UH OH! New Jersey Beachfront Rebuilding vs. Beach Replenishment vs. Beach Fees!

[ECkneelo]

Are you against all park user fees, public golf course fees, public parking lot fees etc? Whats wrong with making the actual USERS of a publicly funded amenity like a beach or park pay a slightly higher amount of the maintenance than the general public? I dont see anything wrong with state/local taxes providing some of the support (we all benefit to some extent from the economic activity provided by beaches and tourism, and then the direct users (beach goers) adding another layer of support since they have actually chosen to go use the beach.

Completely flat funded state tax support of beachs, especially beaches with expensive parking permit systems for non-owners, limited access beaches that (while technically open to the public) but where the amount of available parking or restrooms means the vast majorit of users are local property owners/renters seems to me a bit of a skewed funding mechanism.

Yep, I'm against user fees. I shouldn't have to pay every time I want to go surfing. Some things in life should be free. The beach communities already rape the public with all the exorbitant hotel fees, high cost of food and everything else they can charge for only at the beach. You guys even have pay to use toilets. Geeeez!
Once again, NJ is the only state that has beach tags. What I think is back east they think the beach is for vacations, whereas here on the west coast it's a lifestyle, a daily, or weekly occurrence.

[surfrr]

Yep, I'm against user fees. I shouldn't have to pay every time I want to go surfing.

Of course no one wants to pay, but this is where your assumption is wrong. The reality is that most of the surfers don't have to pay to surf. Many people surf before or after work, midweek when tags aren't necessary.

Surfing is expensive as it is and not as many would do it if they had to pay every time they went.

[Sniffer]

Yep, I'm against user fees. I shouldn't have to pay every time I want to go surfing. Some things in life should be free. The beach communities already rape the public with all the exorbitant hotel fees, high cost of food and everything else they can charge for only at the beach. You guys even have pay to use toilets. Geeeez!
Once again, NJ is the only state that has beach tags. What I think is back east they think the beach is for vacations, whereas here on the west coast it's a lifestyle, a daily, or weekly occurrence.

Isnt it better here on the east coast that locals have the beach to themselves for 9 months of year as opposed to your west coast lifestyle where EVERYBODY surfs and thinks they are joecool all year round? Your argument smells like home sickness.

[zaGaffer]

Isnt it better here on the east coast that locals have the beach to themselves for 9 months of year as opposed to your west coast lifestyle where EVERYBODY surfs and thinks they are joecool all year round? Your argument smells like home sickness.

Whatever gets you through the day bud. I tell myself that what I got is better than the North Shore; I know it isn't true, but it makes me feel better.

[Sniffer]

Whatever gets you through the day bud. I tell myself that what I got is better than the North Shore; I know it isn't true, but it makes me feel better.

Justification is a wonderful thing isnt it!

[rights4life]

Republican Sen. Michael Doherty says he has long been frustrated that N.J. is one of the few states that allow communities to charge beach fees. "The Jersey shore is the domain of single-family homes and they really are not welcoming to outsiders and day-trippers coming in," Doherty says. "They don't want you in their town. That's why there's no place to park, no place to use the restroom, and they charge you seven, 12 dollars just to get on the beach for the day."

yea cause there are sooooo many locals who take up the parking (its you ****ing bennys taking up the parking) and oh yeah i dont want you at my beach cuz you ruin it, leave trash and are scumbags who use my home as your vacation…so yeah go **** yourself senator

[zaGaffer]

i dont want you at my beach cuz

I shouldn't have to pay every time I want to go surfing. Some things in life should be free.

Maybe there’s a fundamental difference in philosophies? In California the beach belongs to everyone. Beach access is a right that the very wealthy (damn U MechaStreisand!!!) have tried to curtail in recent decades, unsuccessfully I might add. The only beaches you can’t get to around here are on North Island NAS or Camp Pendleton (gotta know somebody). Some people think that because they have the deed (or the bank does) to some property on the shore-line that the ocean belongs to them. The ocean doesn’t belong to anyone and the beach belongs to it.

My local break isn’t MINE. I’m a just a steward, one of many. I try to leave it better than I found it each time I go. If other people don’t have the same love for it that I do and trash it, it happens and it breaks my heart; I hope that they come back again and see that we who live there have taken care of what they left behind. Maybe next time they will learn. I’m with EC on this, some things in life should be free. The ocean should be one of them.

[Gumbya55]

I feel that reasonable beach fees would be fine, like $2/day or $25 for a season. But when you are getting into $75+ per badge, and have a family of four, things are getting out of control. We already know the misuse of these funds, that there are surpluses. And you're right, these fees only protect the wealthy. It doesn't cost that much to pay a guard for a summer, or for a high school kid to drive around on a 4-wheeler and change garbage bags. Government is corrupt, especially in NJ. People are lazy in local government, that's a fact. They want their pensions, and their office jobs, and their raises every year for no reason. They don't want to rock the boat.

Our only hope is for Christie to review this area of the state, and make corrections like he has in other parts. In the meantime, let's investigate where previous money for these towns are:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/n...9bb2963f4.html

[rvb]

one local benefit to NJ charging for beach access, is it keeps all the tourists funneled to those certain popular beaches where they think they have to go. locals can enjoy other beaches without it being tourist time.

and i've never paid to surf once..morning, afternoon, night, midweek, weekend - never.

[mitchell]

Of course no one wants to pay, but this is where your assumption is wrong. The reality is that most of the surfers don't have to pay to surf. Many people surf before or after work, midweek when tags aren't necessary.

Surfing is expensive as it is and not as many would do it if they had to pay every time they went.

See that's what I was thinking ...beach tags are mostly paid by non-surfers. But we pay state income and sales taxes, so beach tags actually may not hit surfers as hard as you think. A beach funded completely by local taxes might actually hit surfers harder, and completely let off the hordes of tourists using the beach at any given time.