making Sea Bright a year-round destination, utilities and landscaping.
Lawrence said that if a project did not make the strategic list, it does not mean it will not be worked on.
Building bulkheads along the river, which received the second highest number of votes by residents, was dropped to the important list because that project would take more time to complete. The timeline estimates that bulkheads along the river could take up to four years to plan and two more years to implement.
However, the borough continues to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on the bulkhead project, he said.
The project ranked as “desirable” is river access, which Lawrence said would rely on the bulkhead project and take more time to complete.
Long said the planning document would enhance the borough’s competitiveness for obtaining grant funding. While the other projects did not come out on top, she said they would be eventually done.
“When I look at the project boards, I see additional projects that we can accomplish in a reasonable time period,” Long said. “I would like to see them all done.”

