‘IT GIVES ME HOPE’
the end of next year, will stretch up to 300 feet wide and feature dunes that top 22 feet.
Most of the residents in the area’s vulnerable communities have been clamoring for the sandy bunker system.
Not everyone feels that way, though.
It took until this year for the project to get underway because of a pitched legal battle, sparked by beachfront homeowners in Bay Head and Mantoloking. They already have a 22-foot rock wall in place, and they want nothing to do with the mighty dunes.
“It’s a waste of money that will wash away as the sand washes away,” said Bay Head resident Thatcher Brown.
James Bradley, 66, sees it differently. He lives in a section of Point Pleasant just outside the zone of the Army Corps project.
“It’s a great thing for those who are getting it, but what about people like us?” said Bradley, a railroad engineer. “I crap my pants every time we get a nor’easter.”
Patrick Burke, 34, a surfer and former lifeguard who grew up in the area, isn’t sold on the dune project. On a sunny afternoon, he stood on a wooden walkway a few blocks from the site and stared at the new patch of beach jutting out into the sea.
“I don’t care if you build it a hundred feet high and a thousand feet long,” he said. “A strong nor’easter is still going to cut through it like a hot knife through butter.”