Local fishermen have their beach access restored at the Takanassee oceanfront site in Long Branch after being denied entry at the fishing “hot spot” by a newly erected fence.
PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff The newly erected fence at the former Takanassee Beach Club site on the Long Branch oceanfront. After putting up a fence along the former Takanassee Beach Club property last week, the owner of the site has agreed to keep the gate open to permit fishermen access to the oceanfront, according to Mayor Adam Schneider.
“The gate is open now and it was open all weekend,” Schneider said Monday.
The fence was erected last week after the owner received a permit from the city to fence in the property to protect three historic structures that stand on the former beach club property, according to Schneider.
“[The owner of the property] is looking for a solution to provide access while protecting the buildings,” Schneider said. “I don’t know that you can do both.
“If you surround the buildings with fences, do you have enough access to allow people to the beach?” he added.
The fence at Takanassee that the fishermen are saying blocks their beach access. Activists and environmentalists, along with Councilman Brian Unger, were seeking last week that public beach access be restored at the Takanassee oceanfront site after learning that a fence was erected at the site.
In an e-mail sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Friday, Unger informed the agency that a fence has been erected on the former Takanassee Beach Club property, blocking beach access for fishermen.
Unger is claiming that the fence is violating the terms and conditions listed in the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) permit granted to developer Takanassee Developers LLC for a project that calls for 19 homes to be constructed at the site of the former beach club.
“It’s clear in the DEP permit that prior to and during construction at the site, public access to the beach has to be provided,” Unger said.
According to Unger, under the “Terms and Conditions, Physical Conditions” section of the permit, it states that five public access parking spaces must be provided prior and during construction, and access for parking cannot be impeded during construction of the project.
The fence erected at the Takanassee site. It additionally states that construction of the project shall not impair the ability of local fishermen and others from gaining access to the Atlantic Ocean.
In the e-mail, Unger wrote, “I therefore respectfully request that your unit take appropriate steps to remedy this situation.”
Isaac Chera, principal in Takanassee Developers, was issued a CAFRA permit from the DEP on Feb. 28 to construct five single-family homes, eight condominium units and six townhouses on the 4.8-acre site on Ocean Avenue where three original Life Saving stations stand.
With the approval come some 30 conditions the developer must adhere to in order to move forward with the project, including preserving the historic Life Saving buildings.
Late Friday afternoon, Unger spoke with DEP officials and said, “I believe DEP enforcement is trying to come up with an interim solution that includes continuous beach access and protects and secures the historic structures, but also does not put an unreasonable burden on the developer.”
The preservation of the historic structures on the site is the primary reason Chera erected the fence on the property, according to Schneider.
“[Chera] got a fence permit from the city to protect the buildings from being vandalized,” Schneider said. “He said he was having vandalism problems and his insurance carrier had issues with the site being so open.
“His insurance carrier said that if he wants to be insured, he has to protect the buildings,” Schneider said, adding, “There are issues about the buildings being preserved.”
Chera could not be reached for comment by deadline Tuesday.
Schneider explained that the CAFRA permit does require that Chera provide public access to the beach, but people are questioning when the conditions of the permit are to be enforced.
Schneider said that it is his understanding that the permit is to be enforced once constructions starts and to be continued upon completion of the project.
“He does not have an obligation to provide public access there now,” Schneider said. “I don’t think that the permit applies yet.
“Once he builds the project, he must provide public access,” he said, adding, “If he chooses not to build, he doesn’t have to provide public access.”
Schneider has spoken about the issue with the city’s assistant director of planning and zoning, Carl Turner.
“Carl doesn’t know how Mr. Chera can be responsible to provide access during construction,” Schneider said.
“Once he is done [with the project], there are very stringent rules that he must provide access.
“If DEP has required access now, then he has to provide access now,” Schneider said, adding, “I don’t think they did. [The city] has nothing that says Isaac is required to provide public access now.”
Schneider explained that Chera is open for suggestions as to how he can provide public access while protecting the historic structures on the site.
“If somebody can come up with a good way to do it and protect the buildings, I am sure [Chera] would consider it,” Schneider said.
Unger suggested that a form of security could be enforced at the site to allow for public access, while protecting the structures.
“We have urged them to protect the structures,” Unger said. “I think they have a watchman on the property.
“We need access from sunup to sundown,” Unger said, adding, “They can do that by locking the gate and then provide security personnel.”
A member of the Stripers Online group, which represents some 20,000 fishermen nationwide, said that there are posted comments on the organization’s Web site urging community members to call Schneider to see to it that public access is restored at the Takanassee site.
“We are just a bunch of fishermen and a large number of us are from New Jersey,” Jerry Kelly, a member of the Stripers Online group, said. “We are against the loss of access in any way, shape or form.
“We will protest to whomever we have to,” he said, adding, “Beach access is a right, not a privilege.”
Chera appeared before the city Planning Board last week for an informal hearing on the proposed plans for the site, and no formal plans for the project have been submitted as of yet.
Plans call for Chera to preserve one of the buildings on the original site and to relocate the other two stations to offsite locations where they also will be restored.
The Takanassee Beach Club property was sold to Chera for just under $18 million by the Peters family, which consists of Ginger Peters, her brother Scott Peters and their sister-in-law Kristen Peters.
G
inger Peters took her family to
court to force the sale of the property, saying that the sale is necessary in order to obtain the needed money to support medical bills for her cerebral palsy and spinal stenosis. Scott Peters has objected to the sale of the property.