Ocean Grove Sunday Beach Closures Violate NJ Rules, DEP Says

OCEAN GROVE, NJ — The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association has been issued a violation notice by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection over its continued practice of blocking public beach access on Sunday mornings.

In a letter dated Thursday, Sept. 14, the NJDEP said the camp meeting association is in violation of a provision of the Coastal Area Facility Review Act that requires public access be maintained so the public can reach the sand below the mean high water line.

A request for comment from the camp meeting association was not immediately answered Friday evening.

Under the Public Trust Doctrine in New Jersey, private ownership of a beach only extends to the mean high water line. From there to the water the beach belongs to the public. The NJDEP has fought — and won — repeated legal battles with private owners up and down the Shore over public beach access dating back to the 1980s.

The NJDEP warned the association and Neptune Township in an Aug. 10 letter that the closures had to stop. Ocean Grove is a section of Neptune; the camp meeting association owns nearly all the property in the section. It existed as a Methodist enclave for decades, though its residential makeup has changed some in recent years. Read more: Jersey Shore Town, State At Odds Over Sunday Beach Restrictions

The violation notice, signed by Robert H. Clark, region supervisor of the Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement, gives the association 10 days to cease "all unauthorized activities," which the NJDEP said involve the use of chains and padlocks to prevent public access to the beach between the hours of 9 a.m. and noon on Sundays from May through September.

"The Permittee cannot limit vertical or horizontal public access to any dry sand area covered under this permit nor interfere with the public's right to free use of the dry sand for intermittent recreational purposes connected with the ocean and wet sand," Clark said.

In response to the Aug. 10 warning, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association defended the closure, saying it “enhances religious and secular quality of life experiences in Ocean Grove which society recognizes as valuable.”

The policy to close Ocean Grove beach access has been in place for 154 years, Michael Badger, president of the organization, told NJ.com. This is the first year the policy has generated complaints, Badger said. Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association describes itself as "rooted in its Methodist Heritage," with the mission to "provide opportunities for spiritual birth, growth, and renewal through worship, educational, cultural, and recreational programs for persons of all ages in a Christian seaside setting."

The organization is not affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

The full violation notice can be read below.

NJDEP Violation Notice To Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association by Karen Wall on Scribd

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