NJ - Religious group that blocks beach access on Sunday files lawsuit seeking ‘lawful accommodation’
Thou shalt not set foot on our sand! A Jersey Shore group that has been issued violations for banning people from the beach in Ocean Grove on Sunday mornings is suing to maintain the restriction, according to a report.
The lawsuit was filed Oct. 2 in Monmouth County Superior Court by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist Heritage organization, against two critics of its police and up to 100 others they claim wrongly entered the beach, according to NJ Advance Media.
The group seeks to maintain the religious history of the town, founded in 1869 by Methodist ministers and uses chains and padlocks to block access to its beach from the boardwalk between 9 a.m. and noon on Sundays throughout the summer.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association asked the judge to rule that the ban is “a valid and lawful practice that satisfies the public interest of reasonable access to the sea” and “a lawful accommodation” of its interests.
“The slight limitation on physical presence on the beachfront on the Lord’s Day is consistent with the Plaintiff’s Mission to build and maintain a beautiful seaside community to serve as a place for meditation, reflection and renewal during the Summer months,” they said in court papers, according to NJ.com.
“The ability to reflect upon an empty and quiet beachfront during this limited time is at the core of [the group’s] very creation, existence and uninterrupted private ownership of the Ocean Grove Beach front and adjoining lands.”
On Sept. 14, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection sent the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association a violation notice asking them to provide access to the beach via the boardwalk there.
The DEP cited the state’s Coastal Area Facility Review Act and gave the association 10 days to take action, which included agreeing to remove the chain and padlock barriers.
