Longtime Battle Ends As Court Rules On Jersey Shore Neighborhood's Secession

BERKELEY, NJ — South Seaside Park is allowed to deannex from Berkeley Township and instead request to join Seaside Park, ending a decades-long battle, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday.

While this particular court battle began in September 2014, South Seaside Park residents have sought to leave Berkeley for ages. Donald Whiteman, who led the charge in this lawsuit, is the son of the man who tried to get South Seaside Park separated from Berkeley in 1978. That court battle was actually won, but Seaside Park refused to let them join the borough.

South Seaside Park is a small neighborhood on the Barnegat Peninsula that is entirely separated from the mainland. It is because of this that residents have fought to leave - they argued that they have a stronger identity with its neighboring coastal communities. They also have a lengthy travel to visit Berkeley Township offices. Someone wanting to travel to the mainland, depending on the route taken, would have to travel through Seaside Park, Seaside Heights, Toms River, South Toms River, Beachwood and Pine Beach before making it to Berkeley.

Thursday's decision upholds lower court decisions. In 2022, New Jersey Superior Court ruled that South Seaside Park could leave, but that decision was almost immediately appealed by Berkeley officials.

Between January 2015 and February 2019, Berkeley's planning board held 38 hearings on this matter. However, Justice Anne M. Patterson, writing on behalf of the court, said that the board hired a planner who was supposed to impartially review the evidence "but instead worked with the Township on its strategy for opposing deannexation and participated in the preparation of the Township’s witnesses for their testimony before the Board."

Berkeley Township Council denied the petition, which was an "arbitrary or unreasonable" decision, the court ruled.

The hearings showed that Berkeley "had provided deficient services to South Seaside Park residents and had otherwise disregarded their needs," Patterson wrote.

In opposing the request, township officials said that deannexation would increase Berkeley's taxes. The court disagreed and said that the savings from not needing to provide police services to the island would offset any tax revenue lost.

The township also sought to keep White Sands Beach, but the court ruled that it was part of the deannexation area.

The court ruled that losing South Seaside Park would not cause "significant injury" to Berkeley.

As for the next steps, Seaside Park must consent to South Seaside Park joining the borough.