South Seaside Park OK To Leave Berkeley, Court Says

BERKELEY, NJ — South Seaside Park can leave Berkeley Township, New Jersey Superior Court has ruled.

If the neighboring Borough of Seaside Park allows it, South Seaside Park can join them, Judge Marlene Lynch Ford ruled.

South Seaside Park is part of Berkeley that resides on the Barnegat Peninsula, completely separated from the rest of the township. It represents about one percent of Berkekey's population with about 1,400 properties in the area.

This small portion of Berkeley has wanted for many years to deannex from the township and join Seaside Park for numerous reasons, including a physical separation from the mainland and a stronger identity with its neighboring coastal communities, according to court documents. 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.

This particular deannexation effort began in Sept. 2014 with a petition started by South Seaside Park residents, spearheaded by resident Donald Whiteman, who formed a non-profit organization called the South Seaside Park Homeowners & Voters Association. About 66 percent of registered voters in South Seaside Park signed this petition, which allowed the separation process to begin.

Residents testified that Seaside Park provides more in services to the community than Berkeley. The physical distance not only means that it is more difficult for South Seaside Park to get to government services and meetings, but also emergency services from Seaside Park provide aid much faster, court documents said. These residents also have a stronger community identity with shore communities than with the mainland, according to the documents.

How would this affect Berkeley?

If South Seaside Park does leave, Berkeley residents are going to experience their property taxes increase. The township itself will also lose the ratable base and the revenue it generates. Though South Seaside Park is only one percent of the township's population, it makes up 10 percent of its taxes, according to court documents.

In deciding the case, Lynch Ford had to consider the severity of the loss to Berkeley. The two parties disputed how great of an impact it would be. The township argued that property taxes would have to be increased, while South Seaside Park argued that new ratables could be developed on the mainland.

"Deannexation of a part of a municipality will always have some negative impact upon taxpayers in the balance of the community, even an imperceptible amount," Lynch Ford wrote. However, South Seaside Park has no room for new construction, while Berkeley's mainland has "vast amounts of developable land," that could increase ratables, Lynch Ford said.

Since Seaside Park resides in the Central Regional School District, there would be no impact on school taxes, therefore tax impact is not substantial enough to deny the deannexation, Lynch Ford said. The petitioners' expert financial witness testified that Berkeley would recover from the loss in "probably less than five years," according to court documents.

Additionally, Berkeley would only lose the one public beach (White Sands Beach) that represents 5.4 percent of the township's 28 miles of shoreline. Ultimately, the amount of social harm and loss of cultural sites and economic resources would be minimal, Lynch Ford said.

An impartial Planning Board

Part of why Lynch Ford approved this was due to the actions of the Berkeley Planning Board. While the board is supposed to serve as an impartial third party reviewing evidence and testimony to deliver an unbiased report on the impact during the several years of hearings on this, but instead served as an advocate for the township and even "became part of the adversarial process," Lynch Ford said.

The board's planner, Stuart B. Wiser, reviewed transcripts of hearings and advised the board, but did not participate in meetings, denying the petitioners the right to cross examine him as a witness, according to court documents, although his recommendations impacted the decisions of the board. The documents also say that the Township Council and the Planning Board met to discuss how to deny the petition.

"The Board failed to function in its role..." as a third party due to advocating against deannexation, Lynch Ford said.

The attorneys representing the council denied this, saying that Wiser was, in fact, cross examined, and said that the Planning Board was impartial.

What comes next?

In order for South Seaside Park to deannex from Berkeley and annex to Seaside Park, both municipalities have to consent. Berkeley has already filed an appeal in the matter, meaning that it will be even longer until a decision is made.

In the appeal, the Township Council's attorneys said that Lynch Ford imparted her own opinion in the decision and rejected the bias claims. Attorneys also said that it was "inappropriate" for the court to take potential future ratables into consideration.

If the decision remains, not only does Berkeley have to consent to South Seaside Park leaving, Seaside Park has to consent to accepting it as part of the borough.