By WILLIAM CLARK
The state has sent a letter to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association informing it that its beach access restrictions are in violation of state regulations.
The letter, dated Aug. 10, was addressed to Steve Columbo, director of operations at the camp meeting association. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement said that the OGCMA has been found to be in failure of statutes ensuring access to the sand and surf.
The public is not allowed access to the beach in Ocean Grove, which is owned by the camp meeting, on Sunday mornings until noon and chains are used to keep the public from accessing the beach.
The letter states that the OGCMA “cannot limit vertical or horizontal public access to any dry sand beach area” under its permits with the department.
The associations use of chains and padlocks were determined to “deter public access to the beach during daylight hours.”
The policy has been a source of frustration for beachgoers who have taken their concerns to the Neptune Township Committee on multiple occasions. Ocean Grove is a section is a section of Neptune and is governed by the committee. The committee has limited resources available in this situation due to the nature of the private organization’s oversight of the beach.
At last week’s committee Township Attorney Gene Anthony said that one course that could be taken was to approach the DEP, which any citizen could do and appears to have done.
It is uncertain who brought the complaint forward to the state.
The letter serves as a warning and will allow for the OGCMA to “voluntarily take corrective actions and to engage in discussions with the DEP.”
President of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association Michael Badger said the organization responded to the DEP within 24 hours of receiving the letter.
“I explained why we were doing what we were doing and why it is permissible,” Badger said.
Moving forward, Badger does not anticipate a change of action while the dispute is being adjudicated.
If the DEP does not come back in favor of the OGCMA point of view, Badger said they will “discuss with our legal counsel so that we are fully informed.”
Ocean Grove was founded as a Methodist community in the 1800s.
The OGCMA closes access to the beach during Sundays in the summer from 9 a.m. until noon. The controversy over the closing is another in a string of disputes that township residents and visitors have had including the display of a cross on beach badges. The cross, a Christian symbol, was also the focal point in the design of the newly reconstructed pier.
