Seaside Park To Expand With Annexation Of Berkeley Neighborhood

SEASIDE PARK, NJ — After years of trying, South Seaside Park is finally part of Seaside Park.

In a meeting Monday night, the borough voted to allow the annexation of the Berkeley Township neighborhood.

The vote was 5-0 with one abstention.

"Let's leave this community even better than it is now," South Seaside Park resident Donald Whiteman said, according to the Asbury Park Press. Whiteman led the charge for deannexation.

The decision comes after years of South Seaside Park fighting to leave Berkeley and join Seaside Park, which the neighborhood has long argued it has more in common with.

South Seaside Park is a small neighborhood on the Barnegat Peninsula that is entirely separated from the mainland. It is because of this that residents have fought to leave - they argued that they have a stronger identity with its neighboring coastal communities. They also have a lengthy travel to visit Berkeley Township offices. Someone wanting to travel to the mainland, depending on the route taken, would have to travel through Seaside Park, Seaside Heights, Toms River, South Toms River, Beachwood and Pine Beach before making it to Berkeley.

A committee was formed to decide whether Seaside Park owes Berkeley for township assets in South Seaside Park, according to NJ.com.