After two days of conflicting reports of whether a controversial parking ordinance in Deal would proceed to a public hearing this Friday, a Gill & Chamas attorney leading the opposition says the borough has officially tabled the legislation.
“Victory! It’s official! Ordinance #1124 will be ‘tabled without date’ at the Town Hall meeting tomorrow morning. I just received word from Deal’s attorney, who spoke with the mayor and council this morning,” wrote Andrew L. Chambarry this morning in the Facebook group Citizens in Opposition to Deal Ordinance #1124.
The Deal Board of Commissioners was set to consider the ordinance at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow in the municipal building at 190 Norwood Avenue.
The ordinance sought to limit parking to only beachfront borough residents on six streets between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. from May 1 through October 31.
According to Chambarry, the borough mayor agreed that the ordinance would limit public access in the wealthy community, agreeing to work with the public “to find better solutions to any ‘issues’ that the town may face regarding the beaches.”
“However, the fight is not over. We must all stay vigilant and raise awareness so that this will never happen again,” he wrote. “We will still be attending [the meeting] tomorrow to thank Deal for tabling the ordinance, but also show our strength and concern over their actions.”
Andrew L. Chambarry and Erroll J. Haythorn, of the firm, argued against the ordinance, calling it unconstitutional and a violation of the Public Trust Doctrine, as it would place a substantial burden on the public’s ability to access the beach which they call a “traditional public forum.”
The Jersey Shore chapter of the Surfrider Foundation said that the ordinance would restrict beach access even through federal government just finished a nearly $40 million beach replenishment project in the municipality and Long Branch.
“We find it interesting that Deal just got millions of dollars of free sand in the form of beach replenishment. This is in a town where there is no swimming except at the Pavilion, where there are lifeguards,” the chapter wrote in a blog post. “We warned officials that this would happen: that once there are wide sandy beaches, that the taxpayers who paid for those beaches would want to get to those beaches. Getting to those beaches requires people to park.”
A petition against the ordinance has received over 3,000 signatures and the Facebook group has over 1,500 members.
Chambarry says that he will be notified if the borough plans any future action on the ordinance.
“Congratulations to all those who have supported this cause. It is a true victory for the local community and proponents of unrestricted beach access,” he wrote.
View the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/deal-mayor-morris-ades-citizens-in-opposition-to-deal-ordinance-1124
Read the legal brief: http://pdfsr.com/pdf/legal-brief-in-opposition-to-deal-ordinance-1124
