One Jersey Shore Town Is Ready To Increase Public Access To Beaches

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – New Jersey is considering a change in regulations that would allow shore towns to develop their own public access rules subject to state approval. One town at the center of the debate has its own plan ready, filed and under review.

Long Beach Township has 12 miles of shoreline. Two on the north end are home to high priced houses. Their streets don't extend to the beach and there are only a couple access points.

The rest are quite open says Mayor Joe Mancini, "We have 160 plus ocean front accesses, public accesses with parking, free parking and we think that should suffice."
The plan filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection would add 100 parking spaces in Bayview Park some 200 yards from a popular southern end beach along with added amenities.

By contrast, he says it would cost $10 million to purchase and set up just two more access points on the north end. Public hearings are set next month on the state's plan to relax what are now, in effect, uniform rules along the entire coast.

Reported By David Madden, KYW Newsradio.