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Seaside Park unveils $5.7 million plan to rebuild J Street marina; residents warn raising marina could worsen backyard flooding
Summary
Seaside Park officials presented a $5.7 million reconstruction plan for the J Street marina and a Green Acres grant application; engineers said environmental impacts should be limited, but nearby homeowners urged coordination because they fear raising the marina and K Street will increase stormwater flooding. A revised resolution on the borough's matching share will appear on the regular meeting agenda.
Seaside Park officials on Feb. 19 held a public hearing on a proposed $5.7 million reconstruction of the J Street marina and the borough's application to the Green Acres program.
The project, presented by an engineer from RBE identified in the record as George, includes replacement of the marina bulkhead, replacement of roughly 750 timber pilings, a 4‑foot‑wide composite boardwalk around slips, upgraded dockside electrical pedestals and lighting, a new dockside pump‑out system, water service upgrades, new slip signage and grading and drainage improvements. George said an environmental impact assessment found "very limited environmental impacts anticipated" and that short‑term construction effects would be contained within the marina; turbidity barriers and standard erosion controls would be used to limit disturbance. "We do not anticipate any mitigation will be needed as a result of the proposed improvements," George said.
The borough estimates the total project cost at about $5.7 million. Under the Green Acres program, Seaside Park is eligible for up to $700,000 (the program provides up to 25 percent of project cost); borough staff and consultants are also exploring NJDOT grant opportunities for transient‑slip amenities that the engineer said could contribute up to $2 million for qualifying elements.
Why it matters: the work will be funded from the municipal marina utility rather than general tax revenues, which the council noted would place most of the financial responsibility on slip holders. Several nearby homeowners told the council they fear that raising portions of the marina — and concurrent street work on K Street — could divert stormwater onto their properties and intensify backyard flooding.
"We're concerned that raising the marina property will exacerbate the stormwater flooding of our properties," said Anne Conlon Mitchell of 127 K Street, who asked officials to visit the homes and to ensure the designs account for existing drainage patterns.
Engineer George responded that design work for the marina and the K Street roadway improvements will be coordinated and that a topographic survey of the marina area is underway: "Between the K Street roadway improvements project and the marina project... the designs will be coordinated together to make sure that benefits, you know, the nearby homeowners as well as all the residents of the borough," he said. The engineer also noted remediation work completed roughly a year to 18 months ago to address historic fuel‑related pollution on parts of the marina lot.
A marina slip holder urged the borough to consider subsurface drainage and improved base material in the area where whelk shells have been used, saying compaction over time has worsened drainage problems and pointing to a separate need to address large piles of dredge spoils in the southwest corner of the lot.
Permits and next steps: the engineer listed four permits anticipated for the project: an NJDEP CAFRA permit, an NJDEP waterfront development permit, an Ocean County soil erosion and sediment control permit, and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nationwide general permit. The council noted the Green Acres representative asked the borough to revise the matching‑share language in resolution 2026‑114 to reflect the total project cost minus the $700,000 grant; the engineer said the revised applicant matching share would be $5,055,630, and the revised resolution will be considered on the regular meeting agenda later that evening.
The council closed the public hearing after several comments. The work session adjourned by unanimous roll call and the governing body moved into its regular meeting.
Notes on record clarity: the transcript includes a garbled numeric figure for bulkhead replacement (the engineer's spoken metric in the record appears corrupted); the engineer described bulkhead replacement and provided the general scope, but a precise linear measure was not clearly recorded in the meeting transcript. The project concept plan, cost estimate and environmental assessment were posted online at seasideparknj.org, the engineer said.
