NJ Gov. Christie will finally get to finish his sand dune project along the entire Jersey coast. Judge Mendez ruled on Monday that NJ can seize, via eminent domain, 87 municipally owned parcels in Margate. The $40 million dune project can now continue.
Bad news for Margate, but good news for it’s neighbors on each side; Ventnor and Longport.
Some excerpts & explanations of yesterday’s court decision that allows for dune building in Margate >
The existing bulkhead line in Ventnor and Margate is a collection of privately installed bulkheads of varying designs and heights. They’re interspersed with municipal structures, typically at the road ends. Ventnor, Margate and Longport has been raising street end bulkheads as funding allows. Other areas, in front of private homes, are the responsibility of the homeowner. Since many of the bulkheads are on private land, rehabilitation would incur real estate costs which would be prohibitive.
The present bulkhead system in Margate does not provide a continuous level of protection.
After Super Storm Sandy, the ‘Absecon Island Dune Project’ was reevaluated. The Army Corps again rejected the Bulkhead alternative stating: A simple matter of economics, the bulkhead offers little more protection than a more natural dune but costs much more. Even if constructed beachfill would also be necessary to limit erosion in front of the bulkhead which would drive the costs even further above the beachfill options.
A 2013 reevaluation also concluded that dune design was still the most optimal coastal protection alternative.
Margate opposes dune construction. Do their bulkheads offer a sufficient protection? Would dunes cause economic harm?
Margate argued that the Army Corps’ feasibility study did not properly evaluate and arbitrarily dismissed their preferred bulkhead alternative.
The Absecon Island Project also includes periodic replenishment of the beachfill at three year intervals over the fifty year life of the Project, and is eligible for the Corps’ Flood Control and Coastal Emergency program to repair project features that are damaged by severe coastal storms. Margate argues that the future costs of replenishing the dune will cause economic hardship. Periodic replenishment of the beachfill over the fifty year lifespan of the Project is included in the Project.
Ventnor Dune Affected by Margate’s Preference
Initial construction of the Absecon Island Project was completed in Atlantic City and Ventnor; however the Project remains to be constructed in Margate and Longport. Non-construction of dunes in Margate caused the dune in Ventnor to erode faster than normal at its end. Eventually, Ventnor’ s dune eroded to the point where there were steep drops from the dune crest. The end of Ventnor’ s dune was bulldozed due to the safety hazard the steep drops created and approximately one third of Ventnor’ s dune was lost.
The dune would have survived if it extended through Margate.
The Court is persuaded that municipal boundary limits should not be a driving force behind this project but instead the Absecon Island Project should take all of Absecon Island into account. Nature has no municipal boundaries.
