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The state has authorized a short-term beach renourishment project along the coast of North Wildwood. Gov. Phil Murphy and Mayor Patrick Rosenello announced the plan in a brief joint statement at night on Thursday, Apr. 26.
The Democratic governor and Republican mayor said they worked "through collaboration and bipartisan partnership" to find a temporary solution to erosion concerns in North Wildwood.
"The New Jersey Department of Transportation's Office of Maritime Resources is currently working to design and authorize a North Wildwood emergency beach nourishment dredging project that will serve to protect the infrastructure, quality of life, and economy in North Wildwood," said Gov. Murphy and Mayor Rosenello in their statement.
The temporary fix will help the city's beaches until the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection can complete a long-term project. A proposal called the "Five Mile Dune Project" would create a berm and dune system along the coast of the Wildwoods and Lower Township.
The long-term coastal protection would be made from parts of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest with extra sand accumulation. The project would cover about 25,000 feet of shoreline, creating more than six-foot-tall berms and dunes up to 16 feet high.
As for the immediate solution, dredging crews would likely take sand from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and place it on the North Wildwood beachfront. Further details and cost estimates of the project were not mentioned in the statement by Gov. Murphy and Mayor Rosenello.
A Change.org petition named "Save North Wildwood Beach" gained more than 4,100 signatures by the time the governor and mayor announced the short-term fix. The petition asked for Gov. Murphy and NJDEP commissioner Shawn LaTourette to use their "exclusive powers" to fund a beach renourishment project.
The petition's creator PJ Hondros praised the immediate answer to beach erosion.
"THANK YOU [to] all those who signed," Hondros wrote in a petition update. "We made a difference."
The temporary fix is the latest move in the fight between city and state leaders in the debate over how to fix North Wildwood's shrinking shoreline. In late January, the NJDEP denied the city's request to build a beachfront bulkhead from the middle of 12th and 13th avenues to 15th Avenue.
Because of limited beach space, North Wildwood leaders are also considering a ban on large tents, umbrellas, and cabanas for the summer. A public hearing and final vote was expected on the issue at a city council meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7.
Gov. Murphy and Mayor Rosenello said the short-term beach replenishment will begin "over the next few weeks."
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