GoogleMaps/Longport Point area.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
LONGPORT – A local resident has asked the Board of Commissioners to address what he calls an unsafe condition where Atlantic Avenue dead-ends in the Point area.
Resident Doug Farrell said he is not so much concerned about the unkempt look of the Point area, which is a popular spot for walkers and bikers to stop for a look at the Great Egg Harbor Inlet, as he is about the safety of children and adults who climb over the barrier to stand on broken pieces of concrete and rebar.
The idea of improving that section of the Point area has been discussed for many years, and former engineer Richard Carter even created a schematic to show improvements, including adding parking spaces for what could be a park-like setting, but the NJ Department of Environmental Protection has designated is as a dune that cannot be touched.
“In a meeting with Mr. Carter he said he’s done with the DEP…you deal with it. They will not let us have a permit because of a dune,” Farrell said. “It’s nothing but a pile of building waste.”
Farrell said his comments have nothing to do with the beautification of Longport.
“That area is terribly dangerous…the rusted rebar is sticking up,” he said.
Farrell said he has seen little children climbing on the debris inches away from the rebar, which was dumped there to prevent further erosion following Hurricane Sandy.
“I do implore the governing body to do something about it,” Farrell said.
Commissioner Dan Lawler said the area attracts a lot of people, and he would like to see additional parking there.
“I would like to see a park there. I personally think it could be a beautiful area,” he said, calling on the current engineer to investigate the issue.
Farrell called it “an embarrassment” to the community.
Mayor Nicholas Russo said the governing body “cannot legislate common sense,” and parents should keep their children off the rebar.
The broken pieces of concrete that were put there came from demolition of street ends following Hurricane Sandy.
Russo asked Engineer Ed Dennis to provide satellite images of the area to show the DEP.
Dennis said it was a timely topic to discuss as the borough is currently working to set its next capital improvement plan. Nevertheless, obtaining approvals to do anything there would be a lengthy process.
“We would have to have a pre-application meeting to discuss it with the DEP and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, show them a concept plan, then they will look at the rules and regulations that apply,” Dennis said.
They could approve it or say it’s a “non-starter,” he said, but the governing body may want to find out where the DEP stands on the issue at this time.
“It’s worth revisiting and was something I discussed when I came on board,” Dennis said.
Dennis and attorney Michael Affanato said the DEP changes its rules, “usually in the opposite direction.”
“Things change rapidly with them,” Affanato said. “We need to go back to them now to see if there is still that ruling, or then we have to challenge the ruling.”
But the last definitive statement from the DEP a few years ago was that it’s a dune and the borough would not be able to touch it, Affanato said.
There is an appeal process that can be followed, but that comes with a cost to taxpayers, he said.
“And the governing body can make a decision if it is willing to spend money to appeal it or redevelop it,” Affanato said.
The issue was last discussed publicly in July 2020 when Carter asked the board if it would like to remove the concrete and rebar, add six parking spaces and make it a park-like setting.
However, the state said the sand beneath the concrete is a dune that needs to be preserved.
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