Seaside Heights Beach Giveaway

For Immediate Release

May 5, 2015

Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100

On Wednesday there will be a hearing on the Seaside Heights’ proposal to divert a 1.36 acre portion of their public beach for private use. The beach, which has been used for generations, will be given to the Casino Pier Company, limiting public’s ability to use the beach, swim, and recreate. The diversion will allow Casino Pier to build a new Ferris wheel and roller coaster in the same location where the property was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, putting the area further at risk during future storms. The beach is public land that New Jerseyans have paid for and should be kept in the public trust for all of us to use. The Borough currently plans to replace the diverted land with a museum, not more access to additional beach. The project must be approved by the NJDEP Green Acres Program and will be taking comments until May 20^th.

“Everyone enjoys going to the beach in the summertime and everyone has fond memories of Seaside Heights. This proposal will take away part of the beach people have enjoyed and give it to a private developer. This land belongs to all of us for us to use and should not become an amusement park. We not only have a right to this property, we paid for this property, and now we are giving it away for pennies on the dollar. The boardwalk had a fire and this is a fire sale of public land because you can’t replace the beach,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Seaside Heights was devastated by Hurricane Sandy and this project could wash out to sea, just like the last storm. During Sandy, much of Casino Pier collapsed into the ocean due to the intense waves. The Boardwalk cost an estimated $15 million to replace and an additional $1 million dollars in damages after the boardwalk fire in 2013. The boardwalk fire was caused because of faulty wiring and the Governor had waved inspections of wiring to re-build after Sandy which is probably the reason why the fire happened. The fire destroyed 60 buildings along a three block stretch.

“No one can forget the famous picture of the roller coaster sitting in the surf after Hurricane Sandy and yet we are doing it again. We are building a pier with the same type of amusements that got destroyed during the storm and we expect it not to happen again? Whatever gets built here could be washed away creating another iconic picture of a destroyed boardwalk with another amusement ride sitting in the surf,” said Jeff Tittel.

The NJ DEP requires a 1:1 replacement of open space that is of greater of equal value. However, the Borough has not released how the plan to replace the beach or the environmental and esthetic features for the people who utilize it. In return for the diversion of public land and beach, the Borough proposed the preservation and conservation of the historic Dentzel Loof Carousel as a museum for the public. This is a public beach for people who have paid to utilize the beach and now this proposal would give it away for private use. The Christie Administration used money that was supposed to go to homeowners to give to the boardwalk reconstruction and its businesses. This proposal offers the public land to the same people, while many Hurricane Sandy victims are still displaced and out of their homes.

In order to deal with future storms there needs to be an overall comprehensive approach to coastal planning including the need to elevate structures and move them back from the water’s edge, not expand buildings closer to the ocean. We need to look at protecting New Jersey coastal communities in a more comprehensive manner that includes natural systems and planning for sea level rise and storm surges. We have found one of the lessons from Hurricane Sandy is that natural systems like vegetative dunes and coastal marshes protect people and property and are better for the environment. This development will leave a vulnerable area worse that was already breached during Hurricane Sandy.

The public hearing will be held at 6PM on May 6, 2015 at the Borough of Seaside Heights, located at 901 Boulevard, Seaside Heights, NJ at Borough Hall. Written comments may be submitted to the agencies listed below by May 20, 2015.

All written comments should be submitted to the Borough of Seaside Heights with copy to the NJDEP Green Acres Program, at the following addresses:

Borough of Seaside Heights

Office of Borough Administrator

901 Boulevard

Seaside Heights, NJ 08751

NJ Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program

Bureau of Legal Services and Stewardship

501 East State Street, 1st Floor

Mail Code 501-01, P.O. Box 420

Trenton, NJ 08625-0420

Attention: Kevin Appelgate