Big dunes? So what? Beach can be seized for new dune project
TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A judge says New Jersey can seize a privately owned beach with big sand dunes to make way for a protective dune project designed to be smaller than what's already there.
Superior Court Judge Marlene Lynch Ford ruled in favor of the state on Friday after it said it would not to shorten any of the dunes that are taller than what is called for under Republican Gov. Chris Christie's plan for protective measures along most of the state's 127-mile coastline.
Residents of Midway Beach in Berkeley Township went to court trying to block the state from seizing the land — even though in many places the existing dunes are taller than those that are planned.