North Wildwood bans large tents, umbrellas, cabanas from its beaches due to heavy erosion
WILDWOOD, NJ - Every day, beachgoers at North Wildwood are slowly, but surely seeing their beloved beach disappear because of beach erosion.
"It’s sad, it’s sad, because we brought all of our kids here to this beach and probably can’t this year," said Gerri Comber, of Washington Township, NJ.
Comber and her husband have been coming to North Wildwood Beach for years.
Due to the beach shrinking, they completely understand why the city is being forced this summer to ban large tents and cabanas, and limit beachgoers to one eight foot round umbrella.
"I think they do, because the beach is limited now and people wanted be able to see the water. That’s why you come," said Comber.
Even though Tracy Roney spends most of her time in the water surfing, she agrees with the city’s decision.
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"There’s two sides to it. If you just bought an expensive cabana last year, you are going to be mad, and if you have to protect your family, that’s all you have. I think going back to a traditional umbrella just conserves the space and allows us to share the beach just a little bit better," said Roney.
Those two sides are being represented by the Verchio family.
"If you think about it, the cabanas aren’t much different than an umbrella anyway if you measured the square footage of them so, I don’t see what the difference is," said Frances Verchio.
"It’s better to have everybody on the beach than nobody be able to go on the beach because five people are taking up the whole room," said Tom Verchio.
For North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello, the change is upsetting for him, but one he believes is necessary as they continue to work with the NJDEP to try and get the beach replenished.
"Up and down the shore the state NJDEP does these renourishment projects on a regular basis. For a variety of reasons, we have not had one in 11 years, so, that’s probably the most frustrating thing that this is preventable, it just takes some hard work from the state to get done," said Rosenello.
A major beach renourishment project for North Wildwood is slated for the Summer 2025, which the Mayor is hoping the current restriction will only be temporary.