Seaside Park May Fine Drivers $2,000 For Violating Street Closures, 'No Wake Zones'

SEASIDE PARK, NJ — It has been an increasing problem in Seaside Park: drivers riding down flooded roads in the borough, their tires throwing off water and creating waves that slap against homes and properties.

After a fall and winter with more storms, more flooding and more joyriders causing damage, borough officials are fighting back with more strict enforcement of existing borough laws governing road closures during flooding that could include fines of up to $2,000 per violation.

Flooded roads have become an impossible, frustrating situation, Seaside Park Mayor John Peterson said Monday, with water rising so deeply, especially on the borough's bayside, that it has been trapping people in their homes, unable to drive through it.

The flooding over the fall and winter during the nor'easters that came through was so bad that Route 35 was closed on multiple occasions, he said. It's a complex problem affecting all of the towns on the barrier island.

That flooding, however, has been a magnet for people who give no thought to the damage the water can do, Peterson said.

"When the high water has come over the bayfront, these yahoos go joyriding," Peterson said. The vehicles, in particular big trucks with big, wide tires, cause large splashes that create waves similar to the waves caused by a boat on Barnegat Bay.

These waves don't have marsh grass to lessen their impact. Instead, they slam into landscaping and into buildings, causing significant damage. Peterson said there have been garage doors caved in as a result of the flooding, in spite of residents putting out sandbags and plywood barriers to lessen the wave action.

The matter has been raised over time by residents, but the issue reached peak frustration earlier this spring at a Borough Council meeting, according to a ShoreBeat report.

"There's absolutely no reason for these people who don't live here to be riding (down streets) at high speed causing waves into people’s garages," Peterson said. "As an elected official you want to do anything and everything you can to help."

The borough has an ordinance that addresses the matter. Under Chapter 435, Vehicles and Traffic, Part 3, Article X says when roads are closed due to flooding, the only traffic permitted is residents or business owners trying to reach their property.

In addition, anyone driving down a flooded street in Seaside Park "at a speed so as to cast or discharge a wave which carries beyond the edge of said street or roadway," is violating the ordinance.

The fines are set in Chapter 1, Article II at a minimum of $45 up to $2,000.

"It's a discretionary fine," Peterson said, one that could be imposed to a maximum on people who carelessly violate the law.

While the borough had signs that warned of flooding and that roads were closed, the ShoreBeat report said borough officials agreed to revise them. Now the signs, attached to barricades, include language about the potential fine and citing the ordinance.

"This is a man-made problem, one we can address," Peterson said. "It may be representative of a worse trend in society, of people not thinking of others. There is just no excuse whatsoever. We are all part of the same human family and we don't need to harm one another."

Peterson said he didn't understand the thinking behind speeding through floodwaters, because it splashes the saltwater all over the undercarriage of the vehicle and can do extensive damage.

"The lunacy is they either don’t care or don’t realize how much damage the saltwater can do," Peterson said. "To get that salt off it’s more than just a car wash."

"It’s a level of stupidity and self-centeredness that I just don't understand," he said.

Peterson said he's hopeful that the signs and word-of-mouth about Seaside Park's plan to issue hefty fines will be enough to deter drivers from speeding through flooded roads.

If not, "maybe a couple of tickets and fines will get the message across," he said.