Monmouth County Town Trying To Keep People Off Beach, Suit Says

A Monmouth County town has been sued by beach access avocates who say the community is trying to keep people off its shores.

The American Littoral Society has filed the lawsuit in state Superior Court, according to nj.com, after the Deal Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 in December to authorize the sale of a .165-acre parcel for $1 million to a private property owner.

“The Street End is included as a beach access point for fishing and surfing on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s New Jersey Public Access Locations,” according to nj.com, quoting the American Littoral Society's lawsuit that was filed on Jan. 24.

The suit also says that the borough’s own draft Municipal Public Access Plan, submitted by Deal to the DEP, identifies the end of Neptune Avenue as a beach access point, according to nj.com. Deal voted to vacate the beach end of Neptune Avenue, a public street near Deal’s southern border with Allenhurst, as part of the sale.

Here is a map of those public access points:

Efforts to obtain comment from Deal officials were not immediately successful.

Click here to see the plan

Patch photo