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Residents say new reentry/placard policy leaves condo owners out; council to reexamine in November
Summary
Several condo owners told the Beach Haven council they feel excluded by a revised emergency reentry placard policy that favors lease documentation; emergency management coordinator said current placards remain valid through year-end and the policy will be reviewed at the November LEPC meeting.
Condominium owners told the Beach Haven Borough Council during public comment that a revised emergency reentry policy is unfairly preventing long-term residents from obtaining reentry placards, and urged the borough to reconsider the criteria.
Anne Flynn, who said she lives at 1610 South Bay Avenue, told the council the change “feels discriminatory” because leases can be used to obtain placards while some permanent condo owners — who live on island for part of the year — are being denied access. “We feel like second-class citizens,” Flynn said, asking the council to evaluate requests on a “person-to-person basis.”
Emergency management coordinator Bill Traum, who joined the meeting remotely, said the placard rules were written to allow orderly reentry after storms and to enable public-works and utility crews to do their work. Traum said existing placards “are still good through the end of the year” and recommended reexamining the policy at the borough’s November Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meeting.
Council members acknowledged residents’ concerns and agreed to revisit the policy at the LEPC meeting in November; they urged residents to submit their examples and documentation so staff and emergency management can consider adjustments. The council did not change the policy that evening.
