Back in May 2004 Save Barnegat Bay unveiled its vision of what Traders Cove could look like as a park. [Click here to see the plan.]
— Past Island Beach SP Superindentndent Bill Vibbert, former Dover Twp Mayor Mark Mutter, & others comment on SBB’s TC Concept Plan.
906-B Grand Central Avenue
Lavallette, NJ 08735
732-830-3600
www.savebarnegatbay.org
May 2004
For Release
Contact: Jennifer O’Reilly or Willie deCamp
A Vision of Traders Cove as a Public Park
Save Barnegat Bay has posted on the Internet its vision of what the Traders Cove site in Brick Township could look like as a public park. The concept plan is available for viewing at www.savebarnegatbay.org. [Click here to see the plan.]
“We respect the fact that the property is privately owned,” said Jennifer O’Reilly, who is Associate Executive Director of Save Barnegat Bay, and who created the concept plan. “But we are trying to get public officials and others thinking creatively about the many activities involving people that could occur there.”
Save Barnegat Bay sees in the eleven-acre site an unprecedented opportunity for a model public park because of its long waterfront, its immediate proximity to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, and its location on a County Road, Route 528.
Among the activities the group envisions as possible at Traders Cove are:
– Docks and a boardwalk for fishing and crabbing.
– A modest public marina that could meet the costs of maintenance and some of the cost of acquisition.
– A public boat launch.
– A canoe and kayak launch.
– A facility for a marine science education, a nautical museum and/or a community sailing center.
– An entrance to the nature trails of the adjacent Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge with an interpretive kiosk.
– Use of the existing bay beach for walking and seining.
– A modest outdoor theatre-in-the-round.
– Gazebos, a picnic area, and benches.
– A children’s playground.
– Parking for those fishing off the remaining portion old Rt. 528 Bridge, which the County of Ocean plans to leave as a public pier.
In May the Brick Township Council overturned an approval by the zoning board that would have allowed fifty-two condominiums, a restaurant and an expanded marina. The site does have a Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that is being contested in appellate court by Save Barnegat Bay and the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions.
Traders Cove, which is located at the northwest foot of the Mantoloking Bridge, sits within a five mile radius of well over one hundred thousand people.
“A major problem in the shore area is lack of public access to the water, both for boats and for people’s enjoyment of the recreational aspects of the shoreline,” said O’Reilly. “This use of the property would lessen those problems.”
– Click here to see the plan.
– Former Island Beach SP Superindentdent Bill Vibbert, and former Dover Twp Mayor Mark Mutter comment on SBB’s TC Concept Plan.
