State Obtains Bulk Of Dune Easements; Needs More From LBI, Elsewhere

The State of New Jersey has obtained more than 80 percent of needed property easements to begin work to protect the Jersey Shore in the event of future disasters, and efforts are underway to obtain the rest, officials said Thursday morning.

As of Thursday, about 2,400 of the 2,850 public and private easements that were needed to move forward with various shore protection and flood mitigation projects have been obtained.

Vigorous efforts to acquire the remaining 400 are under way, they said, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin said.

These projects include beach widening and construction of engineered dunes.

The State has been able to secure a majority of the easements through letters, public meetings, private meetings and, in some cases, the commencement of condemnation proceedings (but not actual litigation).

Ocean City, Longport and Middletown were also authorized by the Division of Law to take about 20 easements that were not provided voluntarily by property owners via resolutions under the Disaster Control Act.

In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, Gov. Chris Christie authorized the Attorney General’s Office and DEP to take whatever action was needed to secure the easements.

In making his decision, Christie took into consideration available federal funding for coastal hurricane and storm damage reduction projects.

“The property easements we have obtained, and the easements we still seek, are vital to coastal protection efforts that benefit all New Jersey residents,” Hoffman said. “We appreciate that many property owners – clearly mindful of the destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy -- have unselfishly donated easements for the greater good rather than engage the State in protracted litigation. But to those who continue to hold out, our message is that we remain committed to acquiring these easements as expeditiously as possible, and -- consistent with a landmark Supreme Court decision issued in 2013 -- without paying a king’s ransom as compensation.”

“Governor Christie and I have been extremely clear on this matter,” Martin said. “Sandy taught us sobering lessons about the critical need for beach and dune systems as an integral part of making New Jersey more resilient in the face of future storms and floods. We commend the property owners who have done the right thing by working with us and understanding their civic responsibility in helping to protect their communities and their neighbors. Those who continue to hold out must step up as well, or we will take necessary steps to secure those easements.”

Planned shorefront protection projects requiring easements include:

· beach widening and dunes construction from Great Egg Harbor to Townsend Inlet in Ocean City, Upper Township, and Sea Isle City;

· beach widening and dune construction from Brigantine Inlet to Cape May Inlet-Absecon Island in Margate and Longport;

· beach widening and dunes construction from Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Inlet-Long Beach Island (Beach Haven, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom, Surf City);

· beach widening and dunes construction from Manasquan Inlet to Barnegat Inlet in northern Ocean County (Bayhead, Berkely, Brick, Lavalette, Mantoloking, Point Pleasant Beach, Toms River, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park);

· beach widening from Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet Section 1 (Allenhurst, Deal, Loch Arbour and Long Branch);

· beach widening and dunes construction along Raritan Bay at Port Monmouth (Middletown);

· beach widening along the Delaware River coastline in Elsinboro (Oakwood Beach).

DEP is also working with the Federal Highway Authority on a “steel revetment” project in Mantoloking and Brick as a last line of defense in the area where the ocean breached the barrier island to create an inlet during Sandy.

As of Thursday, no compensation has been paid to any private property owners for easements provided voluntarily.

Hoffman and Martin credited the voluntary surrender of the easements with a ruling in 2013 in which the State Supreme Court ruled that homeowners who are subject to a property-taking on behalf of public projects “are not entitled to a windfall” that disregards the protective benefits of those projects to their own property.

At the heart of the matter was a couple who initially received $375,000, for their property after the Borough of Harvey Cedars used its power of eminent domain to obtain their property to be replaced by a 22-foot-high dune.

The Appellate Division upheld that ruling, but the State Supreme Court later reversed that ruling, and Harvey and Phillia Karan were awarded $1.

The attached photo of dunes facing north on Ortley Beach was taken by Karen Wall