Beach Access, Tree Order Ends Council’s Year

AVALON – In New Jersey, municipalities that govern access to tidal waters must deal with laws defining the public’s right of access. A state process of municipal public access planning involves municipalities and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in a five-year planning framework.
Borough Council heard a presentation at its Dec. 17 meeting on the borough’s draft plan which will have to be submitted to the DEP. Public hearings will be held by the DEP and then by the borough before the plan, with any alterations, is accepted and incorporated into the borough master plan. It would then be in place for five years before a new planning cycle begins.
A representative of Hatch Mott MacDonald, the borough’s engineering firm, provided the update. Steven Morey told council that the borough was a “model city” with respect to public access to tidal waters. When DEP first established its regulations regarding public access to beaches, it was Avalon that challenged them. Feeling it already had an excellent system for public access, Avalon saw the earlier regulations as overly restrictive and the process as an infringement on municipal government. The courts agreed.
With some of the provisions and existing rules struck down by the courts, a more cooperative approach evolved. DEP describes its new approach as one that “implements a combination of continued and reasonable regulatory requirements, voluntary public access planning by municipalities, and user-friendly information dissemination.”
Kayaks
The Department of Recreation presented council with a plan for providing some reasonable control over kayak storage on borough property. In the plan, which seemed well received, berths would be awarded to property owners based on a process that includes a lottery. Berths would be available from May 2 to Oct. 31. Residents could request a berth up to March 15.
Since demand outstrips supply, a lottery would occur March 16 for all proper requests. Property owners would only be able to request one berth. Winners would sign a receipt and be required to have that berth used by June 15 or risk losing it to another person.
Trees
Cleaning up matters before year end required council to deal with a host of resolutions reaffirming contract and appointments for 2015.
The 15th resolution, of 24, endorsed Executive Order 2014-1. That order by Mayor Martin Pagliughi set forth a new protocol designed to improve enforcement of the borough’s existing ordinance governing removal of trees and other vegetation during demolition and construction projects.
Approximately a month ago residents brought the issue of the ordinance and its apparent lax enforcement to council, with special emphasis on the loss of indigenous trees due to older home demolitions.
At the time, council requested a report from administrators and received that report at its next meeting. Throughout this period, and in response to the same detailed information provided by borough resident Martha Wright, the zoning officer worked to develop the new protocol which the mayor incorporated in the order.
It has been a contentious process with the borough put under pressure to enforce its ordinance and receiving negative press reports concerning continuing alleged lax enforcement.
Council’s action in endorsing the mayor’s order could be seen as an effort at solidarity within the borough governing structure as it attempts to develop a more effective enforcement approach.
However, destruction of the tree in demolitions has led to estimates of hundreds of lost trees in 2014 alone. Patience with attempts to deal with the problem is running thin with some residents.
At the meeting, Elaine Scattergood scolded council about lax enforcement. Martha Wright, while thanking council for its endorsement of the protocol, noted that “we have a long way to go” and cited continuing enforcement problems.
As both finished their comments, council sat silent. With a small group of residents keeping an eye on demolitions, taking pictures and requesting documentation through open record processes, it is unlikely that this issue will soon die.
The borough has expressed its desire to do better with respect to its stated goals in its two-decade-old ordinances, but even the new executive order will not dispel concern until some residents see the new protocol actually preserving the trees it was meant to protect.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.