The ramp and observation platform are planned over the dunes at Fourth Street and Landis Avenue in the north end of town.
The only "crowds" Tuesday morning on a beautiful stretch of beach at Fourth Street were the flocks of shorebirds congregating near the water’s edge.
But, as everyone knows, come summer this expanse of sand will be packed with tourists enjoying their vacations in Sea Isle City.
The city plans to make it easier for them to get to the beach and enjoy the picturesque views of the ocean by building a handicap-accessible ramp and observation platform rising above the dunes.
In a first step, City Council voted Tuesday to apply for about $700,000 in funding for the project from the Cape May County Open Space Board.
The city engineer has been working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to secure the regulatory permits needed for construction.
Shorebirds gather near the water's edge on an expanse of beach at Fourth Street.City Business Administrator George Savastano said Sea Isle plans to start construction in 2025 after the summer tourism season is over and finish the project by early 2026.
Savastano said the approximately $700,000 in funding the city is seeking from the county would be enough to cover the entire cost of the project. There are no architectural renderings yet of the ramp and observation platform.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio emphasized that the project will help to improve access to the beach in the north end of town for people who have disabilities.
“It is very, very important for those people who are unable to make it to the beach. It’s an easier way to access the beach and enjoy the ocean for rest and relaxation. I think it will be fabulous,” Desiderio said in an interview after the Council meeting.
The Fourth Street beach is currently accessible either by a steep stairway leading from Landis Avenue at Fifth Street or a long sandy pathway at Third Street that winds its way over the dunes. Neither the stairway nor pathway provides easy access to the beach for people with disabilities.
A long, sandy pathway that ascends through the dunes is the way to the beach at Third Street.The new ramp at Fourth Street, though, will be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, as will the observation platform that will be part of the project.
“I can tell you that it will be high enough to span over the dunes. At the peak is the observation tower,” city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said of the height of the ramp. “It will be accessible for people with disabilities.”
Custer noted than an added benefit of the elevated observation platform will be the picturesque views people will enjoy of Sea Isle’s natural beauty both on the ocean side and of the back bay.
“You’ll be able to see the wetlands and the ocean from the top. It will offer 360-degree views,” she said.
The dog park is on Landis Avenue between Sixth and Eighth streets.Across from the beach is a free parking lot on Landis Avenue between Fourth and Sixth streets. Next to the parking lot is Sea Isle’s dog park, which opened in 2023 along Landis Avenue at Seventh Street.
The ramp and observation platform were originally supposed to be part of the dog park, but are now considered a separate project. Both the dog park and observation tower are expected to complement each other by giving visitors to the northern end of Sea Isle new attractions to enjoy.
The nearly $1 million dog park was largely funded by an $850,000 grant from the Cape May County Open Space Board.
Sea Isle will now go back to the board in hopes of securing funding for the handicap-accessible ramp and observation platform.
The Fourth Street beach is quiet in the fall.
