COURT HOUSE – Numerous spouters have expressed concern about the county’s decision to remove acres of upland oak forest to provide over 1,400 more parking spaces for Cape May County Park & Zoo visitors.
The Herald reached out to Cape May County Administrator Kevin Lare, who said the project is now underway and expected to be completed by June 2025. The project includes the clearing of approximately 13 acres of trees. At least two spouters thought the cleared acreage was much higher, more than three times that number of acres.
As a trade-off, the county was required by the state Department of Environmental Protection as a condition of approving a Coastal Area Facility Review Act application, required for the project, to deed-restrict an adjacent, county-owned parcel of 115 acres against future clearing and development in order to allow flora and fauna to have an adjacent site to thrive in, Lare said.
Some spouters asked if the county had considered alternative parking areas, such as at Atlantic Cape Community College or the technical school, and shuttling passengers to the park and zoo.
“The park and zoo needed onsite parking due to the volume of vehicles that visit the facility in the summer,” Lare said. “Satellite parking is currently used and is not efficient and effective, and does not fit the purpose and need of the project.”
The project includes the creation of a new parking area with 1,432 spaces to be added to the existing 230 parking spaces located around the park and zoo. The new spaces will be added in the westerly portion of the site, which the administrator said will replace the existing undersized parking lot that is situated along the power line. In addition to the parking lot, he said, a new driveway access will be created, including a roundabout located at the rear of the site.
“The existing rear-access driveway will be relocated to the south so that it aligns with the existing College Drive traffic signal,” Lare said.
The College Drive traffic signal, he said, will be upgraded, and the CR 657 approach roadway will be equipped with opposing left-turn lanes. The existing roadway width will be expanded to allow for a deceleration/right-turn lane heading north on CR 657.
The existing office parking located on the eastern portion of the site will be upgraded and reconfigured. The easterly entrance driveway off Route 9 will be realigned and widened into two lanes of inbound traffic to provide for vehicle stacking during peak traffic times.
Lare said the contract for the project design was awarded to consultant NV5 Engineering in 2017. The design, he said, was worked on from then until late 2023.
The general contractor is South State Inc., of Williamstown. The subcontractor removing the trees is Stella Contracting Inc., of Elmer. The cost of the project is $5,837,616, which Lare said is substantially under the original estimate.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
