Patch.com
State of New Jersey 2020
By Blogfinger.net. June 7, 2020.
State of New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Friday, June 5, 2020, that could ultimately eliminate private beaches, allowing anybody to go to any beach they want. (Patch.com)
History:
“Public rights of access to and use of the tidal waterways and their shores, including the ocean, bays, and tidal rivers, in the United States predate the founding of this country. The rights are based in the common law rule of the Public Trust Doctrine. First codified by the Roman Emperor Justinian around 500 AD as part of Roman civil law, the Public Trust Doctrine establishes the public’s right to full use of the seashore as declared in the following quotation from Book II of the Institutes of Justinian:
“By the law of nature these things are common to all mankind – the air, running water, the sea, and consequently the shores of the sea. No one, therefore, is forbidden to approach the seashore, provided that he respects habitations, monuments, and the buildings, which are not, like the sea, subject only to the law of nations.
“Influenced by Roman civil law, the tenets of public trust were maintained through English Common Law and adopted by the original 13 colonies, each in their own form.”
Public Rights under the Public Trust Doctrine:
“The Pubic Trust Doctrine provides that public rights to tidal waterways and their shores in the state are held by the state in trust for the benefit of all of the people. Further, it establishes the right of the public to fully utilize these lands and waters for a variety of public activities.
While the original purpose of the Public Trust Doctrine was to assure public access for navigation, commerce and fishing, in the past two centuries, state and federal courts have recognized that modern uses of tidal waterways and their shores are also protected by the Public Trust Doctrine.
“In New Jersey, the Public Trust Doctrine recognizes and protects natural resources as well as recreational uses such as bathing swimming, sunbathing, and walking along tidal waterways and their shores.
“All lands and waters extending seaward of the mean high-water line are held in trust by the state on behalf of the public. The rights of the public are vested in the state as owner and trustee. These publicly owned lands include tidelands, shores of tidal rivers and streams, the land beneath oceans and tidal rivers and streams (submerged lands) and filled lands formerly flowed by the tide.
“As the Public Trust Doctrine has evolved over the years, courts have ruled that the dry sand areas landward of the MHW line are also subject to certain public rights under the Pubic Trust Doctrine, as needed for enjoyment of the tidal waterways and lands below the MHW
From the State:
“Enjoying the Shore is one of the best parts of life in New Jersey. As the trustee of the natural resources of the state, I consider it a priority to ensure open and equal access to New Jersey’s treasured coastlines for all of our residents,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe. “I look forward to working with the land use and coastal planning experts at DEP to craft the regulations to implement this important legislation.”
Maybe the CMA will be leaving the beach business as “owner.” The people own the NJ beaches. And maybe the CMA’s practice of shutting the OG beach on Sunday morning will be ruled illegal.
BOB DYLAN:
True. There was plenty of greed to go around.
Paul,
As to paragraphs 1 & 2, I agree.
Paragraph 3. I also agree, but I believe the Township would have approved the North End Proposal by one illegal way or the other, just to get the taxes.
The fix was already in.
Isaak Grove
The condition of the “Pavilion property” is the responsibility of the Township since 2008, and not the CMA.
Editor’s note: But Jack, you must admit that the CMA brought the Township on board in 2008 when, with their fellow “re-developers,” they coerced the Township and the Planning Board into approving the designation of an unnecessary and illegal Zone-in-Need-of Redevelopment.
It was that zoning give-away that placed the Township in charge of the North End.
If that hadn’t occurred, to the detriment of “we-the-people,” then the CMA could have respected the Master Plan, put out bids for development, and today we would have had a beautiful single family home neighborhood with preservation of air, environment, sound, quality of life, ocean views, and water and it would have been more historical than the current plan could ever be. —-PG Blogfinger.net
I think the most interesting point to focus on is the embarrassment that’s been left behind of what was the White Whale.
We are now into the second summer of enjoying the dangerous pleasure/eyesore of the leaning chain link fence and burned boardwalk. CMA has maintained excellent consistency in their perpetual mismanagement of the beach and boardwalk.
How many years did it take the CMA to repair our boardwalk after Sandy? My guess is this will take even longer! To simply enact some minor repairs could have provided for a square sitting area there at a minimum.
This should have been properly addressed so yes, the CMA is amazingly consistent! Kudos to the CMA!
This comment reminds me of the ground rent topic. Many of us don’t say anything because our ground rent is “so low” often at $10.50 per year (with some recent increases endured by those with new condos) The $10.50 charge is memorialized by the 99 year leases which some of us have, although the year countdown continues.
But here’s the part which some of us forget: We are paying the land taxes on our land which we do not own, and if you look at the tax valuations, you will see that the land is often worth more than what we do own–our houses.
So, the CMA is getting a good deal, and those land taxes ought to be challenged in court for this new century. Let them pay taxes on their land, as they should, and the leases can be renegotiated.
