Murphy Signs Weak Beach Access Bill

Today, Governor Murphy signed the beach access bill into law. The public beach access law, S1074(Smith) provides for protection of public right of access to certain public trust lands. However, there were last minute amendments added to the bill that the New Jersey Sierra Club opposed.

“This legislation is an important step forward in putting the Public Trust Doctrine into law. However, we are disappointed because the law is not strong enough to move us forward with public access. The original bill was gutted and will allow towns to be able to block access to the beaches and waterfront that belong to all of us. Even though the law moves forward the Public Trust Doctrine, we cannot trust DEP to move with those rules,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The bill has vague language that will allow many communities will be able to sue to block access. Too many communities want our money, but they don’t want us on their beaches.”

The original bill was supported by many advocates however there were last minute amendments added to the bill that the New Jersey Sierra Club opposed.

“Communities and towns will get off the hook from requiring the public access. Towns like Deal, Avalon, and Long Beach Township can sue because of the ambiguous language in the bill. They will be able to win and block public access to its waterfront and beaches. It will be full employment act for lawyers and towns to keep people off the beaches. Towns that have been denying access or making it difficult for people to access beaches will continue to do so,” said Tittel.

The new beach access law shall take effect on the 60th day after the date of enactment.

“The law was originally very strong, but DEP amendments severely weakened it. This law doesn’t require or mandate rules for towns to allow for beach access. It also does nothing to restore the 2007 that restore the public access. We need a legislative fix bill that would strengthen public access. There are too many places in our state where private beachfront homeowners want the public money, but they don’t want the public to be there,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Instead of opening up public beach access for people who paid for them, the law closes the door for certain communities. We are concerned this law will give access for rich residents of those communities and no one else.”