Jenkinson's Sues Point Pleasant Beach, Wants Alcohol On Beach

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Jenkinson's has sued Point Pleasant Beach officials, claiming that the town has overstepped its bounds in enforcement issues and that alcohol should be permitted on the beach.

In the lawsuit, Jenkinsons says the town does not have the authority to regulate such actions at Jenkinson's, such as prohibiting those 21 years old and over from drinking on the beach, because the beach is private property.

Mayor Paul Kanitra responded to the lawsuit on Wednesday, saying Jenkinson's "essentially says they're a private beach and as such, can do whatever they want."

"The precedent this would set is monumental," he said. "It is a fight for the very soul of Point Pleasant Beach.

The lawsuit targets actions Point Pleasant Beach officials took earlier this summer to limit the size of coolers so that it's harder to hide contraband. Also, loud music was banned on the beach.

The council established a legal minimum age of 18 for coolers so children "aren't expected to search for substances they legally can't touch," Kanitra said.

Jenkinson's says the ordinance also prohibits bringing alcohol on the beach.

Kanitra said the town took action to limit gatherings on the beach after hours, and to stop the influx of people seeking to "make their own parties and trashing our shoreline in the process."

The actions come after two incidents of crowded beaches and behavior were reported at Jenkinson's Beach and Boardwalk.

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Jenkinson's says the ordinance gave the beach "little or no advance notice" and was approved "with literally no legal authority" to regulate alcohol usage and noise.

"This is something that is clearly beyond the defendant's lawful authority to regulate and prohibit," the suit says. "The defendants have no authority to regulate Jenkinson's private property beach, yet they seek to do so and have even done things so with petty and illegal micromanaging of Jenkinson's private property beach as to arbitrarily reduce the size of permitted coolers."

Kanitra said the issue between Jenkinson's and Point Pleasant Beach is not personal. It asks fundamental question, he said: Who regulates conduct on the beach?

"In every other town, it's the town that regulates," he said. "But after reviewing Jenkinsons' filings, it clearly says not here in Point Pleasant Beach because they own it.

"But they also invite the public. This makes their beach operate just like any other beach in town."

In their court filings, Kanitra says, Jenkinsons says that "if they want to let people drink anywhere at all on their beach, there is nothing the municipality can do to stop them, just like if you want to let a friend come over for a drink in your backyard."

"Let's be clear: We're not talking about the bars both inside and outside. We have no intention of focusing on the bars and have made that abundantly clear," he said. "Bars have licenses from the ABC that show where people can be served and consume alcohol."

"These licenses allow the license holder to sell alcohol, and to let people drink alcohol in their bar. Some of these bars are on beaches. Jenkinsons has two bars that have a small portion of adjacent beach licensed by the ABC, but that's it. We are not talking about those areas.."

Kanitra said the difference between "private" and "public" is clear.

"You don't invite anybody and everybody to your private beach as long as they pay and get to still get to call it private. And that's exactly what Jenkinsons does," he said. "Jenkinson's is a beach where the public is all invited."

In New Jersey, Kanitra said, drinking in public is not permitted. The police In Point Pleasant Beach have been writing tickets for drinking in public at Jenkinson's "since before the present owners bought it from Orlo Jenkinson himself."

Kanitra said alcohol is prohibited on every other beach where the public is invited in this state. And Jenkinson's, he said, wants to be the only beach where people are allowed to drink in public on the beach.

"We are going to fight to prevent that from happening because that is what the people of Point Pleasant Beach want us to do," he said. "No one wants people drinking alcohol on a beach where the public is invited and where it has been a family friendly atmosphere filled with children forever."

Kanitra also claims Jenkinsons says that the town's ordinances force the beach to search patrons.

"It does not in any way, shape or form. The ordinance merely requires that if any check for drugs or alcohol is conducted at the entrance to the beaches, it be conducted by someone 18 or older," he said. "That was done in response to parents that reached out to myself, Councilman Vitale and others to tell us about how their children had been asked to do these checks."