By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
LONGPORT Following nearly two years of wrangling with the state over public access to the beach, the Board of Commissioners Wednesday, April 15 passed a resolution approving a deed of dedication and perpetual public access easement.
The meeting was held through teleconferencing, and several residents addressed the resolution during the public comment period.
The easement, which allows the borough to implement requirements of the Public Trust Doctrine, covers all 49 of Longport's street-end access points over the bulkhead and along the bayside.
The Public Trust Doctrine states that access to bodies of water, including bays, rivers and oceans must be open to everyone, including beachgoers, fishers, surfers and the general public.
The deed was developed with input from the Longport Citizens Alliance, a group of year-round and summer residents who expressed concerns about their property rights.
The deed is irrevocable and will stand in perpetuity.
The 6-foot-wide pedestrian easement is measured 3 feet from each side of the centerline of the street end and extends from the curb line to the mean highwater line of either the ocean or bay.
Signs will be posted announcing the area is a beach access point.
The municipality is required to comply with all federal and state regulations in maintaining the area as an open access point. It does not affect private waterfront property owners, and only applies to publicly owned access areas at the end of each bay or beach block.
It is an easement that stops the municipality from ever selling the street end to a private entity, which can then block access, Borough Solicitor Michael Affanato assured residents. The borough has no intention of ever doing that. The easement is required by the DEP to ensure we maintain beach access indefinitely.
Only access points at existing street ends on the ocean or the bay side are covered under the deed.
It absolutely changes nothing as to what we already have existing. All it does prohibit the borough from in the future blocking beach access, he said.
In response to a question from a bayfront property owner, Affanato said, If there is no street there now, there is no easement being implemented.
Mayor Nicholas Russo said borough attorneys and engineer Richard Carter worked on the resolution to satisfy the NJ Department of Environmental Protection requirements.
Now that the deed is in place, the borough can proceed with developing a Beach Maintenance Plan, which is needed to obtain a new General Beach Maintenance Permit. The borough's beach access permit expired at the end of summer 2017 and it has provided limited maintenance, such as sweeping the beach during the summer months, under a temporary permit that has also expired.
Russo said the plan is needed to keep the beaches clean and safe.
The borough attempted to implement the requirement through an ordinance introduced last summer but pulled it after several members of the public expressed concerns about the possibility the state could require the borough to provide the public with additional parking areas or restrooms.
The public's objections were resolved during negotiations, the group's attorney said.
Affanato said the resolution would be forwarded to the DEP early next week for its approval.
Of the 45 access plans submitted by communities that have waterway access, the DEP has approved nine of them.
In other business, the board approved a $10,900 contract for Falasca Mechanical to make repairs to the HVAC system in the Police Department.
It also approved a $192,000 professional services contract for ARH Associates of Hammonton for design and construction management for Phase 2 installation of a new well and well house at the Public Works complex.
The borough also announced that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the borough would send out estimated tax bills on June 30. Taxpayers will receive an updated bill after tax rates are certified.
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