Changes Expected in Fence around ex-Beach Club

People passing by the former Takanassee Beach Club may notice changes in the next few days to a fence erected several months ago in an effort to restrict vandalism and unauthorized access to the site.

While the fence might have had limited success in that regard, it was much more effective in angering local fishermen and some surfers who found the fence gate padlocked.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has said it did not have jurisdiction over the fence because it was erected too far from the water and dune line. The DEP does have jurisdiction over a state Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit granted Feb. 28 to Isaac Chera of Takanassee Developers LLC. That permit guarantees beach access prior to, during and after construction but only becomes operative after certain preconstruction activities take place on the 4.6-acre oceanfront site where Chera wants to build housing.

Chera ran into widespread opposition because the site contains three buildings dating to various eras of the U.S. Lifesaving Service, a precursor to the Coast Guard.

When the DEP approved the CAFRA permit, it ordered Chera to restore the buildings, although it gave him the option of moving some off-site. In the interim, Chera said people began entering the abandoned site, and he feared the historic structures might be vandalized. His concerns were echoed by Mayor Adam Schneider, who said he received telephone call complaints from residents of the adjacent Imperial House, saying trespassers were accessing the site.

Chera's fence, however, proved unpopular, and he promised to keep it open. In the interim, Councilman Brian A. Unger urged DEP to get involved, even without jurisdiction, to regulate access to the site.

Lawrence F. Jacobs, Chera's environmental attorney, has said that his client and the DEP had reached a voluntary agreement by which the existing fence will be locked in an open position while it is rerouted around the existing structures. Its relocation also will provide for five public parking spaces, according to the arrangement between the DEP and Chera.

An 8-foot-wide public access path between the street and the beach also will be provided, and Chera will be permitted to remove the beach lockers on the south side of the site.

"What we are really trying to do is work the public access in a way that benefits everybody and protects the buildings and provides safety," said Jacobs.

"Good, good, good. At least they are doing it," said Dan Mancini, a Long Branch fisherman and one of the first people to object to the fence.

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