Beach Management Plan Rears Its Ugly Head
If you’ve ever played the arcade game Whack-a-Mole, you will remember that the object is to take a mallet and smack the crap out of a little mole whose head pops up in locations that continually change and when you least expect it. Much like the IRB Beach Management Plan.
How is it that this defunct document found its way into the new proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan now being considered?
Recently, the statement was made that the Beach Management Plan was adopted in principle. In reality, Resolution No. 2004-31, adopted on March 23, 2004, did deal with that subject. However, there are TWO IMPORTANT WORDS after “adopted in principle” that change the entire meaning. Those two words are “as follows.” “Adopted in principle AS FOLLOWS”—is totally different from the whole document being “adopted in principle” PERIOD.
And, as it turns out, most of the items enumerated in the “AS FOLLOWS” section of the resolution have since been disposed of—so what is actually left of the Beach Management Plan to implement “in principle” anyway?
#1 in the “as follows” section of the resolution refers to the creation of a mandatory Dune Preservation Zone (DPZ) being referred to the Planning and Zoning Board and then to the Local Planning Agency for consideration and approval. Commission meeting notes from December 6, 2005 (available on the City’s Web site), about a year and half AFTER the “in principle as follows” resolution, state the following: “Mayor Ockunzzi determined there was no consensus to proceed further with the establishment of a dune preservation zone (Ordinance No. 2004-20).”
So, #1 in the “adopted in principle as follows” items is GONE—leaving us #2 and #3 to deal with.
#2 extended the Ad Hoc Beach Management Plan Committee through December 31, 2004. Since that date has come and gone and there doesn’t seem to be any record of continuing activity by the group, let’s assume that #2 is also defunct.
What about the final “as follows” part of the Beach Management Plan which was adopted “in principle”?
#3 Refers to four (4) short term priorities which include three (3) amendments to the Comp Plan. One again refers to establishing a Dune Preservation Zone, which has since been mooted; another involves the Ad Hoc Beach Management Plan Committee that has evidently since disbanded.
The other two short-term priorities under #3 involve making erosion control structures (groins) a last resort and documenting the City’s “Low Intensity Beach Management Policy” in the Comprehensive Plan. That does seem to be the last word on groins; however, a request for a copy of the City’s “Low Intensity Beach Management Policy” resulted being referred back to the Beach Management Plan. As I scoured my precious copy (for which I paid around $30 and is now available at City Hall for 50 cents!), I could find nothing that spells out what this “low intensity plan” includes. Can anyone else shed any light on what this "low intensity" policy is before it gets included in our Comprehensive Plan amendments and the Beach Management Plan lives to see another day?
Maybe we should consider adding the whack-a-mole to the list of indigenous beach wildlife?
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
If you’ve ever played the arcade game Whack-a-Mole, you will remember that the object is to take a mallet and smack the crap out of a little mole whose head pops up in locations that continually change and when you least expect it. Much like the IRB Beach Management Plan.
How is it that this defunct document found its way into the new proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan now being considered?
Recently, the statement was made that the Beach Management Plan was adopted in principle. In reality, Resolution No. 2004-31, adopted on March 23, 2004, did deal with that subject. However, there are TWO IMPORTANT WORDS after “adopted in principle” that change the entire meaning. Those two words are “as follows.” “Adopted in principle AS FOLLOWS”—is totally different from the whole document being “adopted in principle” PERIOD.
And, as it turns out, most of the items enumerated in the “AS FOLLOWS” section of the resolution have since been disposed of—so what is actually left of the Beach Management Plan to implement “in principle” anyway?
#1 in the “as follows” section of the resolution refers to the creation of a mandatory Dune Preservation Zone (DPZ) being referred to the Planning and Zoning Board and then to the Local Planning Agency for consideration and approval. Commission meeting notes from December 6, 2005 (available on the City’s Web site), about a year and half AFTER the “in principle as follows” resolution, state the following: “Mayor Ockunzzi determined there was no consensus to proceed further with the establishment of a dune preservation zone (Ordinance No. 2004-20).”
So, #1 in the “adopted in principle as follows” items is GONE—leaving us #2 and #3 to deal with.
#2 extended the Ad Hoc Beach Management Plan Committee through December 31, 2004. Since that date has come and gone and there doesn’t seem to be any record of continuing activity by the group, let’s assume that #2 is also defunct.
What about the final “as follows” part of the Beach Management Plan which was adopted “in principle”?
#3 Refers to four (4) short term priorities which include three (3) amendments to the Comp Plan. One again refers to establishing a Dune Preservation Zone, which has since been mooted; another involves the Ad Hoc Beach Management Plan Committee that has evidently since disbanded.
The other two short-term priorities under #3 involve making erosion control structures (groins) a last resort and documenting the City’s “Low Intensity Beach Management Policy” in the Comprehensive Plan. That does seem to be the last word on groins; however, a request for a copy of the City’s “Low Intensity Beach Management Policy” resulted being referred back to the Beach Management Plan. As I scoured my precious copy (for which I paid around $30 and is now available at City Hall for 50 cents!), I could find nothing that spells out what this “low intensity plan” includes. Can anyone else shed any light on what this "low intensity" policy is before it gets included in our Comprehensive Plan amendments and the Beach Management Plan lives to see another day?
Maybe we should consider adding the whack-a-mole to the list of indigenous beach wildlife?
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
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