One Island, Three Perspectives on Dune Proposal

FIVE MILE BEACH – Once, like its island neighbors Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood had one of the widest beaches in the state. But on a snowy morning in early March, waves slapped the rocky end of the jetty at Second Avenue and JFK Boulevard during a regular high tide. 
A multi-million dollar federal beach project, in the engineering and design phase, could change things dramatically, returning the wide beaches to the north end of North Wildwood and building a dune system the length of the island. That would be from the gazebo at Second Avenue to the Diamond Beach section of Lower Township. Rather than pumping sand from an inlet, as has been done in federal beach projects in other Cape May County towns, plans call for hydraulically moving 1.5 million cubic yards of sand from Wildwood and Wildwood Crest to build the beach in North Wildwood to improve protection from coastal storms. 
Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers say their partner in the project, the state Department of Environmental Protection, is meeting with the affected communities on the design.
Construction could take place next year, according to Steve Rochette, a spokesman for the Army Corps’ of Engineers Philadelphia District. He said the total cost could be between $20 million and $25 million. 
North Wildwood
While questions have been raised in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest about the impact of the project, particularly the 16-foot-tall dune, North Wildwood is enthusiastic, according to Mayor Patrick Rosenello.
“Overall, we’re happy with the design of the dune in North Wildwood,” said Rosenello in a recent interview.
“The dune system that we have in North Wildwood is essentially the same dune system they are proposing for the rest of the island. I think it has prevented tens of millions of dollars in damage in the last 11 years,” he added.
Rosenello described the plan as the most important infrastructure project in the island’s history.
“When that storm hits us, and it will eventually, these protective measures are going to literally save the island. I have no doubt in my mind,” he said.
As the federal project has been discussed over several years, residents and officials in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest have questioned whether the dune would hurt ocean views and the benefits of reducing the size of the beaches on most of the barrier island.
At previous public meetings, officials with the DEP have said if the towns rejected the project, it would not move forward. One official phrased it that they would not shove the project down anyone’s throat, as quoted in local media.
Wildwood Crest
Wildwood Crest Mayor Carl Groon said he heard officials say that, but he believes the dune project is on its way regardless.
“I guess I see the inevitability of it happening,” he said in a recent interview. “We’ve watched other court cases unfold.”
In Margate, six beachfront homeowners challenged a plan to bring dunes to that beach community. Last month, a federal judge denied a request to stop the project, which is expected to move forward this summer.
At the start of the interview, Groon made clear that under Wildwood Crest’s form of government, three-member borough commission, he has no more authority to speak on behalf of the town than the two other commissioners.
But while he sees some value in the shore protection plan, he said officials and residents are ambivalent at best about the size of the dunes and the impact of the project.
One proposal is to create a bike path along the beach. But Groon is not sure how likely that is and indicated that the town might lose more than it gains.
For instance, while other towns have boardwalks or a concrete promenade, like in Cape May, there is nothing like that in the Crest. The street ends are about eight feet above the ocean, and the dunes are planned for 16 feet. “So unless you’re nine feet tall, you won’t be able to see the water,” he said.
“We’re hoping that we will be able to work out a plan that will benefit my community while providing the protection that everyone thinks we need,” Groon said.
Once the design phase is complete, the Army Corps will request funding for the project, according to Rochette.
Plans are for the federal government to pick up 65 percent of the initial cost of the project, with the remainder divided between the DEP and the local municipalities.
That could mean Wildwood Crest could spend more than a million dollars on a project they’re not sure they want, although most local towns’ officials see the cost-sharing formula for beach projects as a good deal.
Groon said he wants to keep the conversation positive, and added that plans are still in the works.
“Let me put it this way: If they weren’t doing it, I wouldn’t lose any sleep,” he said.
Wildwood
In Wildwood, Mayor Ernie Troiano didn’t exactly reject the project, but in a recent interview, he didn’t sound quite entirely sold on it, either. While Wildwood is well known for its extraordinarily wide beaches, Troiano said they had lost about 140 feet this year. Besides, he said, Wildwood needs those enormous beaches.
“We really don’t want them to take much of anything,” he said. “Our beaches are different than any other beach. We need to protect that economic engine.”
Wildwood presents a dizzying number of events on those wide beaches, and according to Troiano those events, which include youth soccer tournaments, monster trucks, baseball and more, bring untold thousands of families to the resort each year. 
The beach has also been the site of major concerts for the city, including the landmark Kenny Chesney show in 2012.
Plans call for at least five big shows this summer, Troiano said, although details are still being worked out and he could not give any names.
“It’s as important as the sunshine that comes out in the summertime. Those events are a very, very big economic engine for this community,” Troiano said.
Talks continue, he said.
“We’ve been in communication with them. There’s been some feedback back and forth as to where the dunes are. We pretty much know where we’d like to have everything,” he said. “The Army Corps is pretty set in their ways.”
For instance, he would rather see a bulkhead than a dune. Right now, despite the expansive beach, there are no dunes in front of Wildwood’s boardwalk, and Troiano made clear he’d rather keep it that way.
“The Army Corps doesn’t do that, nor do they entertain it. It would work one hundred times better than a dune, but that’s a dead issue,” he said.
Coastal engineers disagree. Most indicate that while a bulkhead can protect from storms, they can also speed erosion.
Opposition
According to Rosenello, there was opposition to the dune project in North Wildwood, but after they had been in place, one former critic thanked him after they stopped the waves from a coastal storm.
“All it takes is to be down here for a Sandy or Jonas to see the value of the dunes,” said Rosenello.
In the fall of 2012, Hurricane Sandy did massive damage to the state’s coast and beyond, but the Wildwoods got off relatively easy. In some spots, the damage was worse from Winter Storm Jonas in January 2016. Each brought flooding, property damage and more.
But the biggest of them all hit 55 years ago this month.
The March 1962 nor’easter lasted days, devastating shore communities. It also had far-reaching effects on policy and launched the decades-long process of storm protection projects, which includes engineered beach projects.
Starting with Cape May decades ago, almost the entire coastline of Cape May County has had a federal beach project, with the notable exception of the Wildwoods.
“We need to have something between us and the ocean. The Wildwoods are the last stretch that does not have a comprehensive dune system. We were the last piece of the entire state that did not have this Army Corps system in place,” Rosenello said.
Trimmed not Dredged
But in Cape May, Ocean City, Avalon and all the other towns with federal beach projects, that sand was dredged from inlets and added to beaches from offshore.
In the Wildwoods, plans call for it to be trimmed from beaches elsewhere on the island in a process called back passing. A similar system has been used elsewhere, including Ocean City, where sand is removed with heavy equipment from beaches at low tide and brought above the tideline, but this is proposed on a much larger scale.
Hereford Inlet
Some residents have suggested the Army Corps look for sand in Hereford Inlet. It is one of the most volatile inlets in the state.
Rosenello said sandbars appear and disappear in the inlet.
Over decades, sand built up in North Wildwood and eroded from the natural area in the south end of Stone Harbor, but more recently, the water scours North Wildwood, and there is a massive beach south of Stone Harbor’s 122nd Street. It is known as “The Point” and is a wildlife observation area complete with a viewing platform.
About the same time that the dune system went in, a massive seawall was constructed along the inlet of North Wildwood. That Army Corps project cost about $50 million, Rosenello said.
As Nature Dictates
That wall protects that end of the city and provides a site for walkers and runners. But there are no plans to add sand to the narrow beach in front of it, Rosenello said.
“There are a lot of environmental issues. The inlet is left to nature, and the beaches come and go as nature dictates,” he said. “We don’t touch them, and we never have.”
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.