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

As much as I hate paying for the beach I have come to notice that the few weeks it is free before memorial day, every scum bag on the east coast flock to the beach and leave their f*ck!ng trash all over the place and it's absolutely appalling. I agree moving sands a waste of time just as much as the next guy but I think charging for badges is necessary to keep dirtbags from doing whatever they please and keep the few guys who drives round emptying garbage in the heat of the day in business.

 

I'm ok with them charging reasonable beach access fees to cover lifeguards, clean-up, etc. That shouldn't fall on just the homeowners. However, they should set a reasonable limit and towns who charge above that limit and do not provide sufficient access, parking, bathrooms, etc... should not get a dime of state or federal money. Taxpayers shouldn't pay to fix Sea Bright beaches when you can't park there in the summer unless you pay up to a beach club. Sea Bright, Bay Head, and Mantaloking come to mind as some of the worst offenders. Sea Bright tops the list.

 

NJ charging for beach access will never change, too many years gone by of them relying on that income. the only variable will be that if certain beaches aren't really accessible/usable, how can you charge for access? what exactly are you paying for? should make for an interesting summer..

 

I agree with this fully. Oh and if you want to get on a Mantoloking beach, just be polite to the person checking badges and say "I'm only going in the water, not sitting on the beach" and they'll almost always let you on if you're holding a board. I'm sure you can get away with that at the others you mentioned too.

 

I'm always amazed at this state's use (or misuse, depending on how you see it) of Eminent Domain. I guess it all comes down to local authorities... compare Long Branch and the whole beachfront redevelopment plan there, to Sea Bright, and the meaningless access points and complete lack of amenities for miles of beach. No parking, no restrooms, no water, no lifeguards... while a strip of land once owned by the Railroad sits idle, claimed by the homeowners across the street. They'll take peoples homes away in LB, but won't take a vacant, useless strip of land away in order to provide federally mandated access to public beaches.

Astounding... There's only one reason to keep that strip of land private: Exclusivity.

 

http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2012/12/long_branchs_boardwalk_wont_be_open_by_summer_but_beaches_will_be.html#incart_river_default

speaking of Long Branch (born and raised)..they are looking for upgraded boardwalk to be finished in 2014, most likely. beachgoers will have the beach, but not boardwalk to use this summer.

 

All those poor NJ surfers and residents are brainwashed about beach fees. In California they have much larger/wider beaches, millions more beach goers ALL year round, not just in the summer and there are no beach fees. That's what taxes are for and NJ still has higher taxes. The beaches in HB are raked every morning, trash trucks drive around on the sand and lifeguards cruise the beaches in vehicles in the winter. We get people from LA. and every other inland city and sure I have walked by a pair of used diapers, but what are you going to do, that's just the way some people are. It's not a reason for extra fees.
The NJ lifeguarding is a joke with their little flagged off sections for swimming. Might as well be a pool.
That's why I only surfed there in the dead of winter. I wish I had a suggestion on how NJ surfers could change things, but it's pretty ingrained in the culture I think.

 

I don't have much problem with beach fees within reason. One problem is that state law requires the towns to use that money solely for the purpose of maintaining and patrolling the beaches. The problem is, no one audits this. No one is really checking what the towns are spending the money on. Belmar a few years ago got sued for spending the money on all sorts of things unrelated to the beach. The town I surf most often is crazy in the summer with the amount of employees (many related to local homeowners). Seriously, there are two kids in the badge booth, then another kid in a chair at the beach entrance checking badges then more patrolling the sand.

 

Anything that will keep the crowds thinner I am all for...we need stinkin badges.

 

The thing that most people don't realize is the summer is the only time that shore towns receive an income. As a year round resident of Seaside Park I've seen since the economy tanked my town is more dead in the winter than it has ever been before. Almost all local businesses close and no one is around, this is also when most of the beach restoration happens because everytime we get pounded by a Nor'easter all the the sand from the dunes blows all over Ocean ave and the boardwalk. Having worked for the borough cleaning the beach for four years I am happy people have to pay to go on the beach because they trash the **** out of it everyday they are there. I hate having to pay for a badge to get on and getting hassled by the lifeguards as much as anyone but I've learned to just go after five o-clock when the badge checkers leave and the life guards are off duty.

 

Whose brainwashed??? I hear people *****ing about beach fees all the time... Like Turd said, I never pay to get on the beach.

Maybe if Cali started charging beach fees it wouldn't be so screwed financially.

 

Contrary to popular belief Cali isn't screwed and comes out of recessions first, but back to the subject. Beach maintenance should be a state job paid for with your state income taxes, not a beachside resort burden paid for with beach tags. You are brainwashed, because if it were really a beachside city responsibility, they could deny people access if they lived outside the city. Last time I checked NJ is the only state with beach tags, other than RI which has a couple gated beaches with fees.

 

almost all of long island NY town beaches have a charges during the season. and the state beaches have fees also. some state beaches charge in the winter on weekends.

the town beaches have resident passes and charge non resident and anyone with out a pass a large amount of money for the day. like 40 dollars. the state beaches require an empire pass that works for all state parks all yr or a day use fee.


I think thats fair. people who don't go to the beach shouldn't have to pay for it through income taxes. if you use the beach often buy a pass. or go early or late when they don't charge.

 

You know what would happen if someone came up with a "beach badge" idea down there? Everyone would ***** about it. They would implement it anyway, because the politicians don't care if you *****. And after a while it would be the norm.

 

im not sure about the city beaches of Jersey. but the NYC beaches don't charge. the beaches that charge are either state parks, and all state parks in NYS have a fee, or smaller towns. i think the towns charge non residents more not because they don't have the means but as a deterrent to non residents to visit the beach.

either way. we're all surfers here right? we either hit it before lifeguards come on or after they come off so we don't pay. surfing at noon is bad for your skin and the winds suck. plus most beaches on Long island don't charge in foul weather or when the waves are real big. Badges don't really apply to us. i have an empire pass but its on my wife's car because she comes to the beach later.

 

Dude its not a big deal, where I live its $30 for the season...who gives a flying ****!

 

Where is there an NYC Beach that is on the Ocean?

 

Rockaway is nyc