Bay Fishing Pier Proposed for North Cape May

ERMA – Long-time Lower Township residents may remember a number of fishing piers into Delaware Bay taken away by time and tides.
At a Mon., March 20 Lower Township Council meeting at the Erma Fire Hall, Mayor Michael Beck proposed a municipal fishing pier to be built at Lincoln Avenue and the bay, not far from the ferry terminal.
“It’s always been my Sears catalog Christmas wish,” he said.
Township Planning Director Bill Galestock said the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued new rules in April 2010 declaring 2007 public access rules invalid by a court ruling involving the Borough of Avalon, he said.
The court found DEP overreached its authority by requiring 24/7 access to beaches and marinas including regulations for restrooms and parking spaces.
Galestock said the April 2010 DEP rules were withdrawn. He said it is expected new rules for public access will be issued.
Galestock prepared a draft of public access plan for the township for submission to DEP. He said the plan could help provide state funding for projects and expedited receipt of permits.
Beck said he asked DEP last year if it would be possible for funding to include a municipal fishing pier. He said the answer from DEP was “definitely.”
Lower Township is included in the state’s Bayshore Historic Byway, which could open up other streams of money for projects, said Beck. He included a proposed fishing pier into the byway plan.
“Don’t go home and get your fishing poles because we’re going to be here awhile,” said the mayor.
He said a number of permits would be needed. Beck said the pier has been included in the beach access plan to be submitted to DEP.
Beck has asked Councilman Thomas Conrad to join him to meet with DEP in a few weeks.
“Old-timers” told Beck the township at one time had somewhere between six and nine fishing piers. He said the pier would be an important part of the byway with the idea of increasing tourism.
“The true thing is that we are also trying to develop an identity here,” said Beck. “People don’t know we exist on this side of the parkway.”
Conrad recalled seeing piers in Villas when he was a child. Those structures extended several hundred feet into the bay.
“This is getting back some of our history,” he said.
Councilmen Walter Craig and Glenn Douglas endorsed the idea.
Deputy Mayor Kevin Lare asked if it would enhance the township’s position to receive state and federal funds for coastal protection with a severely eroding shoreline at the bay.
Galestock said if the township files a beach access plan, it would have higher priority to receive funding. He said he did not believe the township has taken shore protection funds.
Lare suggested a boat-launching ramp be added to the plan noting there are none available on the bay side of the township. He said the boat ramp at Spicer’s Creek gets a tremendous amount of use.