A homeowner at the corner of 45th Street and Central Avenue has a "No Wake" sign that urges motorists not to speed through flooded streets.
By Donald Wittkowski
Some of Bill Kehner’s neighbors have had their garage doors damaged. At his house on 33rd Street, Kehner once had three flower boxes swept away.
The culprit? It was destructive waves of water kicked up by drivers speeding through Sea Isle City’s flooded streets during storms.
Kehner, a Sea Isle councilman, said he is determined to do something about it. At Tuesday’s Council meeting, he strongly made a case for the governing body to pass a new ordinance that would crack down on drivers plowing through flooded streets and creating boat-like wakes of water that crash against garage doors.
Kehner said he has grown tired of careless drivers who think they have “indestructible vehicles and don’t care about damage to property.”
He believes the ordinance should include highly visible “No Wake Zone” signs that would warn drivers not to speed through stormwater. The Council meeting represented the second time in two months Kehner has publicly pushed for such a law.
To support his position, he pointed to similar “No Wake Zone” ordinances in North Wildwood and the Ocean County beach town of Ship Bottom.
Since Ship Bottom’s ordinance began, there have been fewer complaints from local residents about drivers speeding through flooded areas, suggesting that the law is working, Kehner said.
“The fact that it’s out there has opened the eyes of drivers,” he said.
City Councilman William Kehner wants Sea Isle to approve a new law establishing "No Wake Zones."
Sea Isle Police Chief Tom McQuillen told the Council members that he plans to consult with the town’s solicitor and business administrator about the problems caused by wakes of water.
“We are collectively working on it,” McQuillen said.
Some homeowners at 33rd Street and Landis Avenue intentionally leave their garage doors open several inches to lessen the impact of waves of water kicked up by speeding motorists.
Meanwhile, some Sea Isle residents have taken matters into their own hands by posting their own “No Wake” signs in front of their homes in hopes of protecting their property. Private signs are not backed up by any laws or enforcement action. They are more of an appeal to common courtesy.
Kehner’s neighborhood surrounding 33rd Street and Landis Avenue is one of Sea Isle’s flood-prone areas. Some homeowners intentionally leave their garage doors open several inches to try to lessen the destructive force of waves of water. They would rather have water seep into their garages instead of having it slam into the doors and causing structural damage, Kehner said.
One homeowner, at the corner of 35th Street and Landis Avenue, has installed garage doors that feature a lattice-like design on the bottom to lessen the blow of wakes of water hitting the house.
Some of Kehner’s neighbors use their homes as summer vacation retreats. Kehner said they will often call him or go on his wife’s Facebook page to check on their homes if they are out of town when it floods.
One subject that usually comes up is whether their garage doors have been damaged by wakes of water from passing traffic, Kehner said.
“My wife’s Facebook page goes crazy during storms. Everyone wants to know about damage in the neighborhood,” he said.
A lattice-like design on the garage doors at a home on Landis Avenue protects the property from water damage.
