LBI Beach Replenishment Project Begins In Surf City
The 71 million dollar LBI beach replenishment project, designed to reduce erosion and property damage from hurricanes and northeaster storms is finally underway in Surf City. It remains to be seen whether or not the project will continue up and down Long Beach Island’s beaches. The project has met with a great deal of opposition from ocean front property owners whose permission is needed to allow project workers to access their ocean front property and do the work. Ocean front owners must sign an easement allowing such access, without the easements the project can not commence in other areas of Long Beach Island or continue in Surf City.
To be fair, oceanfront property owners are not the only people who have opposed the project. There are conditions attached to the beach replenishment project funds which include creating public restroom facilities where they do not exist, increased public access to beaches and public parking. Why is this problem? There is concern on the part of LBI’s property owners about how the State will accomplish this and where the public facilities will be located. These conditions must be met in order for the beach replenishment project to be funded by the government.
There are other concerns as well such as how the LBI beach replenishment project will change the beach and shoreline and that it may create unsafe conditions for swimmers’ and surfers’. Also, there is the concern over funding, whether it will cost more than what is projected, who will pick up any additional costs associated with the beach replenishment project and its maintenance.
However, since it is up to the ocean front property owners in each of the boroughs and in Long Beach Township to sign easements they may be the only people who have any say about whether the beach replenishment project will continue.
The most recent development regarding the beach replenishment project involves Surf City. The project was initiated there in November and only covers beaches from South Third Street to North 18th Street. In November, the State sued five ocean front owners who refused to sign easements needed for the project to continue in the northern part of the borough of Surf City. A Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the ocean front property owners However, the State appealed that decision this month. The oceanfront home owners argue that the State can’t take their land without just compensation. The State's response is that ocean front homeowners are being compensated as they are receiving the benefit from the beach replenishment project.
I became aware of the opposition surrounding the beach replenishment project several months ago when I attended a Joint Taxpayers Association meeting. Opinions for and against the project were passionately represented at the meeting. It was pretty alarming, learning that there was funding available for beach replenishment but that we may lose the funding if easements weren’t signed. My first reaction was, this is a no brainer, sign the easements already, has anyone looked at the beaches lately!? I have spent the last 30 summer seasons on LBI and I can remember as a kid how big the beaches were. (Of course I was a lot smaller then.) I don’t think anyone can deny that we have a beach erosion problem. Also, as a LBI resident, I have a great affinity for the island and for my house (which is located behind the oceanfront homes). I grew up here and want LBI to be around for my kids to enjoy. And, of course as a LBI real estate agent selling and renting property, my livelihood is here, as is the case for many of my friends and relatives who live here and in the surrounding mainland communities.
Since attending that meeting I have asked property owners I’ve encountered, “Are you for it or against it?” (Beach Replenishment that is.) Remember, I am the one who isn’t real good at small talk. I am surprised by a lot of peoples’ opinions. I was even more surprised that many people were still not aware of the beach replenishment project, the controversy that surrounds the project and that they didn’t sense the urgency of the issue.
In my conversations I have heard from some ocean front property owners that they are concerned about granting an easement to their land because the easement is not specific to the LBI beach replenishment project. In other words, once the project is complete, the government still has an easement to their property. They are also concerned about how the State will use the easement in the future. I get it; no one wants to give up the rights to their property. Can you really trust the government to do what it says it’s going to do? But aren’t ocean front property owners granting access to public works to clean and maintain the beaches without easements now? I saw bulldozers up on the beach this Fall pushing the sand up on the dunes.
Other people have a problem with the fact that the project calls the a dune height of 22 feet at its top elevation (depending on the location of the beach on the LBI) above sea level and the construction of a 300 to 400 foot wide berm with an elevation of 8 feet above sea level. I have taken this from official reports, frankly, I am not sure if I understand what it means. But the concern here is that it would interfere with ocean front property owners’ views and may impede on their ability to enjoy their property and devalue their property. I understand this too, ocean front property is a very big investment and asset. But if your home washes away then....
Still others are worried about the State taking their property to erect public restrooms or create public parking. I can think of a lot of publicly owned land on the Island where public restrooms and parking could be located. However, I don't know how the State will be able to satisfy the condition that public restrooms be placed every quarter mile in certain sections of the Island.
What hasn't helped matters is that property owners feel that they haven’t had their questions and concerns addressed adequately by the DEP, Army Corp of Engineers and local government officials and that the DEP and Army Corp wasn't particularly receptive to their requests for information.
I spoke to a friend recently about this issue. She is very informed on environmental issues and she wasn’t convinced that the beach replenishment project is a good thing or that it would work in the long run. I have my doubts as well. While it may be a temporary solution, it’s all we got right now until someone comes up with something better. And, the funding is available now. I think I’m willing to take the risk, but then again it’s really not up to me. Geotubes anyone?
For those of you who want to know more especially regarding the technical issues related to the beach replenishment project and stay informed I came across a very informative website recently; http://www.beachreplenish.com/ I would be interested if anyone knows of any alternatives to this type of beach replenishment project that have worked in other coastal communities. In any case, I would love to hear your opinion on this issue.