CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — As promised, Shawn LaTourette came to Cape May County to meet with elected officials last week.
He said afterward that a shore protection project is likely on the way to the Wildwoods by 2026, but made no mention of new flood rules that had led to the requested meeting.
Middle Township Mayor Christopher Leusner had called on LaTourette, the commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, to schedule the meeting in September while discussing planned flood rules at a public meeting in Woodbine. The DEP’s proposal to change land use regulations, called the Resilient Environments and Landscapes rule proposal, or REAL, would create a new inundation risk zone to include areas at risk of flooding by the end of the century, and create a new climate-adjusted flood elevation, one that looks forward at sea level rise rather than at the impact of storms that have already taken place.
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LaTourette has argued the changes are needed to protect communities from the real-world impacts of a changing climate, and that much of the fear associated with the proposed rules comes from misinformation.
County officials, along with officials in local communities and business groups, have described the rules as potentially devastating, especially on the cape. County evaluations have said the proposal, if enacted, would significantly restrict development and impose restrictions that would be almost impossible to meet.
The rules have not been enacted. They could be approved in 2025. In previous interviews, LaTourette said the meeting with mayors would not take place until after the end of the public comment period in November, and would be open to local elected officials, not to the public or media.
Some local officials have reported on the meeting, which took place at the county administration building. In Upper Township, Committee member Curtis Corson discussed the meeting when speaking about an investigation into mercury contamination in local wells, which officials say was the result of tampered-with well water tests.
Corson said LaTourette could give no new information about that situation, which is under investigation by the state Attorney General’s office. A DEP spokesperson later said the department would not comment on the situation.
Also reporting at a meeting, Leusner sounded a hopeful note about the REAL rules and the meeting with LaTourette.
“I think a number of things that are specific to Cape May County were heard by the commissioner, and I’m hopeful that that will result in some changes to the rules when they are ultimately issued by the DEP,†Leusner said as part of a report to the Township Committee last week.
Asked for a comment, LaTourette provided a statement that made no mention of the REAL rules, instead focusing on shore protection projects. “Shore protection projects are a joint effort among the federal, state, and local governments of New Jersey’s coastal communities,†LaTourette said.
North Wildwood has been waiting for a large-scale beach replenishment project for years. A proposed project includes the entire beachfront of the barrier island, including a proposal for a large dune running the length of the beach. As North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello has pointed out, other Cape May County beach communities have seen several beach projects through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the DEP. A state beach replenishment completed in North Wildwood this year was undertaken through the Department of Transportation, not the DEP.
“All of New Jersey’s Atlantic Ocean beachfront is now protected by an engineered beach and dune system, except Five Mile Island, the barrier island that is home to the Wildwoods,†LaTourette’s statement continued. “The Wildwoods need and deserve the same protection, especially as coastal storms and erosional forces become more intense, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) have committed to design, construct, and fund the barrier island-wide project that would run between Hereford and Cape May Inlets.â€
Over the past 30 years, beach replenishment projects have become routine along the Jersey Shore, with Cape May, Ocean City and other communities seeing dredges returning to pump sand onto their beaches every few years.
According to multiple sources, one of the delays in adding sand to North Wildwood has been the necessity of getting the needed agreements with each of the impacted towns and easements from some property owners.
The agreements with communities are now in place, according to LaTourette.
“As of 2023, the towns of North Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and Lower Township had all signed aid agreements to enable our partnership to proceed,†LaTourette said. “Throughout 2024, federal, state, and local government engineers collaborated on a detailed project design that is now near complete. NJDEP is grateful for the partnership of all involved, including at our most recent and productive Mayors meeting. In 2025, NJDEP expects that the shore protection project design will be completed and that property easements necessary for construction in all four towns will be secured. These steps will make way for the shore protection project to begin construction in 2026.â€
