STONE HARBOR – A bill that would limit local control over planning for public beach access passed the Legislature and was on its way for the governor’s signature.
At Stone Harbor Borough Council’s meeting April 2, Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour said that many communities were seeking the best way to urge the governor to reject the legislation until municipal concerns were addressed.
The bill would give the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) more authority to determine critical aspects of beach access plans. Critics argue that this would mean imposing statewide criteria on access decisions, ignoring local factors in the process.
The bill gives the DEP the responsibility “to make all tidal waters and their adjacent shorelines available to the public to the greatest extent practicable.”
The New Jersey State League of Municipalities advised mayors that the legislation could lead to requirements for public restrooms and parking facilities in areas where current local access plans would not call for them.
Cape May – To the Cape May Spouter complaining that the Spouts are no longer "just Good Old Local Gossip, that's fun to read", let me remind them that Pope Francis said "Gossip is an evil…
