Seaside Heights lifeguard headquarters, July 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
Seaside Heights officials said access to the borough’s oceanfront would remain open all year long – 24 hours a day – throughout the “off-season” following a mix-up that saw gates at dune crossovers locked in recent days.
Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz said the borough’s policy is to have access to the beach at each crossover remain open on a permanent basis throughout the year, with the access points locked only at one-off times when safety concerns are present, such as during storms. The issue was raised by residents at a meeting of the borough council on Wednesday after the gates were found to be locked on several occasions recently, sparking a lengthy debate on a local social media page. Vaz said he personally noticed the gates having been locked and called the Public Works Department to have them reopened.
“I just started walking south, and they were all locked,” said Vaz. “It seems like the Police Department had locked them on one day when we had a lot of rescues when the surf was bad, and nobody unlocked them.”
The gates should have been reopened after the safety concerns subsided, but a miscommunication apparently led to them either remaining locked or being re-locked.
“It shouldn’t be happening right now,” said Vaz, explaining that during the summer, the gates are often locked in the late-night hours to prevent safety issues from occurring late at night after bar closings and the end of other events in town.
“We close them in the summer because of safety,” he said. “Before the [beach replenishment], the police were able to see over the dune and provide public safety from the boardwalk, but you can’t see them anymore. That’s why we lock them at night, but at this time of year in the fall, there’s no reason to lock them at all.”
Vaz said he told the borough’s Public Works superintendent to make sure the access points were open, and Police Chief Tommy Boyd – who was present at the council meeting – said he would make sure his officers were aware that there was no reason to lock the gates at night in the off-season.
The northern portion of the Seaside Heights boardwalk, July 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
One resident asked for clarification on what she perceived to be a law that required beach access to remain open at all times, to which Borough Attorney Jean Cipriani replied with a description of the Public Trust Doctrine. Dating back to ancient Roman times, and filtering down through English common law, the Public Trust Doctrine holds that beaches are held in trust by the state for the use of the people, and is adopted in modern times by governments to guide wider beach access policies.
“It’s true to access the water and, call it a section of the dry land, but it does not impede the borough’s ability to change access for safety when required,” said Cipriani.
When access points are locked in the summer, there is normally an entrance near the lifeguard building where surfers and fishermen have access to the beach, Vaz said. They may be closed on certain foul weather days, however, if people do not follow warnings to stay out of the water.
“If it’s a really bad day and we can’t keep people from going into the water and harming themselves or putting our rescue people at risk, then we’ll lock it,” he said. ” But we’ve had such great weather the last couple of weeks – those gates should be open. There’s no reason to keep them closed.”
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