As I mentioned to you in our February newsletter, Senator Smith is working on a bill (S-919) that would incorporate language to provide better and definitive rules for the DEP to implement access. Senator Smith indicated that he wanted the various groups (NY/NJ Baykeeper, American Littoral Society, NJ Chamber of Commerce, NJ Business and Industry Assoc.) to give him a list of what they had consensus on, and a list of what they did not have consensus and provide this information to him in 90 days to help him craft his bill. To get this project moving along, the first of three stakeholder meetings was held on February 9th in Trenton at the NJ Business and Industry Association building. At this meeting, the consensus was that we should focus our attention on three main categories for access and they are: Policy, such as the Public Trust Doctrine, Threshold and Exceptions, such as when developers want to build a high rise by a beach and the question of access comes into play, and Access like 24/7 access to beaches and public parks. Under these three categories there were subsets of issues. Subcommittees were formed to work on them and I volunteered to work on the Policy and Access categories. On March 15th, a subcommittee meeting on these two categories were held that I attended and the following is a brief summary of it.
Tim Dillingham (Executive Director American Littoral Society) moderated this meeting that was attended by representatives from business, building groups, municipalities, county government, fishing and diving organizations, with me representing the JCAA and NJOA. Issues discussed included:
From the business/building groups - This whole effort is overly broad and beyond the Public Trust Document. It places tough burdens on businesses who want to open in New Jersey and they do not want to go through the permitting process of providing access, especially businesses that do lend themselves to it (large industrial ones) Exemptions should be made in these cases or done so on a case by case basis. Certain industrial sites should be totally exempt from access like the ones in Linden or South Amboy.
County/Municipalities -Some county governments do not have any control over the many municipalities. Some municipalities are very independent and do not want county influence. The many municipalities (about 375) that New Jersey has makes it difficult to come up with a uniform system to provide for and administer effective access.
Enforcement by the NJ DEP - came up as an issue. A person indicated that Edgewater has openly restricted access to a fishing pier that was previously open to the public. She called the DEP to complain about it but just gets the runaround. I indicated that enforcement is a problem because of funding problems.
24/7 Access - was opposed by municipalities and marina operators. Safety and loud noises were voiced by marina operators and municipal groups. Liability is another issue with people having access 24/7 - who is responsible?
My take of this meeting - both groups who want access and those who want to block it or at least restrict it made their cases. A lot this discussion is what I heard at the February 9th kick-off meeting that I attended. The two groups have somewhat "dug in" on their positions and these positions will eventually appear on what we agree and don't agree on. I did not see too much of anything that both groups agreed upon or embraced at this meeting that lasted over two hours. Access is a tough problem and cannot be resolved at a two-hour meeting with such disparate agendas that are both open and hidden by those in attendance.
Next Step - Tim Dillingham is going to do a summary of this meeting and present it to the Stakeholder's meeting scheduled for a March 22nd meeting. I will attend it and report on its progress at a later time.
