By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Paul Baldini recalls hiding in tall stalks of bamboo while playing games of tag during his childhood days in Sea Isle City.
All these years later, Baldini, now the city solicitor for Sea Isle, hopes that he will never see any more bamboo again on the island.
Sea Isle is taking steps to ban bamboo and other invasive plants such as poison ivy and poison oak to prevent them from impeding or destroying the growth of native foliage and vegetation.
City Council introduced a new ordinance Tuesday to “control the planting, cultivating, and/or growing of bamboo and other invasive plant species” in the city. A public hearing and final vote on the ordinance are scheduled for the April 12 Council meeting.
“This is sometimes referred to as the ‘anti-bamboo ordinance,’ but it’s broader than that,” Baldini said.
Among other invasive plants that are on the banned list are poison ivy, poison oak, ragweed, multiflora rose and kudzu-vine.
“No owner, tenant or occupant of a property, or person, corporation or other entity, shall plant, install, or cause or permit the planting or installation of invasive plant species such as bamboo within any lot and/or parcel of ground anywhere within the City,” the ordinance says.
However, Sea Isle residents who already have bamboo on their property may keep it as long as it is maintained and doesn’t spread to surrounding properties.
“So, if you already have it, no one’s coming to your house to rip it out,” Baldini said.
New bamboo, though, is prohibited. Violators risk fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 and a possible jail term of up to 90 days or a maximum of 90 days of community service, according to the ordinance.
If someone allows new bamboo or other invasive plants to grow on their property, or if it spreads to surrounding private or public property, they will be required to remove it at their cost. They will face legal and financial penalties if they fail to remove it.
Sea Isle is looking to protect native vegetation, such as dune grass, from invasive plants.
Sea Isle is the latest city nationwide to pass local laws prohibiting bamboo and other destructive plants. The city’s Planning Board and Environmental Commission recommended that City Council should adopt an ordinance to formally outlaw invasive plants.
Bamboo, in particular, is known for growing several inches a day and can be extremely difficult to remove once it takes root.
“Once established, it is literally next to impossible to control. While this has not necessarily been the subject of development, the Board wanted to prevent its invasive nature within the City,” the Planning Board wrote in a Sept. 30, 2021, letter to city officials.
In Sea Isle’s case, it is largely a preemptive strike against bamboo. Although Baldini has memories of stalks of bamboo growing on the island when he was a child, he’s not immediately aware of any place where the unruly grass is spreading through town now.
But he suspects it is out there, somewhere.
“I don’t know of any locations. But I’m sure there are. I just don’t know where,” he said.
