One issue dominated the news in Cape May County in 2023 – offshore wind.
News Story of the Year
The year began with the offshore wind initiative gaining momentum as the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted regularly to support whatever position the Danish wind farm developer Orsted brought to it. Then whales started washing onto South Jersey beaches in greater numbers than in anyone’s recollection from previous years. Dolphins followed and the sea mammal fatalities became a public issue that united opposition in the county against offshore wind.
The opposition no longer relied on the issue of aesthetics and the view of wind turbines from the shore, although those positions were never entirely lost. Vocal concerns for sea mammals, environmental damage, and harm to commercial and recreational fishing gained visibility. When federal reports hinted at a potential 15% loss in summer visitors, the push to defeat the offshore wind initiative became an all-out battle. The county declared it would use whatever means were necessary in the new campaign against Orsted.
Meanwhile Gov. Phil Murphy doubled down, setting higher targets for wind energy production, and accelerating the dates when that energy had to be produced. Orsted made promises later to be seen as hollow. The Legislature promised federal tax credits to the developer that had been intended for ratepayers. The BPU overruled local governing bodies and cleared the way for transmission lines to cross Ocean City beaches and both municipal and county roads as they snaked their way to a planned new substation in Upper Township.
The federal government approved the environmental study that showed no lasting harm from the wind farms. The state Department of Environmental Protection said the actions of the wind farm developer were fully in compliance with coastal zone regulations. Then Orsted, unable to coax more public funding for its private wind farm development, announced it was pulling out and giving up on Ocean Wind I and II.
The state is still pushing its renewables agenda and even holding on tenaciously to its accelerated targets, but there is a hole in the projected goal for zero-emission electricity generation by 2035 since the expected contribution from offshore wind must be made up elsewhere.
2023 Stories
Selecting the stories that most stood out in 2023 is in part a subjective judgement. Issues must be left off, which is an especially difficult task in as eventful a year as 2023 was. Here is a list of some of the major happenings of 2023.
January 2023 began with a Herald story on the second year of Cape May City’s effort to resolve the controversy over bonus checks to employees in 2020 that made use of restricted Affordable Housing Trust Fund monies. December 2023 finally saw the resolution of that controversy.
No thanks was the message ICONA CEO Eustace Mita received when he brought a $150 million hotel resort development proposal to Cape May City. Mita then took his proposal to Ocean City with an eye to using open land adjacent to the Boardwalk. No thanks was again the message. Turning his attention back to ICONA property in Wildwood Crest, Mita came forward with a plan for expanding the Mahalo property only to be turned down again. Now at the year’s end, the Crest Planning Board will take up a revised proposal.
Meanwhile the struggle continued in Avalon where a proposal for a boutique hotel first made in 2016 and denied by the Planning and Zoning Board surfaced again. Developer Anthony Zurawski continues to believe such a hotel facility would do enormous good for Avalon’s declining downtown. Meanwhile he quietly put an entire block of Avalon property in that business district up for potential sale. Avalon officials may be seeing things Zurawski’s way. The town commissioned a consultant to study the potential impact of boutique hotels in the business district.
Early in the year state officials announced a 21% increase in state employee health plan premiums. A deal was quickly formulated to spare state employees but municipalities were left to fend for themselves. Ocean City was among the first to withdraw from the state plan. Avalon incentivized workers to move to a higher deductible plan.
Health care premiums were also the source of an ongoing story in Wildwood, where former Mayor Pete Byron, former Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., who was elected to the commission in the November election, and current Commissioner Steve Mikulski were indicted for benefiting from health care benefits to which they were not entitled. Byron later pleaded guilty to federal income tax fraud charges, resigned, and then lost his bid for reelection. All three of the defendants successfully had their initial indictment tossed by the court only to be reindicted by the state.
