Environmental Groups Appeal Seaside Heights Carousel-Beach Swap

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — Two environmental groups have filed an appeal challenging the transfer by Seaside Heights of 1.37 acres of beach to a private developer.

The American Littoral Society and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation filed the lawsuit on Aug. 12, according to a news release, and called the transfer — approved in late June by the State House Commission, following an approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection— outrageous.

"This is the first time any of us can remember a recreational, public beach being traded away to a private developer," Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, said in a news release announcing the appeal. "The Green Acres program is intended to preserve such natural resources and recreational opportunities for everyone, not to place them into the hands of private developers."

"It's outrageous to swap a highly-accessible and densely-utilized Jersey Shore beach facility for an aging, high-maintenance amusement ride and an inaccessible, undevelopable wetland tract that is already providing maximum ecological benefit to the public," said Emile DeVito, manager of science & stewardship of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

The swap involves the 1.37-acre beach parcel between Sheridan and Sherman avenues that abuts the north side of the current Casino Pier property. That parcel would go to the owners of Casino Pier — AFMV, LLC, the company of the Storino family — and in exchange, Seaside Heights would receive the historic Dentzel Looff carousel that was built in 1910 and has been in the borough since 1932, plus a parcel of land at Sampson and Carteret avenues, which will become the eventual site of the carousel. Additionally, a 67-acre piece of land just west of the Garden State Parkway and north of Route 37 would become protected open space.

"In exchange for the lost beach, Seaside Heights is to receive a carousel being phased out of Casino Pier due to dwindling ridership, a parking lot along the Boardwalk that is about half the size of the beach parcel, and 67 acres of inexpensive, undevelopable and inaccessible wetlands valued at $4,100 per acre," the news release said. "The beach parcel to be diverted from public ownership is worth millions of dollars."

Christopher Vaz, borough administrator in Seaside Heights, in a written response to the new release, said the DEP considers the acquistion of the carousel, "an (arguably) irreplaceable historical property, along with a nearby vacant parcel of land that can, in the future, house the Carousel, to be the public benefit and/or the 'exceptional recreation and/or conservation benefit' supporting approval of this application."

The carousel is valued at between $2.3 million and $2.5 million, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press. It is one of four remaining wooden carousels in New Jersey and one of about 150 still operating in the United States, from an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 that existed during their heyday, according to Vaz. The Storinos had planned to sell the carousel because maintenance had become so expensive, the Press report said.

The swap also has been challenged in state Superior Court by Seaside Heights resident Stephen Melvin, who says the Storinos must try to buy other available private property on the beach before any public beach land can be diverted for private purposes, according to the Asbury Park Press.

The Press report said the Storinos, who decided not to rebuild the pier extending over the ocean because DEP rules make that extremely expensive, tried to buy a privately owned beach on the pier's south side, but could not reach an agreement.

Vaz said the proposed exchange "provides benefits for Seaside Heights as a tourist destination as the borough continues to recover from the devastating impacts of Superstorm Sandy, which swept a large part of Casino Pier into the ocean, and the fire of September 2013, which entirely destroyed the Funtown Pier."

"Amusement piers and the Boardwalk have a crucial role in making Seaside Heights unique as a tourist attraction of regional importance," he wrote.

Green Acres rules say public land diversions require replacement with property of similar usefulness, recreational value, economic value and natural resource value, the American Littoral Society and New Jersey Conservation Foundation said.

"In this instance, the swap would exclusively benefit a private developer. This is a clear violation of Green Acres program rules," the organzations said.

"Whether this is about a carousel or aiding a developer in the hopes of stimulating a local economy, the point is that the Green Acres law and regulations do not permit this type of trade," said Andrew J. Provence of Litwin & Provence, LLC, attorneys for the appellants. Aaron Kleinbaum, Executive Director of the Eastern Environmental Law Center, is serving as co-counsel for the appellants.

The Dentzel/Loof Carousel at Casino Pier. By Karen Wall, Patch Staff