Seaside Heights Condo Owners Oppose Bathrooms, Say It Will Make Beach Too Crowded

The proposed location of a bathhouse in Seaside Heights, with the 1515 Ocean condominium building to the right. (Credit: Google Maps)

A group of Seaside Heights property owners – primarily seasonal residents whose condominium units are located on and around Hiering Avenue – doubled down on their opposition to the reconstruction of a bath house destroyed in Superstorm Sandy, saying the amenity would make the beach on their street too crowded. Residents of one of the nearby condominium developments have also complained that a second-floor deck that would allow seniors and disabled residents to view the ocean would obstruct their view.

“Our beach is the smallest beach in Seaside,” said Delores Alexander, who told members of the borough council she was representing fellow unit owners in the Patrician Arms condominium building on Hiering Avenue. “It is crowded now, and that is without – without – the [El Conquistador] which has 62 units, and they’ll start coming back this summer. On Sundays, we can’t get on our beach. We get in the car and go to Toms River. You building this bath house is just going to crowd our beach more.”

The El Conquistador refers to the formal name of the large condominium building that takes up much of the oceanside block of Hiering Avenue. It has been undergoing renovations for nearly two years and has been largely unoccupied on a temporary basis.

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The bath house would be constructed in the footprint of a previous bath house that was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy, located at 1521 Ocean Terrace, on the boardwalk between Sampson and Hiering avenues. The borough has secured a $1.6 million grant to build the bath house, which will include restrooms and hot showers. The building will also sell beach badges and is planned to include the accessible viewing platform that will allow visitors to see the ocean over the dunes.

The proposed location of a bathhouse in Seaside Heights, with the 1515 Ocean condominium building to the right. (Credit: Google Maps)

Plans for the bathhouse at 1521 Ocean Terrace, Seaside Heights, NJ. (Planning Document)

Residents of several nearby condominium complexes previously complained about the reconstruction effort at a work session meeting of the borough’s planning board, saying it would obstruct views of the ocean from their units and lead to overcrowding of the beaches in the northern section of town. Wednesday’s complaints squarely focused on what the residents feared would be too many members of the public accessing the beach and boardwalk from Hiering Avenue, where a public parking lot currently operates.

Alexander specifically feared visitors would choose to use the beach located near her vacation residence since they would be able to purchase beach badges closer to the parking lot at Hiering.

“At least now … they have to walk down to the carousel building to get tickets,” she said. “Now, you want to put this bath house there. First of all, that end of the boardwalk is so narrow, we used to have a problem getting on the beach when these people were all gathering to get in the bath houses, and they don’t move for you.”

Alexander continued: “My problem now is the parking lot, and we’re going to get every one of those people on our beach. At what point does this council worry about the taxpayers? We pay taxes all year and only use our residences three or four months of the year, and we’re being so inconvenienced.”

Some of the residents have suggested placing the bath house next door to the Carousel Pavilion, which has vacant space to the north, however while a bath house could physically fit in the space, deed restrictions on that property require it be used for development only in the case that it supports the carousel or historic purposes. A public bath house would not satisfy that requirement, said Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz.

Tom Brogan, an attorney representing the condominium development at 1515 Ocean Terrace, praised Alexander’s remarks.

“I don’t think I can follow a better advocate,” he said. “If I said what I was planning to say tonight, I’d be more of an echo.”

Brogan said his clients are “very much prepared to work with the town regarding the bath house.” The concerns of his clients take three forms, he said: the size and shape of the bath house, noise that would generated from people using it, and the fear of an obstructed view of the ocean from the residential units.

“My client is prepared to work to come to an understanding to the borough that may be a mutual benefit of both,” he reiterated.

Charlene Polomski, who said she owns properties in Hiering Avenue, told council members she agreed with the concerns of Alexander, and had more of her own – the cost of maintaining the building, as well as a potential “logjam” on the boardwalk.

“I also have concerns about the entrance to the bath house,” she said. “I’ve been coming to Seaside and living on Hiering since I was 11 years old. With the old bath house, you would go up and they would enter onto the area right above the ramp, and you couldn’t even get past the people. There were kids everywhere, taking turns in the bath house, and it caused a logjam going up.”

Joseph Usinowicz, a Hiering Avenue resident, complained that the beach on the north end of town is already used for certain events, such as an annual Boy Scout camp-out, which restricts some access to the sand, and the sale of beach badges from the bath house could bring more people to the area.

“If they do sell beach badges there, that’s going to add to more people coming on the beach at that location,” he said.

Council members did not engage in a debate with the residents, but reiterated the fact that a bath house had long occupied the site and, after the storm, had always been planned for a rebuild.

“It got wiped out by Sandy, and it’s the same footprint,” said Councilman Vito Ferrone.

Councilman Harry Smith said the bath house is needed in town, reminding those in attendance that Seaside Heights’ beaches are not private or reserved for certain residents.

“I just don’t represent Hiering Avenue, I represent the whole town,” he said. “I know, from being in this town my whole life, we do need more bathrooms and we need a bath house. That bath house has been planned since the day it came down. We tried to get it out to bid in 2013 or 2014, and they wanted so much money, we couldn’t do it.”

An opportunity to rebuild now has come due to the federal grant.

“It’s not a private beach on Hiering Avenue,” Smith said. “It’s for all the people of the state of New Jersey, all the people all over the place – it’s for everybody.”

The bath house project is expected to come before the planning board for a hearing in the coming months.