DEP Dog & Pony Show. Brigantine Angry at Northend Beach Take-over

Brigantine residents want their north end beaches back. Hundreds were out in force to question representatives of the DEP & State of NJ on Tuesday night, at North School. Residents are not happy about the State effectively locking down most of these fishing friendly, north-end beaches.

Why the State take-over? To protect the ‘Piping Plover’ nesting grounds, says the State. The DEP says they took over the north section of beach in Brigantine in order to protect the fragile eco-system. When asked if a formal study was conducted, they answered yes, but the report was not publicly available.

Was this public hearing just a NJ DEP Dog and Pony show? Seems like it. Most doubt anything will be done to soften the current regulations.

Did Brigantine do anything wrong? Why the take-over now? Brigantine Mayor, Phil Guenther, noted the state should’ve held public hearings prior to the Jan 1, 2018 rule change. Ironically, this is exactly what residents have accused the Mayor and council of doing for years: making key decisions behind closed doors, prior to public hearing and taxpayer input.

  • A max of 500, 4×4 mobile fishing permits will be made available. Only 75 permits are allowed on the beach, per day.
  • Did COVE BEACH chaos and jetty area overcrowding play a role? Three rows of 4×4’s turn this inlet beach into a parking lot & tailgate party.
  • Variety of free and discounted 4×4 passes contributed to explosion of beach 4×4 use in Brigantine.
  • The Bass River Operations office in Bass River are now in charge. This is 38 miles away from Brigantine.
  • Northend beaches are effectively closed for the summer.

Harry Frett: It’s just another way for the State of New Jersey to make more money. We need to change the title of the state from the ‘Garden State’ to the ‘Tax State’, because that’s all they do is tax us to death. No wonder so many are exiting the State of NJ in droves…permanently.

Kristin Korbel: Brigantine locals complain about everything that has to do with the beaches. The city has bungled selling permits for years – denying handicap permits, overcharging and not providing trash receptacles, bathrooms, or grooming the cove, the jetty and allowing the fox population to scavenge the garbage left over from their short changing those pesky “shoobies” of trash cans and bathrooms. I guess it doesn’t feel good to have that privilege taken away by a higher authority, does it? Now you’ll have to find a dune to dump on in “privacy” so the state can post your photo on social media for all to see. You should have been nicer. You don’t know who’s watching your bad behavior. You took it for granted and expected too much. Read your own comments about how you all want to kill the protected animals, and the care you’re showing for the foxes you turned into scavengers. You’re awful, you deserve your privileges to be taken away. Straighten yourselves up, be nicer. It can get worse

Eric Fluck: There are people who have been going to the north end of brigantine since the early 50’s, to paint, take pictures, etc and this right has been taken away. I will be the first to admit I completely agree with protecting wildlife and having this wildlife be available for my kids. I own multiple properties in Brigantine and while the City has not done a fantastic job, they have done a very good job in protecting the north end and patrolling it.

Gordon Reiselt: Beaches are not meant to accommodate motor vehicles of any kind. Make it simple for those that do not get it- No motor vehicles of any kind on any beach.

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3 thoughts on “DEP Dog & Pony Show. Brigantine Angry at Northend Beach Take-over”

  1. Substitute Mayor Guenther and the Republican machine for the DEP and Brigantine residents for the Piping Plovers…I don’t see much of a difference. Now the boot is on your neck Mayor!

  2. Brigantine residents should be free to use the north as they see fit with reasonable restrictions not draconian rules

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