Longport Beach Patrol Headquarters
LONGPORT – After a second postponement, the Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing and vote on an ordinance that will provide the State of New Jersey with perpetual easements that ensure public access to tidal waters, including the ocean and bay.
A vote and adoption of the ordinance authorizing execution of a deed of dedication will take place at the commissioners’ next work session meeting being held 8:30 a.m. Thursday, June 27.
Ordinance 2019-11 was introduced May 15, and the original public hearing and vote to adopt scheduled for June 5 was postponed to add language suggested by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. The second public hearing scheduled for the June 18 meeting was also postponed to accommodate the DEP’s request to amend an exhibit to include the beach in the public access area.
The purpose of the ordinance is to authorize the execution of a deed of dedication giving the public permanent access over 53 street ends. Access to tidal waters is a right provided to the public under the state’s recently adopted legislation supporting the Public Trust Doctrine. The borough will be required to preserve, patrol, operate, maintain, repair and replace all access points and install signage indicating it is a public access point.
A companion ordinance, 2012-10, was approved June 5, authorizing the borough to develop and maintain signage for all access points.
In other business during the work session, the commission will discuss banning the boroough’s use of glyphosate, a popular weed killer sold under the brand name Roundup, which is manufactured by Monsanto, a subsidiary of Bayer.
Although the EPA deems the herbicide low in toxicity, a jury recently awarded a California couple $2 billion saying long-term exposure to the product caused their non-Hodgkins lympoma. Each received $1 billion in punitive damages and another $55 million in compensatory damages.
Bayer is appealing the verdict.
