Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Coastal Permitting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council to send objections to CAFRA permit for 550 Leeward Avenue over safety, dock design
Summary
Beach Haven council members said they will send a letter to the state opposing aspects of a CAFRA permit for 550 Leeward Avenue, citing navigation and shallow-water safety concerns over a proposed dock, two boat lifts and a 25-foot perpendicular breakwater.
The Beach Haven municipal council said it will submit a formal letter to the state reviewing authority objecting to parts of a Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) permit application for 550 Leeward Avenue. Council members said the application — which proposes a dock parallel to the bulkhead, two offshore boat lifts and a 25-foot linear perpendicular breakwater — raises safety and navigation concerns in the shallow channel near that site.
Councilwoman Ball Miller said she had drafted a letter disagreeing with the placement of the dock and relied on analysis circulated by the local maritime museum. "The placement of the dock parallel to the bulkhead, two outshore boat lifts and a 25 foot linear foot perpendicular breakwater projecting into Liberty Thor" is, she said, a potential navigational hazard and a safety issue for existing traffic through the area. She and other council members urged residents to submit their own comments to the state agency to bolster the municipal filing.
Mayor Lambert and other council members said the town has limited authority beyond submitting comments but emphasized the importance of registering the borough's concerns formally. "We will state our position and that is what we can and will do at this point," the mayor said, noting the application had drawn attention only in the last few days and that the council wanted to ensure all local concerns were on the record.
The council encouraged any resident who uses the waterway — even if they do not live within the immediate 200-foot notice zone — to write the reviewing agency and provide facts or observations about navigation and safety. Officials referenced a maritime museum letter that they said provided technical context for the council's objections.
No formal vote on the CAFRA application was taken at the meeting; councilmembers said they were preparing a letter to the state agency and urged residents to submit their own written comments. The next procedural step, council members said, will be to send the borough's letter and monitor the state's response.