Would we be better off? Who knows, but at least the math would make sense, and as a physician, I like evidence based facts to govern my life.
Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor@Blogfinger
Blogfinger – Editor’s note:
“Theses days the CMA does an excellent job mangling the beach. Consider the beach badge mismanagement and the raucous crowd at the beach this past weekend.”
I thought I was the only one who thought that, since no one else has said anything. Even aside from the beach badge fiasco, the beach and boardwalk were insanely crowded. I thought they were going to limit the number of people allowed. And, I did not see social distancing, nor did I see many masks.
If it is a private corporation running the beach, when do the residents get to enjoy their “private association” beach? The crowds last Saturday and Sunday were unruly, loud, and even walking from Clancy’s parking lot to the beach, with all their gear in tow, loud, disrespectful, and unaware of any attention they should pay to the serene town.
Globs and globs of large parties constantly flowed to the beach. I guess the CMA just lets them all in with no consideration for “rent-paying” residents (even though a low ground rent, we’re still paying it to live in their private corporation.)
But “how do I really feel?” Don’t get me started, or I will divulge the vulgar things I saw this past weekend.
First, it talks about the land from the high water mark to the ocean as the land owned by the public and only that land, not privately held beach property.
Second, it states that the state will be looking into land use law to make sure there is access to the beach. This already exists for every beach town, though some better than others.
I doubt that the state will be taking private property from legal land owners such as all the legal beach clubs that own far more beach property combined than the OGCMA.
So don’t get your hopes up that corrupt Neptune will be getting its dirty hands on OG’s beach anytime soon.
Kevin. You have a way of straying from the subject. This post is about who owns the New Jersey beaches. The law now (and before) says that they are owned by “we the people.”
Just read the wording of the Public Trust Doctrine which is front and center in this post and supported by the law just signed a few days ago.
If it was good for the Romans, then…..look how long they lasted, and they even left us with chicken cacciatore, so they must have known something.
Great Kevin then since I don’t use the public school system, can I stop paying school taxes?
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
The CMA does an excellent job managing the Beach.
All the money from beach badges goes to cover the operating costs.
Editor’s note: Theses days the CMA does an excellent job mangling the beach. Consider the beach badge mismanagement and the raucous crowd at the beach this past weekend.
The OG beach is not a public beacH. It is a private beach, more like a beach club is private even though beach clubs are used by the public. That is, the public that are members.
Private beaches must also be supported, mainly by memberships. In the case of the OG beach it is through beach tags.
Neptune is a failure for most everything it does for OG. The last entity I would want running the OG beach is Neptune Township.
As a taxpayer, like many of our highways that charge a fee, I like the idea that those who use the highways or the beach pay to maintain the highway or the beach. There is no reason that any taxpayer who doesn’t use or like the beach should be forced to support or maintain any beach they don’t use.
Yes I would prefer the township to run the beachfront. At least those people are elected and they have an obligation to do what’s best for the citizens. They may not always do the best, but we have a shot at persuading them since they do represent us. And, if we are unhappy with elected officials, we have the opportunity to vote them out of office.
We have no such opportunity at our disposal with the Camp Meeting Association. In addition every other public beach at the Jersey shore is run by municipalities.
On the other hand can’t meeting Association has no obligation towards the citizens of Ocean Grove. It makes that clear and has done so for years. So we have no chance with them other than to follow their mandates. That needs to change because they are not elected to represent us in running the beachfront
Not for…: If the State decides to enforce the Public Trust Doctrine, then they could make changes with or without our approval. It remains to be seen if all the conflicting opinions about the new Doctrine law can be resolved. One sticking point relates to paying to get on a beach. Most coastal states do not charge, and that is a pleasure.
Camp Meeting ownership and control of the OG beach are issues only if someone takes action against them. A challenge would have to be started and funded. Certainly the Township would not do that, and would we want that anyway?
You can argue that public officials would be more accountable than the CMA, but the Township Committee does not care about Ocean Grove one bit because the votes are elsewhere.
Does anyone really want the Township running the beach?
Leave things as they are, it would only be worse if the town took over the beach.
Could something be done about Sunday morning, a more limited action challenging the rule as a Blue Law? Who knows?
A law that requires NJ beaches must be open to all, without exception, would likely eliminate the idea of a surfers’ beach, beach charges that allow the current administrator, the CMA, to turn away people who don’t have a badge or can’t pay for one, and the closure of the beach on Sunday mornings.
The current practice of turning away anybody for beach access, at the whim of the CMA, as is now occurring with the badge fiasco is disgraceful. Let the people go in and decide for themselves if it’s too crowded, and pay for maintenance out of public funds.
I would pay a beach surcharge in my taxes for such a plan—I would like this town so much more if everyone could come here and visit our beach. But in exchange, the CMA should lose its authority over the beachfront.
Did you ever see those poor families who come here after the lifeguards leave? They are a joy to watch.