Long Branch Residents Fighting $2.1M Community Pool Project

LONG BRANCH, NJ — A number of Long Branch residents are battling the city's attempts to build a $2.1-million community pool complex, and the residents have now hired a lawyer to contest a special permit the state gave Long Branch to build the pool.

The pool would be located near Pleasure Bay Park and early-stage construction has already begun.

"We're surprised that anyone would want to stop something so beneficial to the city and the people of Long Branch," Mayor John Pallone told the Asbury Park Press.

But many in Long Branch seriously oppose the pool project, according to Stuart Lieberman, a lawyer retained by the residents. The residents who oppose it have formed a community group called Baruch Atlantic, named for the streets that border where the pool would be located.

Many are concerned the pool will cause flooding, noise issues, traffic issues, a lack of pedestrian safety and be unsightly.

"Traffic issues are serious and we believe have never been properly addressed," said Lieberman, of the Princeton law firm Lieberman Blecher & Sinkevich.

He said traffic studies were done in that part of Long Branch at the very beginning of the pandemic, when streets were unusually empty.

"That is obviously not good work," he said. "We have people who live in this area in homes and apartments and we believe this pool in its current iteration threatens their quality of life."

The state of New Jersey issued Long Branch a special Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit, so the city could build the pool near water, where is it usually prohibited to build new construction. The Asbury Park Press reports that the developer would have to raise the complex up to five feet to build the pool, something Lieberman said he could not confirm.

Residents say that will push water onto their properties.

Lieberman is challenging that permit, filing a legal appeal in New Jersey Superior Court and also asking the Office of Administrative Law to hold a hearing before pool construction goes any further.

"Flooding concerns are very real. This area floods now," he said. "If this project goes forward, my clients may endure much more flooding. Flooding trends in general are getting worse each year; everyone knows that."

"Important wetlands evaluations required by this permit have apparently not been undertaken," he continued. "Our experts are concerned that this pool will cause local flooding and my clients will need relief from the government and others responsible for this pool when that happens."

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