Some Ventnor Beaches Feature More Dune Than Beach.

Pic: Betsy Lucas

Ready for some tight squeezes on the beaches of Ventnor and Margate? Extra-high tides have been sucking up all the sandy real estate. Infringing upon human sun-seekers.

Normally, this wouldn’t be such big deal. But with 60%+ of beach already taken up by dunes and dead zones, Downbeach sun worshipers are left with barely a sliver of sand to call their own.

Ventnor beach goers forced to sit on side of dunes.

ventnor nj beach dune
Pic: Betty Anne Epstein

Tall, sandy mountains. Some 50 ft wide. Built with loving care by the Army Corp of Engineers during Summer 2017. And yea, they’ll be back soon.

Beach towns like Ventnor contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars every few years. NJ DEP says we need more sand dredging & pumping. Whether needed or not.

Ventnor
Pic: Betty Anne Epstein

One mom of 4 was forced to pack up and leave early. Too tight.

More Dune Than Beach, Beeyatch.
Say Cheese.

Will Congressman Jeff Van Drew do as Frank Lobiondo did? Get the cash, and build something for the next 50 years. Make it one size fits all? Ugh.

God forbid each town uses that cash for what’s REALLY needed. Back-bay protection.

11 thoughts on “Some Ventnor Beaches Feature More Dune Than Beach.”

  1. The dune project has ruined what were once beautiful beaches. With the boardwalk in Ventnor, There was no room for giant dunes. We all knew this when they decided to build them. Now property owners are bearing the risk of losing value on their homes…when people come to see the beach they aren’t going to want to buy here. The city and state need to take appropriate action.

  2. The dunes were so unnecessary in Margate, it was the bay that needed to be addressed. We had seawalls in Margate unlike Ventnor.

    Now their allowing 3 story buildings to be put up along Amherst Avenue on the bay.
    Flooding takes place with even a heavy rain storm.
    The outflow pipes allow for drainage off the streets to filter into the ocean.
    So all and all this project has ruined Margate beaches and done nothing to provide protection along the bay.

    1. Marian, you are so right! Our family has owned properties in Margate since 1964. Flooding from the bay is the main problem. At high tide and a full moon the water comes out of the street sewer pipes from Monroe to Wilson Ave.

  3. This whole SNAFU represents the shortsightedness of officials in Ventnor, Margate & Longport. UNLESS & UNTIL they realize the only device to retain huge amounts of beach sand is a MASTER JETTY at the end of Longport, beach, sand will continue to wash away & silt up the Great Eggharbor Inlet. A 5000 foot MASTER JETTY would yield up to 3000 feet of new beach. It would act as a means to protect the existing dunes in a hurricane or Nor’easter. Do recall the Nor’easter of 1962 lasted 3 days !!! A storm would have to chew up 3000 feet of beach before ever reaching the dunes.

  4. If there are all of these unknown costs and environmental impacts of the dunes including the need for a jetty in longport , a “deadman zone” with the boardwalk/ dunes in Ventnor , sand replenishing, dredging, property devaluation etc will adding a boardwalk in Margate further exacerbate costs and unknown environmental impacts??

  5. Looking at the beaches in Ventnor, I cannot understand why Margate is considering the construction of a boardwalk. Along its entire length, Margate used to have the best beaches on the East coast. Please leave Margate alone. Enough damage has already been done.

    1. I agree.The boardwalk is a bad idea.We have all
      Recently Suffered through construction and disruption for 2 years related to the dune project. The beaches are finally getting normalized.
      Leave well enough alone.The Boardwalk would be a disaster for Margate on many levels.

  6. We need to get together and stand up to these crooks. It’s all about the $$$ and we cannot allow our beaches to be ruined anymore! Enough is enough!

  7. Some sections of Ventnor’s beach disappear at high tide. This is because the sand has migrated south and has bulked up the Margate beach. The 6 outflow pipes Margate installed have worked as mini-jetties and the sand has “scalloped” between them. Back ten or twelve years ago, when Ventnor suggested installing a jetty to retain their sand, Margate threatened to sue, if such a sand grabbing jetty were built. Is it time for Ventnor to protect their beach and install their own jetty? Something needs to be done.

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