2020_06_Blues_Final_Reduced

for rapid experimentation with little to
no safety net.”
the biggest change visitors to the Jersey
Shore are likely to see this season will
be on the beaches. Some towns anticipate
limiting beach access—a development
that seems contrary to the very nature of
the Shore experience.
“We are seriously considering a reservation
system for daily badges where we
would have a quota of available badges
and run all of them through an app,” says
Engelstad of Bradley Beach. Under this
model, seasonal badge-holders would take
priority over daily beachgoers and would
be guaranteed beach access. Weekenders
and day-trippers would use the app to buy
badges ahead of time for a specific day. On
the sand, roped-off, open lanes for access
and egress would keep beachgoers from
bumping into each other.
A number of Monmouth County beach
towns hope to unify behind this concept,
Engelstad says, but some are slow to embrace
new technology and reluctant to sacrifice
the tradition of on-site badge sales.
Engelstad acknowledges their concerns.
“A lot of people are used to just
showing up and buying a badge because,
in the past, we would never say, ‘Oh,
we’re full,’” he says. “This is an extremely
drastic change.”
Putting limits on parking availability is
another potential means for Shore towns
to reduce beach crowding. Governor
Murphy mentioned this tactic in early
May, while talking to the media about
possible reopening guidelines.
On LBI, Beach Haven’s Davis does
not anticipate restrictions on daily or
seasonal beach badge sales, or a price
change. Instead, she hopes to spread
out the crowds along Beach Haven’s two
miles of beaches. “Right now, what we
have is designated, guarded beaches. People
tend to congregate there,” she says. “If
we can spread the lifeguards out over the
two miles so people don’t congregate in
one specific area, I think that will help.”
Hiring additional lifeguards and using
some to patrol the beaches would aid this
effort, but Davis thinks most beachgoers
will distance appropriately without having
to be reminded.
Davis is hoping all of LBI’s towns synchronize
their reopening solutions.
“There are six municipalities on the
island,” Davis says. “If one town didn’t sell
beach badges, or all the beaches were closed
but a couple, we’d have everybody flocking
to those [open beaches]. It’d be crazy.”
Ben Rose, marketing and public relations
director for the Greater Wildwoods
Tourism and Improvement Development
Authority, doesn’t predict many issues
with visitors keeping their distance on
Wildwood’s beaches, most of which are
famously vast. “One main factor that
we have is our spacious beaches where
families can spread out.”
In Point Pleasant Beach, officials hope
to reopen in stages. “We are planning to
open the Maryland Avenue Beach on May
15,” says Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul
Kanitra. “It will be open to the public. We
will also be allowing all beach associations,
homeowner’s associations, beach
clubs, what have you, that own their sections
of the beach, to be open.”
Still, reopening will be subject to the
availability of seasonal police officers.
This year, pandemic-induced cancellations
of state-run training sessions will
leave seasonal officers in short supply.
In a year that could require additional
policing to enforce social distancing, the
shortage could be tough to overcome.
“Because we currently have just
one-third of the police officers we need
seasonally, we’ll have parking restrictions
east of the tracks,” says Kanitra. “Once we
have all our seasonal officers in place, we’ll
reassess opening all the beaches and the
boardwalk access.” His goal is for all of the
municipality’s beaches to be safe and fully
operational—without new restrictions on
access—by July 4th weekend.
Kanitra questions whether all Shore
towns should coordinate their reopening
plans. He suggests a phased reopening
based on rates of infection. “It seems foolhardy,”
says Kanitra, “to treat a municipality
that has zero cases the same as a municipality
that has dozens of new cases a day.”
Indeed, citing their area’s low infection
rates, Cape May County officials on
May 5 submitted to the governor a 35-
page plan for the “safe, smart, progressive”
reopening of the county’s beaches,
hotels, restaurants, shops and other
tourism attractions.
even as municipalities lay the groundwork
for reopening the beaches, Shore
businesses are evaluating what the sum-
Virus Clouds Picture
for Shore-Rental Season
randy sinor, a broker at mary allen realty, has been working on Long Beach
Island for 35 years. He’s never seen a summer season shape up quite like this one.
The Shore rental market this summer was looking to be bountiful, says Sinor—until
Covid-19 hit like a tidal wave.
“We’ve got homeowners who decided that they do not want to rent their properties
this coming season, and they’ve canceled their guests,” he says. “We have guests who
are worried, fearful of what could happen, and we’ve got those folks canceling.”
As the pandemic continues to weigh on New Jersey, prospects for this summer
season remain clouded. At deadline, short-term rentals were suspended in many Shore
towns, in keeping with Governor Phil Murphy’s stay-at-home orders. Even the governor’s
six-step plan for reopening the state hasn’t been much help, since it does not set
a reopening date.
In a typical season, Sinor says, his preseason cancellation rate for summer rentals
would be around 1 percent. “Today, I probably have about a 10–12 percent cancellation
rate,” he says. “Economically, it’s very impactful.”
It doesn’t help that there are so many separate Shore municipalities, each with its
own definitions and restrictions on such matters as short-term rentals.
“As of right now, I know Spring Lake has suspended [rentals] through June 1,” says
Chris O’Neil, rental manager for Diana Turton Realtors in Spring Lake. In mid-March,
beach towns halted the administration of the Certificates of Occupancy required for
short-term rentals. No certificate means no tenants. While some municipalities have
50 JUNE 2020 NJMONTHLY.COM