Petition Started To Block $3 Fee To Access Island Beach Through Tices Shoal

by Patricia A. Miller

The state Department of Environmental Protection’s recently imposed $3 fee on boaters who enter Island Beach State Park through a walkway on Tice’s Shoal is a ”shameless money grab,” according to a petition on change

“Tice’s Shoal was one of the last ways to enjoy a natural resource for free in New Jersey (if you were able to pay the costs of owning a boat),” according to the petition on Change.org. ”This is a shameless money grab by the state. There has been no need for a lifeguard to be placed at the beach, which will be accompanying and ‘justifying’ the new charge. There are other ways to raise money for state parks.”

As of Sunday night, there were 975 signatures on the petition,

The Berkeley Township Council unanimously approved a resolution at the April 13 meeting opposing the fee.

“This fee penalizes those who access the park at Tice’s Shoal by watercraft,” Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said. “At the main entry gate, pedestrians or bicyclists that use the park for fishing, swimming or other recreational activities, are not charged.”

The DEP announced last week that a third bathing beach with lifeguards about five miles from the park’s entrance gate would be open this summer. They also imposed the $3 boaters fee.

The fee is also opposed by members of the Berkeley Township Waterways Advisory Commission.

“I’d like to add my two cents to the $3 boater’s fee,” quipped Fred Bekiarian at the recent council meeting. Bekiarian is a Waterways Commission member.

The third bathing beach will have no facilities or a pavilion, like the two other bathing beaches at the park, he said.

Waterways Commission Chairman William McGrath said boaters who access the park from Tices Shoal don’t take up any of the 2,200 valuable, revenue-producing parking spots at the park.

“They don’t take up a parking spot,” he said. ”The revenue is based on the parking spots.”

The petition also questions why boaters who walk in from the bay should be charged when pedestrians and bicyclists can enter the park for free through the front gates. New Jersey beaches should be free, it states.

“And just in case anyone believes that NJ boaters are rich... think again,” the introduction to the petition on Change.org states. “Boaters are most often working class individuals whose boats are their only luxury item. If you’ve worked hard for your watercraft - there is no reason you should be charged more to enjoy it. Except - NJ already does that with taxes on marine gas, boater registration, boater certificates, and more.”

DEP officials have said the third guarded bathing beach will provide additional protection for bathers and help lifeguards focus on their respective beaches without having to respond to emergencies in unguarded areas.

“The safety of our park visitors is our first priority,” said Richard Boornazian, DEP Assistant Commissioner of Natural and Historic Resources. “Emergencies in unguarded sections of the park often results in compromised lifeguard resources at our main pavilion areas where swimming is permitted. So providing this additional protection at the popular A-7 section will benefit all users of the park.”

The $3 fee will be used to pay for the cost of additional lifeguards at the third beach, DEP spokesman Bob Considine said.

Swimming at all other unguarded sections of Island Beach State Park is prohibited.