Point Beach Oceanfront Homeowners Against Easements for Dune Project

Point Beach oceanfront property owners are balking at the idea of signing easements to make way for a dune replenishment project, saying they don't want the public on their beaches and they don't want dunes obstructing their ocean view.

Federal law requires that beaches that use federal funds for replenishment projects have to provide at least some public access, said state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials at a meeting at G. Harold Antrim Elementary School on Wednesday night.


The DEP is working with the federal Army Corps of Engineers to plan for a massive beach replenishment project from Island Beach State Park to Point Beach, starting in the spring or early next summer, but need easements to access some private property to do the work.

It may take about a month or two to do the project, depending on exactly how much sand needs to be pumped, the officials said.

It wasn't until Superstorm Sandy hit that Congress was willing to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars for the massive replenishment project in Ocean County that had been on the drawing board for more than a decade, said David Rosenblatt, administrator for the DEP's Office of Engineering and Construction. 

So far only three of the 49 oceanfront property owners, who own 81 oceanfront lots, in Point Beach have signed easements for the project which, Rosenblatt said, is designed to create dunes to protect private and public property in town from the impact of future storms.

Mayor Vincent Barrella said the town had mailed out letters to oceanfront property owners saying that if the owners would sign easements, the town would then grant "supplemental easements," giving that portion of property back to them.

However, Ben Keiser, of the DEP's Bureau of Coastal Engineering, said he showed that "supplemental easement" to lawyers at the state Attorney General's office who found that "it can't conflict with the Army Corp easement."

That means it won't fly.

Rosenblatt said, "Once sand is on the property, it's not going to turn back into private property. That's not going to happen." The homeowners still own the land covered by easements, but that portion would remain accessible to the Army Corps, if any future work is needed, and to the public, he said.

Numerous oceanfront property owners in the audience said they won't sign easements under that scenario.

One owner said he owns three lots on the oceanfront and that he would be giving up 45 feet of one of the 50 foot lots if he signed the easement.

"And I would still have to pay taxes on that," he said. "Are you out of your mind?"

One property owner asked if beachgoers will be able to sit on the beach in front of his home for free, instead of paying to get onto one of the beaches that charge the public for access and Keiser said yes.

However, after the meeting, Point Beach Councilman Wiliam Mayer, who stayed to talk to the DEP officials, said there are no access points for people to access the private beaches except through the entry points where the public is charged, such as the Maryland Avenue beach, Bradshaw's Beach, Risden's and Jenkinson's.

"I don't think there are going to be a lot of tourists paying to get onto one of those beaches and then walking over to a private beach," Mayer said.

During the meeting, which ran for more than two hours, only one resident spoke in favor of the dune replenishment project.

"I lost everything on my first floor in Sandy because there was no dune system," said a woman sitting towards the back. "I'm fighting with my flood insurance carrier and my home was devalued by $110,000. I need that (dunes) to be in place."

She said the oceanfront owners shouldn't complain because the Army Corps will also be creating a larger beach, in addition to creating dunes.

"You're going to get more beach," she said.

"No, no," argued a few of the owners.

"Yes, that's what he said, I'm an English teacher and I'm not stupid," the woman said, as loudly as they had responded.

Keiser had said at least another 75 feet of sand will be pumped onto the beach in front of the new dunes and that the beach will be larger overall.

An interesting moment in the meeting came when Rosenblatt talked about how the town will "continue to maintain the beaches" even where easements have been signed.

Barrella, who was in the audience, stood up and explained that the town does not maintain the beaches because it does not own them. (Point Beach owns only the Maryland Avenue beach on the south end next to Bay Head.)

"Then, I misspoke, correction noted," Rosenblatt said. "But, regardless, the owners are not responsible for replenishment, only some maintenance, like normal grading."

Regarding the size of the dunes, Keiser said the dune would be 18 feet high and 90 feet wide on the north side, from New Jersey Avenue north, and 11.5 feet high and 165 feet wide on the south side. 

Barrella and Municipal Attorney Sean Gertner asked the DEP officials to help arrange a meeting with the DEP and the governor's office so the town can further pursue a resolution to how to proceed with the dune project.

Barrella said he believes the state does not yet know how it will proceed if a sufficient number of easements are not obtained.

In Mantoloking, where there was more even more damage to oceanfront homes, and more homes completely wiped out, only a few holdouts remain to signing easements, Keiser said.

Rosenblatt said there had been a prior replenishment project in Surf City on Long Beach Island, but that the work was not done in front of five oceanfront homes where owners refused to sign easements.

Now the Army Corps is back for maintenance and the new owners of the five homes want to know why they're not getting any sand in front of their houses.

But the Army Corps is authorized only to replenish the section of beach that was encompassed in the original replenishment project, not to add on, Rosenblatt said, and those five homeowners are very disappointed they're not getting sand to help protect their property.

"I tell this story to show that there are other ways of looking at this," he said.

That didn't seem to change anyone's mind and the meeting ended with an oceanfront owner saying he hopes the town stops sending out letters asking for easements to be signed "until you have all of the information."

The meeting had begun with Rosenblatt asking those in the audience to raise their hands if they were oceanfront property owners "who may or may not sign easements." Many raised their hands, including Scott Bassinder, owner of Martell's Sea Breeze and Tiki Bar.

When asked afterwards if Jenkinson's signed an easement, Barrella said, "I have not commented publicly on who has signed easements." Jenkinson's representatives, including Frank Storino and attorney Ed McGlynn, were also at the meeting.

Unlike Point Beach Council meetings, those who spoke from the audience were not asked to come to the front, speak into a microphone and state their name and address.