New Jersey’s top environmental official rejected a request from Ocean Grove to delay enforcing an order requiring Sunday morning beach access from its boardwalk amid an ongoing legal challenge.
Shawn M. LaTourette, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, told the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association that it is unlikely to win its battle in court to continue blocking entrance to its beaches on Sundays in a tradition that dates back to the community’s religious roots as a Methodist retreat.
LaTourette wrote in a 14-page decision letter issued Tuesday that the association “failed to demonstrate irreparable harm” in proceeding with the state-mandated order to open its beaches in Monmouth County.
Ocean Grove is scheduled to begin allowing Sunday morning access to its beaches starting this weekend while it continues to fight the decision in court.
The Sunday morning beach closure tradition has been in place for more than 150 years.
“OGCMA claims that allowing the public to access the Ocean Grove Beachfront from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Summer Sundays interferes with the Association’s ability to allow for quiet reflection in accordance with its religious beliefs,” LaTourette wrote.
“However, such harm is merely speculative where, as here, OGCMA fails to demonstrate with any specificity how reasonable public access would adversely impact or be detrimental to any religious exercise such as church services, prayer, or quiet religious meditation,” LaTourette wrote.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association was founded by Methodists during Ocean Grove’s days as a summer religious retreat. Though the community is located in Neptune Township, the association owns the boardwalk and a pier, controls many of the public spaces in the community and leases land to homeowners and businesses.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Department of Environmental Protection’s latest ruling.
The battle over summer beach access on Sunday mornings, which prompted protests last year, is part of a larger debate over the influence of religion in public spaces in the Ocean Grove, including a pier rebuilt last year in the shape of a Christian cross.
The state said the Sunday morning access restriction runs afoul of state law. In September, state officials ordered Ocean Grove to stop using chains and padlocked barriers to block beach access from its boardwalk or risk fines of up to $25,000 per day.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association recently said it would lift the restriction when the summer season resumes this weekend, but it plans to continue its legal challenge to the ruling.
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
