With New Jersey spending more tax dollars on shore protection projects after
Superstorm Sandy, advocates for greater public access to beaches see the
time is ripe for legislative change.
Tom Johnson reports today in NJ Spotlight that a bill moving in Trenton (S-183) would
require any shore protection projects receiving public funding to include public access
to the waterfront, an amendment urged by a conservation group in a vote by a committee considering the bill last month.
Beyond the public access requirement, the measure also would require the DEP to establish a priority system for ranking shore protection projects.
It also requires all shore protection projects that include a structural component, such as seawalls and other permanent facilities, to also include non-structural components, like sand dunes. Towns with dunes fared much better during Hurricane Sandy than those without these natural barriers.