The future of the LBI Beach Replenishment Project is still uncertain as the work in Surf City is just about finished and the State’s appeal of the lawsuit filed by the oceanfront owners who refused to sign easements in the Surf City has yet to be decided.
In a recent article published in the Beach Haven Times (1/03/07) the LBI project manager for the Army Corp of Engineers, Keith D. Watson, reported that there are no plans for the work to continue in Ship Bottom. Ship Bottom was slated to be the next town after Surf City to start work but due to the lack of easements there the project will not continue.
The future of the project; when, where and if the Beach Replenishment Project will continue on LBI, will depend on whether a sufficient amount of oceanfront property owners sign easements allowing access to their property and on whether State and Federal funding is available. Money for the project is allotted each fiscal year by the State and Federal Government. According to Watson in an article in the SandPaper (1/24/07) p 23, http://www.thesandpaper.net/ money had been set aside to complete Ship Bottom this year.
Since the Beach Replenishment Project is in limbo, Ship Bottom Borough is considering adopting an ordinance much like Surf City’s which requires private property owners to pay for the maintenance and repair of the dunes in front of their homes.
Beach Haven, where there are plans for a geotube on the shore at Merivale, Leeward and Nelson Avenues, an area where there has been significant beach erosion over the past couple of years, is having easement troubles of its own.
In the other areas of LBI not enough oceanfront property owners have signed easements allowing access to their property for the Beach Replenishment Project to begin in their towns. Reportedly in Long Beach Township, which covers 12 of the18 miles, only 30 of 433 necessary easements have been signed.
For more information and views about this very important topic check out
Beach Haven Mayor Tom Stewart's Monologue and Major Issues tabs on Beach Haven's official website at http://www.beachhaven-nj.gov/
For an in depth article about views for and against beach replenishment check out an article written this past summer 2006 on nymag.com http://nymag.com/guides/summer/17404/index.html
Offering status of easements and opinons from residents of Ship Bottom. Asbury Park Press On Line 01/19/07
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070119/NEWS02/701190405/1070/BUSINESS
Those are fighting words...Remarks from Kenneth Porro, attorney for oceanfront property owners who oppose the Beach Replenishment Project. Posted by the Times-Beacon Newspaper 01/17/07
http://www.ocobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070117/BEACON/701170358/1045