JANUARY 25, 2016, 1:10 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2016, 1:12 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Environmentalists and business leaders will try to agree on what New Jersey’s beach access regulations should look like.
State Sen. Bob Smith, a Middlesex County Democrat, appointed a committee Monday to study the state’s coastal access rules and recommend ways to make them better.
The issue has been fought over for years. Some shore towns use the lack of parking and restrooms to discourage outsiders from using their beaches.
“It’s always been a gnarly problem,” Smith said.
The right to access river shorelines in heavily developed urban areas is also part of the discussion.
The group will include representatives of the American Littoral Society, NY/NJ Baykeeper, the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, and the state Business and Industry Association. The recommendations will be presented to the Legislature by April 25.
The committee arises from longstanding complaints from environmental and beach access groups that the state’s regulations do not do enough to protect the public’s right to reach New Jersey’s waterfronts. They favor previous rules generated by the administration of former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine that imposed uniform access requirements along the shoreline, including access points every quarter-mile.
When Republican Chris Christie succeeded Corzine, the DEP rewrote the rules to give communities more latitude in granting beach access, letting each community decide for itself what level is appropriate.
