North Wildwood Blames DEP for Dune Destruction

NORTH WILDWOOD – The state Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued two notices of violation (NOV) June 6 to North Wildwood for knowing destruction of eight acres of mature dunes, unauthorized construction of new bulkhead, and beach grading in excess of permitted activity.
At a North Wildwood City Council meeting, Mayor Patrick Rosenello called it a misunderstanding. “They knew,” Rosenello said, speaking of the cited activity. “I guess they got a little impatient” for the city to file for the permits.
Before that public meeting, the city hired Neil Yoskin, a Princeton attorney, whom Rosenello called the best environmental attorney in the state, a big gun to bring to the resolution of a misunderstanding.
A press release from Rosenello July 14 made clear why Yoskin was retained.
Rosenello states, in his release, that the destruction of “a mature dune and marine forest environment along the inlet and beachfront of North Wildwood” was the fault of NJDEP’s “failure to act” on the construction of the Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet Shore Protection Project.
Rosenello claims the NOVs may have been politically motivated, coming within a week of his criticism of the governor’s handling of the state economy.
The assurances given in public meetings that the city was seeking an amicable “path forward” have morphed into assurances the city “will avail itself to every legal recourse at its disposal to hold the NJDEP accountable for their failure to act and will also diligently investigate whether political factors led to the rash behavior of the NJDEP.”
The dispute shows no signs of being over anytime soon.
View copies of the NOVs at https://bit.ly/2UioebR and https://bit.ly/2AibeMz.
Read the city’s formal reply to the NJDEP at https://bit.ly/3j6TaGV.  
Read Rosenello’s statement at https://bit.ly/32CERUL.