By Charles Daye, Asbury Park Press
NEPTUNE – Access to the beach from the boardwalk in Ocean Grove is closed on Sunday mornings in the summer. According to the state, that’s not supposed to happen. So now, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, the private group that owns the land in Ocean Grove, wants a judge to decide.
In August, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued a warning to the association stating it cannot limit access to its beaches on Sunday mornings, which the group said the closure does as a “quality-of-life-benefit” to the community. A chain blocks access to the stairs leading to the beach from the boardwalk on Sunday mornings from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.
The state Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement sent a warning letter to the association informing it that the Sunday morning closures of the beach violate state regulations regarding beach access to sand and surf.
But the association continued to do so, prompting a group of residents opposed to the closure to show up anyway, beach chairs in hand. Subsequently, a counter-protest in support of the association began.
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