BELMAR — Representatives from the Borough of Belmar, along with other neighboring municipalities, have met with Assemblywoman Margie Donlon (D-11) regarding a pending bill clarifying existing beach access rights through the public trust doctrine.
The meeting was announced by Belmar Councilwoman Caitlin Donovan during her report at the April 15 council meeting, when she said she had invited Assemblywoman Donlon to speak about the bill with borough councilmembers Jodi Kinney and Maria Rondinaro, as well as with officials from Spring Lake, Avon-By-The-Sea and Bradley Beach.
The pending bill, A4816, stems from the state Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee. A Senate version of the bill, S4158, has also been introduced by Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11). Ongoing refinements to the bills are anticipated as they move through the legislative process.
The bills seek to clarify the public trust doctrine, which establishes that the state’s tidal waters and adjacent shorelines belong to the public to be used for navigation, commerce and recreation. It was recently amended to broaden its scope to state that a municipality is prohibited from requiring beach badges for all individuals who want to use the water and wet sand “for the exclusive purpose of using the ocean for a recreational activity.”
“We (the boroughs) were all in accord that, though we appreciate the good intentions behind the bill to provide clarity on public access, we are concerned that the vague way it is currently written would actually result in more incidents like we had last summer, rather than fewer,” Councilwoman Donovan said.
The “incident” refers to the controversial arrest of a surfer on a Belmar beach in August 2024. A video posted to Facebook showed two special officers of the police department restraining the surfer before one officer put his arm around the surfer’s neck and brought him to the sand to cuff and arrest him.
A police press release issued after the incident stated that the arrest was not for the surfer’s lack of a beach badge, but rather because he interfered with the officer’s investigation of the situation, despite the surfer being charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice, in addition to a citation under the beach badge ordinance.
“We are hoping to continue working with the assemblywoman and our other representatives to get to some type of agreement,” Councilwoman Donovan said.
To become law, the bill must pass both the Assembly and Senate chambers and be signed by the governor. Both bills are going through the amending process to address issues such as those raised by Councilwoman Donovan.
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