N. Wildwood puts signs at all beaches urging Gov. Murphy to fix dune erosion, latest move in feud

Sunbathers in North Wildwood will get an unusual red, white, and blue greeting at beaches in time for July Fourth: Signs at every beach entrance singling out Gov. Phil Murphy and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette for what the town says is failure to act on dune erosion.

“These two are directly responsible for the state’s inaction on replenishing North Wildwood’s beaches,” it reads.

The signs, erected Tuesday, are part of an acrimonious, yearslong dispute between North Wildwood and the DEP over severe beach erosion that was ratcheted up most recently in January when the community sued the state for $21 million. Town officials say that’s how much North Wildwood has spent fighting beach erosion the last decade because they allege the DEP hasn’t been doing its job.

The suit, filed in Superior Court in Cape May County, attests to the rift that’s developed between the Shore community and the DEP over not only recent beach erosion but a beach replenishment project planned in 2012 that was never started.

The DEP filed a motion to drop North Wildwood’s suit but that has been denied.

The town’s suit came after the DEP sued North Wildwood in December, seeking to stop it from buttressing its dune system with what the state calls an illegal 400-foot steel bulkhead the Shore community planned to install to prevent further storm-related erosion. The beaches were faced with nor’easters in 2022, including the remnants of Hurricane Ian in October, that wreaked havoc on dunes, forming cliff faces on some.

After Ian, North Wildwood asked the DEP for an emergency authorization to install a 400-foot steel bulkhead, reshape dunes between 13th and 16th Avenues, tear out some decking, and erect jersey barriers to keep people out. The state has authority to oversee the shoreline and plans for its protection.

The state approved the barriers and decking removal. But it said no to the new bulkhead at 15th Avenue and regrading of dunes because there was no immediate threat of “loss of life or property” and because the new infrastructure could make erosion worse.

» READ MORE: How much sand has been brought in to battle erosion on New Jersey beaches? Enough to fill 62,000 Olympic swimming pools.

North Wildwood officials defied the DEP and worked on the dunes, saying they had become a safety hazard and ordered the bulkhead anyway.

That led to a back-and-forth between DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette and Mayor Patrick Rosenello, and ultimately the lawsuit.

The signs posted at all 30 beach entrances are the latest salvo. They provide a QR code that opens a blank email to the governor and commissioner, urging beachgoers to “voice your concerns.”

Representatives for the DEP and Murphy could not be reached immediately for comment Tuesday.

Rosenello, a Republican, said the signs were a last-ditch effort after the state’s $54.5 billion budget for 2024, which includes an $8.3 billion surplus and was approved by Murphy on Friday. North Wildwood, working with Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D., Burlington, Camden), failed in a request to have $20 million included for the town’s beach replenishment.

North Wildwood did get DEP permission to perform some emergency work before Memorial Day.

But Rosenello said a full replenishment is needed. He noted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DEP are working on projects for other towns, such as a $28.8 million dune and beach fill project for Avalon and Stone Harbor.

“There are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people coming through North Wildwood from all over New Jersey and beyond,” Rosenello said. “And the most important message that we’re trying to get out there to the governor and the DEP is you can’t ignore South Jersey. We want this to be as widespread as possible so they can hear from their constituents.”

The larger issue that’s helped stall replenishment for North Wildwood stems from a long planned promised dune replenishment by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DEP after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 that still hasn’t happened. North Wildwood is on a barrier island known as Five Mile Beach, which contains North Wildwood, Wildwood, West Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and Diamond Beach (which is part of Lower Township).

The year after Sandy struck on Oct. 29, 2012, the state and U.S. Army Corps mapped out a complex plan to address erosion on the island from Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet. In language updated last year, the Army Corps noted that while North Wildwood was once the largest beach in the state, it has suffered “significant erosion of its berm and dune” and gets flooded repeatedly.

However, the plan is still years away from being carried out, in part, because of its complexity. The DEP was having trouble getting all the towns to sign off on the project.

But Rosenello credits LaTourette for getting the towns to finally agree this spring.