Bayshore Heritage Map Cuts Out Villas, Airport Museums

VILLAS — The 122-mile Bayshore Heritage Byway map, which captures the “unique natural and historical landscapes along southern New Jersey’s western shore” in Salem, Cumberland and Cape May counties, cuts out Villas, Town Bank, the Fishing Creek School and the Naval Air Station Wildwood at the county airport.
The byway veers away from the bay after leaving Route 47.
For drivers headed South from the East Point Lighthouse in Cumberland County, the map advises following Route 47, turning right on Railroad Avenue/Seashore Road and staying on that road until the Sunset Boulevard intersection in West Cape May.
Lower Township Mayor Michael Beck and 20 residents attended a Bayshore Heritage Byway Corridor Management Plan Workshop Thur., Nov. 17 at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service building in Court House hoping to convince planners to including Villas and the airport on the map.
Beck said he spoke at a Lower Township Chamber of Commerce meeting to garner public opinion of the township’s historic areas not being included on the map.
“They were unanimous in support,” he said.
Prior to the public meeting, Beck said he asked three township historians their opinion of part of the township being bypassed on the byway.
Anne Salvatore, John Lauderback and Norris Clark proposed an alternate route for the byway taking Bayshore Road to Breakwater Road to Seashore Road. That route would also include a portion of Middle Township, Bayshore Road along the bay including Norberry’s Landing.
In Villas, the route would include Judge Foster’s home from 1724 on Bayshore Road and the Fishing Creek School. The route would include Cox Hall Creek Wildlife Management Area, the former Ponderlodge property, said Beck.
Turning at Breakwater Road would bring motorists to the County Airport to see Naval Air Station Wildwood and the Forgotten Warriors Vietnam Museum, he said.
“By running down Route 47 and over Seashore Road, you miss all of that, which is a lot to say about our history, our culture, our character and the people that live, it’s our story that we want out,” said the mayor.
Lower Township Council will be asked to pass a resolution supporting a change in the route to be sent to the byway planners.
Beck said Middle Township Mayor Susan DeLanzo spoke in support of the route change at the workshop meeting.
“Everything that we have fits the criteria by which this byway is to be designed,” said Beck.
He said the county has a long history, a sizable amount of military tourism and one of the greatest bird watching parcels in the world.
“We need to get our story out,” said Beck. “How can you have a bayshore byway that doesn’t come down Bayshore Road?”
Beck said the byway is what the township needs to bring in visitors. He said the township has been trying to establish an identity other than being just a bedroom community for shore communities where they get their workforce.
New Jersey Department of Transportation and the South Jersey Bayshore Coaliton hired landscape architects Lardner/Klein to assist with the planning. Three members of the firm were taken on a tour by Beck of the suggested route change through Villas and down Breakwater Road.
Beck said the group was very impressed with the area.
According to its website, the byway “tells the story of communities and cultures that were dependent on the area’s natural resources.”
“With views of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, the Bayshore Heritage Byway displays the centuries of connection between the communities and surrounding marshlands, farm fields, and historic towns.”