CAPE MAY – If it seems as if it’s been a long road to acquire land for a new Cape May City police station, it’s because it has been. The City Council took yet another step in that direction, Sept. 5.

The council authorized an award for a required site investigation that is part of the process for gaining approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the removal of Green Acre restrictions for a 0.14-acre parcel of land at Lafayette Street along St. John’s Street.

In return for allowing the development of the police station on this parcel, the city is offering to transfer 4.86 acres of city-owned land along an already-protected area commonly known as the Sewell Tract.

The process of gaining DEP approval for this land swap began with a DEP hearing to get public input in April 2022. Last September, the council approved a pre-application for the proposed development project.

A preliminary assessment was done in June 2023. Now, that same firm that did the preliminary assessment has been given the go ahead to conduct the state-required site investigation.

Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.