Seaside Heights, NJ. Prior to using Casino Pier logo, creative, characters, images or reference, approval must be obtained from Casino Beach Pier LLC. This is to ensure proper usage of the intellectual property associated with Casino Pier as well as maintain. New rides coming to Seaside Heights, nearly 5 years after Sandy. Hydrus, a new roller coaster, and a 131-foot-high Ferris Wheel should be open by summer on Casino Pier in Seaside.
SEASIDE HEIGHTS - Casino Pier's expansion could start within the next week after a Superior Court judge rejected a Seaside man's contention that the Borough Council acted illegally when it voted to transfer more than an acre of beach to the pier's owners in exchange for a historic carousel.
'This is an attempt to restore the local economy,' Judge Arnold B. Goldman said, before ruling in favor of the Storino family, which owns Casino Pier, and the borough. 'To create a tax ratable and to preserve a local iconic piece of the borough's history.'
At issue Friday was an ordinance the Borough Council adopted more than a year ago that approved swapping 1.36 acres of beach on the north side of Casino Pier for the 1910 Dentzel/Looff Carousel, which has resided in Seaside since 1932.
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The borough also will receive a parking lot located between Sampson and Carteret avenues, where a building to house the carousel is planned.
The beach-swap has generated plenty of controversy, with many business owners and residents supporting it. But others have argued that it's a bad idea to trade a portion of beach for a carousel that could be expensive to restore and operate.
James J. Curry, lawyer for Stephen Melvin, who owns 3 Brothers from Italy Pizza on the boardwalk, argued that Seaside 'exceeded its powers' when adopting the ordinance.
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He said the beach area that Seaside is swapping with Casino Pier is held in public trust by the borough and the beach swap violated state Green Acres rules, as well as the Public Trust Doctrine, which establishes the public's rights to have access to the beach and ocean.
'They are giving up dry sand beach, which is owned by them in trust by all the citizens of New Jersey,' Curry said. 'They are giving it up to a private, for-profit entity. You can't give up land for a carousel. Only for cash or other land.'
George R. Gilmore, one of two lawyers representing Seaside in court, argued that the pier expansion actually would increase public access to the beach by bringing more people to Seaside.
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'The primary purpose of this was to save the carousel,' Gilmore added. In 2014, Casino Pier's owners had announced that they planned to sell the merry-go-round, citing declining ridership and high maintenance costs.
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The borough must build a structure to house the carousel within three years, according to the State House Commission's decision approving the beach swap.
Seaside Heights Casino Pier Webcam
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Gilmore said that a planned beach expansion project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will extend the beach east of Casino Pier, and provide much more beach area for visitors to enjoy.
Judge Goldman's also sided with Seaside Heights and Casino Pier by finding that Melvin had waited too long to file his objection to the borough's beach-swap ordinance. Challenges to ordinance must be filed within 45 days, according to state law.
Melvin's lawsuit was filed nearly a year after the ordinance was adopted.
'I don't think it was timely challenge in this case,' Goldberg said.
He said that Melvin had attended public hearings on the beach-swap proposal to testify against it, and had also written a letter objecting to the plan. His objections to the ordinance were taken into consideration before the council voted on it, the judge said.
Ron Gasiorowski, the lawyer representing Casino Pier, said that the Storinos want to drive pilings right away for the expanded pier, in the hope that the project can be completed by next summer. A new roller coaster and a Ferris wheel are among the rides expected to be placed on the new pier.
The Jet Star roller coaster, formerly located on the pier, was dumped into the ocean when superstorm Sandy sheared off the pier's eastern end in October 2012. The roller coaster in the ocean became one of the enduring images from the storm.
The Storinos decided not to rebuild the pier's original footprint since new DEP regulations make building out over the ocean extremely expensive. The pier owners then sought to buy a privately owned beach on the pier's south side, but they were unable to reach an agreement to buy the property.
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The pier owners and Seaside Heights still face an additional court challenge — the American Littoral Society and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation have sued to block the beach swap, which was approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the State House Commission earlier this year.
The two environmental groups contend rules of the state's Green Acres program don't allow this type of trade. Also included in the swap are more 60 acres of wetlands in Toms River, located adjacent to Winding River Park off Route 37.
A permanent conservation easement would be placed on the Toms River property, which is owned by the county, prohibiting any future development.
Gasiorowski said the Storinos are willing to remove the pilings and pier decking if an Appellate Court rules against the beach swap.
Melvin said following Friday's hearing that he is not yet sure if he will appeal Goldman's decision.
Jean Mikle: 732-643-4050, jmikle@gannettnj.com