NJ beaches paid for by all, but parking keeps outsiders away

New Jersey's wide, sandy beaches have been paid for by taxpayers across the U.S., from wheat farmers in Kansas to fishermen in Alaska.

One of the most effective methods has been restricting parking near the beach. The practical effect in shore towns like Deal, a wealthy enclave popular with New York doctors, lawyers and business executives, has been that people who don't live within walking distance of the sand are often not able to use it. This is happening despite numerous requirements that the state's beaches be equally accessible to all, including a state law incorporating a legal concept stretching back to the Roman emperor Justinian that the tidal waters are the common property of all, held in trust by the state. And the ongoing federally funded replenishment of beaches along the coast by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers comes with a requirement that adequate parking be provided near the taxpayer-funded sand.