A typical OG July beach day. Until now there was never a problem buying badges. The CMA owes the public an explanation. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©It reminds me of the sudden surge in acquiring toilet paper after the COVID-19 concerns surfaced.
It seems that many beach towns in the area signed on with an online company which was to handle season beach badges. A special early bird offer was put forth, and the sales began after the Governor announced his executive order #143 a few days ago.
Evidently the idea that there might be a shortage resulted in a stampede on line, and many towns’ sales were shut down, causing major concern by those from out of town who come to the Grove as well as for those who live here.
Belmar had about 1,000 people line up today for in person purchases.
Ocean Grove posted on its web site that the season beach badges were sold out . You can check at ocean grove.org.
The CMA offices are closed, so you you can’t go there.
It may be that this huge demand occurred in response to the Governor’s order which said,
Impose non-discriminatory capacity restrictions including, but not limited to:
- Limiting the number of available seasonal and daily beach tags or
- Otherwise limiting beach or lakeshore access;
Also, the order wanted to be sure that crowds were controlled, and it said:
“Controlling density at entrance points and gates and limiting points of ingress or egress to single directional flows of pedestrian traffic provided such restrictions are consistent with requirements and obligations under State and federal law.”
And a prior order said:
“Municipalities may impose reasonable restrictions on public access to beaches to protect public safety and welfare, such as limiting the number of persons allowed on the beach at any one time, provided such restrictions are applied in a non-discriminatory manner; and
“WHEREAS, municipalities may not impose restrictions to public access of New Jersey’s beaches that overtly or implicitly discriminate against persons based on residency, income-level, or any protected class; ”
Also there was talk that some towns wanted to reserve parking only for their residents. But here is an excerpt from #143
“Except as otherwise provided herein, access to public beaches, lakes, and lakeshores shall be consistent with State law and regulations, and shall not be restricted in any discriminatory manner, including by offering only seasonal beach tags without a daily beach tag option, by restricting municipal or street parking, or in any other manner that expressly or implicitly discriminates based on residency, race, income, ability, or any legally protected status or class of persons.”
Now many residents of OG are wondering what the CMA will do to offer them season passes for sale again. Why is this happening? Is it mass hysteria, is it the Governor’s requirement to reduce the numbers of beach goers, is it some crooks looking to corner the market, is it the online company that allowed the mess, is it the Chinese govt. who are hacking fun in the sun in OG, or what?
Paul Goldfinger Editor @Blogfinger.net
SUSAN ARIOLI:
Paul – on the tax clarification I am aware that we pay taxes to Neptune. My point was that our taxes are ridiculously high and unfair in general since OG is the Neptune ATM machine.
What I was suggesting is that the OGCMA should be sympathetic to our tax plight and not slap us in the face with yet another impediment.
Editor’s note: Isak, the CMA also pays taxes, so they may already be sympathetic to our tax plight, but we at Blogfinger have complained for years that the CMA is indifferent to the community which we know as residential citizens.
When the CMA speaks of “community” they are not referring to us.
Check my post today on this subject.
Thanks for participating on Blogfinger.–Paul
I’ve been told that OGCMA was ambushed by AP beachgoers for season passes when the AP season passes sold out well ahead of the OG ones.
Well at least taxes are lower in AP than OG. I have to say I simply cannot understand how OGCMA can limit badges to residents considering we fund everything here and in Neptune.
Editor’s note: The first sentence is an unsubstantiated rumor. The second part is confused because our taxes go to Neptune Township, not to the CMA.–PG Blogfinger.net
Yes it’s true that the early bird sale was offered, and this year, because we were not coming down early to pick them up I didn’t send in my check. I did not expect to be told there were none to be had!
And YES I do expect the CMA to sell badges to every taxpayer in town who wants one.
This is outrageous! I would like to know if seasonal passes were sold to non-property owners?
Have they ever been known to “sell out” in previous years? I don’t recall ever hearing of that before
All of these conspiracy theories do not hold much water. OGCMA has had their Season Beach Passes for sale (and pick up) at discount since November 2019. They did not have more or less than previous years. Nobody could have predicted the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the pandemic. They simply have sold out.
They had a finite number and they are gone. Now they are assuming a cautious approach before making more badges to sell until it is determined that the beach will be able to handle new rules etc. What would be reckless and irresponsible would be for OGCMA to make new badges like confederate money without knowing if beaches will remain open.
It’s appalling that we residents, who pay ridiculously high taxes to live in this town, cannot access our own beach. We fund most of the entire tax burden for Neptune yet we have to get behind outsiders to OG to have access to our own beaches and this is after taxes have increased dramatically for most of us this year. How crazy can every single aspect of this broken town continue to become?
The new laws limit number of people allowed onto the beach each day this season. There should be no issues filling these limited spots based on the number of people meandering the Grove over the past couple of weekends.
Honestly if I was CMA and knew these limits were coming, I would have eliminated season badges this year. Beach revenue will take a hit this season. They need each visitor to pay full fare for each one of those coveted spots.
If those expectations end up being wrong and COVID scares visitors away and revenue dries up… those beach badges will make a come back. If the weather’s good, this Memorial Day weekend will provide first insights into people’s risk tolerance for beach crowds. I’m curious to find out.