A lawn amid the Avalon dunes: Why N.J. says a homeowner’s addition violates environmental law

A portion of the landscaping installed at a recently constructed three-level, seven-bedroom house in the Avalon dunes violated state land use regulations, the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection has concluded.

A notice issued Wednesday to Vahan and Danielle Gureghian, owners of the Dune Drive property, said an inspection Oct. 20 found that a “lawn area” had replaced about 8,470 square feet of undeveloped ground where alterations are restricted under the state’s Coastal Area Facility Review Act.

The notice cited other violations, including the ”placement of wood chips, the installation of an irrigation system” and the “alteration of preexisting topography.” A plan for restoring the affected areas to their pre-construction condition must be submitted within 90 days.

The DEP issued a permit in 2019 to allow the demolition of an existing house on the property and the replacement of a swimming pool with a new one at the same location. The DEP also approved a modification of the permit to allow for an additional 864 square feet of construction on the site.

But the October inspection, utilizing GPS and other data, determined that the “area of disturbance” on the property “is outside the footprints of disturbance depicted on the site’s current approved plan.”

Max Tribble, a spokesperson for Vahan Gureghian, said the couple declined to comment.

Vahan Gureghian, a lawyer, is the founder and CEO of CSMI, a Chester-based consulting firm that operates charter schools in the city of Chester and in Galloway Township, N.J. The Gureghians also established a charitable foundation that offers CSMI charter school graduates scholarships to private high schools.

In October, Vahan Gureghian announced his resignation as a University of Pennsylvania trustee and condemned what he described as Penn’s “embrace of antisemitism [and] failure to stand for justice” after the university hosted the Palestine Writes literary event in September. Gureghian and others went on to call for the resignation of university president Liz Magill, who stepped down in December.

Once sleepier and less affluent than neighboring Stone Harbor, Avalon in recent years has become home to some of the priciest housing at the Shore.

According to the nationwide residential real estate firm Redfin, the median sales price for an Avalon house in 2023 was $3.1 million — a 25.3% increase over the previous year. And the Cape May Herald reported in October that the $24.9 million asking price for a “Malibu-style home under construction in the high dunes area” could set a borough record.

Some locals are worried that Avalon’s character, as well as its most popular and environmentally fragile features, could be lost to overdevelopment. The high dunes offer views of the bay as well as the ocean, and the Avalon Dune and Beach Trail draws thousands of walkers during the summer.

“Not only do the dunes protect homes and roads and infrastructure, they feed the beach,” said Kimberly McKenna, interim executive director of the Coastal Research Center at Stockton University.

McKenna, who said she was speaking generally and not about the Dune Drive property, said that a loss of indigenous vegetation can destabilize dunes and leave them more vulnerable to wind erosion.

“I’m delighted by what the state is doing. Surprised, but delighted,” said Elaine Scattergood, who lived in Avalon as a child, moved back 35 years ago, and is dismayed by the enormous houses and widespread hardscaping that have replaced quaint cottages and front yards.

“Since I was little, people have said the dunes are sacred and should always be protected,” she said, adding, “having a lawn in the dunes is just an incredible violation. I’m glad that [the owners] have to restore it.”

Barbara Stout, a retired teacher who has owned a home in Avalon since 1984, said: “I just want the dunes respected.”

Longtime preservation advocate and borough homeowner Martha Wright said the state’s action suggests Avalon has “dropped the ball” as a steward of the environment that makes the borough a special place.

“The high dunes are one of our most precious natural resources,” she said. “We have a Dune Vegetation Management Plan, but it benefits oceanfront homeowners, while the rest of us lose our views to new houses going up that are too big and too tall.”

Borough administrator Scott Wahl said in a statement: “Avalon always has been, and always will be, deeply invested in protecting the ecosystem,” including the dunes.

“The borough continues to take any illegal actions or disturbance in the dunes, beaches, or bay front very seriously and encourages property owners to recognize this diversity will always be protected in a developed seashore community,” he said.

The Avalon planning/zoning board unanimously approved the site plan for the Gureghian property on Aug. 9, 2022. The resolution stipulated that the owners “shall comply with the Dune Vegetation Management Plan.”