A jury just sided with beachfront homeowners in Point Pleasant, NJ.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation to be paid out. Property owners getting relief for land and water views taken away from them. Could judgments like these, slow down funding of beach replenishment?
Environmentally harmful dredging. Ineffective dune and beach building by the State of NJ.
More than a half-million dollars in compensation for beachfront property taken away. The owners of two homes in Point Pleasant Beach were awarded over $590,000 by juries.
One of two verdicts awarded the homeowner $330,000 for their loss of beachfront property and oceanfront views.
Some believe similar awards could be forthcoming. This could make it very expensive for the state to dredge, pump sand, and maintain dunes along 127 miles of New Jersey’s coastline.
The controversial NJ dune project has faced non-stop legal battles from homeowners looking to stop it.
After Superstorm Sandy, then-NJ Gov. Chris Christie, dredged, pumped and built sand dunes along most of the state’s 127-mile shoreline…. whether it was needed or not.
Many worry that a wave of similar payouts could make it too costly for the state and federal governments to finish and maintain the dunes.
Could these judgments / payouts stop the dune & beach re-nourishment project dead in it’s tracks?
Absurd for NJ state to think that pumping sand onto the beach will raise everyone’s home value by 15%. For one thing, flood insurance did NOT go down. Very telling.
Dunes are needed in some places, in other places, no. A one-size-fits-all solution was wrong. This ‘make-work’ project was purely a way for Congressman LoBiondo and Gov Christie to easily spend Hurricane Sandy relief funds.
Social Media Feedback and Comments:
Let nature take its course and spend the money on other infrastructure projects that benefit everyone, not just a few privileged characters… projects that don’t get washed away with the next big storm.
Was this because the Govt used eminent domain and the compensation was not enough? Or was it something else?
Why does this broke state keep on pouring good money after bad? Sand dunes and ocean front property are not permanent, almost by definition.
The taking of land in Harvey Cedars, NJ from a single property-owner for a beach replenishment and dune project had important implications that may have NOT been settled by the courts.
Stop the madness. Barrier islands are meant to shift and change with the tides and the winds.
Beach replenishment is an exercise in insanity. The taxpayers are literally on the hook for pumping sand to temporarily hold back the ocean. The barrier islands have been shifting sands since the beginning of time. This is absolutely fruitless trying to rebuild the beaches every few years. Insane!
Unless, sea rise is stopped, an extremely unlikely possibility at this juncture the future of NJ’s barrier islands are at best problematic. However, given the current state of political reality it’s also extremely likely that the current beach replenishment regime will proceed. Until, the $$ or the available Beach quality sand runs out or both.