The year saw continued skirmishes between the DEP and North Wildwood over beach and dune work. The city sued the state for $21 million and the state hit the city with $17 million in fines. Part of the year focused on the city’s efforts to protect its Beach Patrol building with a new bulkhead and refusal from DEP to approve the work. Protection for the building is now under construction with DEP approval, and the two sides are working on a comprehensive settlement.
The lack of affordable housing opportunities in the county has been made even more acute with rising property values. Mobile home parks represent attractive residences for many seniors and fixed incomes. The year began with Lower Township residents seeking municipal protection from unreasonable rent increases. It progressed with Upper Township mobile home residents asking for rent control. The last months of 2023 saw Middle Township reformulate its Rent Leveling Board, which hears cases arising from the township’s rent control ordinance for mobile home parks.
Two long-serving public officials left the scene in 2023. Gerald Thornton chose not to seek reelection as Cape May County commission director, with Vice Director and Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio moving up to the top county position. In Avalon Martin Pagliughi ended a string of 32 years as the borough’s mayor when he did not stand for election. Councilman John McCorristin ran unopposed for the mayor’s chair.
In February Stone Harbor used a public meeting of its council to fire Administrator Robert Smith. Later Clerk Kimberly Stevenson resigned, citing harassment and a hostile work environment. Both filed tort claims, and Smith has now sued the borough in Superior Court.
The U.S. Coast Guard training facility in Cape May City turned 75 this year and there are plans to expand the facility that has become such an integral part of the local scene.
The count of the homeless in the county conducted every January showed an increase in homeless individuals and families. Many believe the number to be an undercount. The Rio Grande section of Middle Township is a favored area for homeless encampments. This year the township adopted an ordinance to give police more “tools” to deal with public safety and petty crime issues.
At the height of the summer season in July power went out for three days across many areas of the Wildwoods. The outage brought to the surface concerns regarding aging electrical infrastructure.
Early in the year the county announced plans to privatize the Crest Haven Nursing Home, one of the few remaining county-supported homes in the state. A series of meetings with union officials led to no change in plans. The county approved a lease to a private company to run the facility.
Legal recreational cannabis made its debut in the county in 2023. The first retail shop opened in West Cape May. In those county municipalities that would welcome new cannabis businesses, officials have stepped up efforts to review applications and set zones for operations of cannabis businesses. Middle Township denied support to two potential retail sales applicants, but it also increased the number of retail shops the township would allow from one to two. Woodbine is considering a proposal for a combined cultivation and retail business. Lower Township also remains in the hunt.
Stone Harbor had difficulties with the initial implementation of its new paid parking process. The turn to an app-based payment process resulted in a surge in tickets, the need for extra help at the municipal court and calls from local businesses to fix the issue before a new summer season starts.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States experiences an extreme weather event with damages more than $1 billion every three weeks. The National Weather Service declared 2023 as the hottest year on record. These and similar reports have fueled the state’s push for drastic and speedy action on climate change. Gov. Murphy and the DEP have responded with a policy to have all new cars sold in the state zero-emission by 2035, a new effort to incentivize home heat electrification, and target for zero-emission electric generation by 2035.
Back in January Avalon’s tennis community balked at losing courts for the expansion of pickleball facilities. Now three new courts are being built in the northern part of the community. Avalon also hosted a professional pickleball tournament in September, putting the little community on a big map of locations for professional play.
Several towns in the county continued their efforts to use local ordinances to curtail juvenile misbehavior on beaches and boardwalks during the summer season. After a rough beginning the reports of disruptions appeared to lessen. Now a bill has cleared the Legislature and gone to the governor that would impose fines and disorderly persons offenses on juveniles engaged in underage drinking. It represents the first modification of the state’s juvenile reform agenda and is opposed by groups that say it will reintroduce juveniles to the criminal justice system.
What do you think was the most memorable news story of 2023 in Cape May County? Let us know by emailing newsdesk@cmcherald.com or submitting a Spout Off at spoutoff.capemaycountyherald.com.
