DEP Provides Beach Access Stakeholder Process  

The Department of Environmental Protection will be holding a stakeholder meeting on a law concerning public access to certain public trust lands (PL.2019 c.81) that Governor Murphy recently signed into law.  The law codifies the public’s rights under the Public Trust Doctrine to use and enjoy the State’s tidal waters and adjacent shorelines.  The stakeholder meeting will discuss and provide insight on potential changes to these rules.

“Commissioner McCabe is keeping her word on providing a stakeholder process for the recently signed public beach access law. People of New Jersey have a right to beaches and waterfront that belong to them. But those rights are too often violated by towns in NJ. We need to make sure that DEP require towns to not only provide public access to their beaches, but amenities like bathrooms and a parking lot,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Too many communities want our money, but they don’t want us on their beaches. We need to make sure that the stakeholder process is open and fair and requires access since the law itself is weak and does not require it.”

New Jersey will consider expanding its beach access regulations to take into account two things every day-tripping beachgoer knows: Being able to access a beach also includes being able to park near it and use a public restroom.

“Many times when we win in court for towns to provide beach access, towns get around it by blocking amenities. Towns are denying people from getting to their beaches by failing to provide things like bathrooms and parking lots. This is as a way for towns to limit our rights.,” said Tittel. “We are concerned the rules in the law can be subject to challenge by towns who want to keep us out. Towns like Deal, Avalon, and Long Beach Township can sue because of the ambiguous language in the bill. They will be able to win and block public access to its waterfront and beaches. People have to walk half a mile from the beach  to use the bathroom or change. Towns that have been denying access or making it difficult for people to access beaches will continue to do so.” 

The new beach access law shall take effect on the 60th day after the date of enactment.

“There are too many places in our state where private beachfront homeowners want the public money, but they don’t want the public to be there. In order to make sure the New Jersey taxpayers have access to the beaches they are paying millions of dollars to restore, the Murphy Administration must make sure towns provide the proper amenities to make that happen. There should be more people involved in the stakeholder process, especially those people impacted who are not provided public beach access,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.