By Donald Wittkowski
Sea Isle City’s bayfront is crowded with homes that take advantage of such a picturesque and tranquil location.
However, that means people who don’t live along the bayfront may be squeezed out from going fishing, kayaking or paddleboarding there.
Sea Isle, though, is developing plans to build a fishing pier and what would be its first public launch site along the bay for kayaks and paddleboards. The proposed site is at the city’s Dealy Field athletic complex near 60th Street.
Hoping to begin construction in 2019, the city has been working on the designs and trying to line up both county and state grants to help fund the project. According to the city’s five-year capital plan, the project would cost an estimated $450,000.
The permitting process will extend into 2019, with a final design expected by early 2019. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in the fall of 2019. Barring any delays, the project will likely be completed by the spring of 2020, city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
Custer noted that Mayor Leonard Desiderio wants to get the project done “as quickly as possible.” City Council has also thrown its support behind the project, she added.
It will include a fishing pier, a launch site for kayaks and paddleboards and decorative lighting. The kayak launch site will also have access for disabled people. There will also be a pier with a covered pavilion for nature watching and to soak up the bayside scenery.
Paddleboarding video from Sea Isle City Facebook page
A crucial step for the project will come Aug. 28, when city representatives are scheduled to make a presentation to the Cape May County Open Space Board as part of Sea Isle’s application for grant funding from the county.
“We feel the project falls in line with the open space philosophy. We would hope they will be as generous as they can be to help bring this project to fruition,” Custer said of the county board.
The city has requested a conference with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as it also pursues state funding for the project.
“We are being very careful to cross all of our t’s and dot all of our i’s to make the best presentation possible,” Custer said.
For Sea Isle’s kayakers and paddleboarders who want to enjoy the ocean, all they have to do is launch off the beach. Gaining access to the bays is a little more difficult for them, Custer explained.
“It’s clear, kayaking is growing in popularity and there is a need for access to the bayfront,” she said. “But if you don’t have a bayfront house, there are few places to launch a kayak along the bayfront.”
A communitywide survey conducted in 2015 prompted responses from local residents urging the city to create more access to the bayfront for kayakers as a way to enhance recreation.
About a year ago, Sea Isle officials and the city engineer settled on Dealy Field as the best location for a kayak launch site and fishing pier.
“The decision was made that Dealy Field was the perfect location. There’s parking, and many of our recreational facilities are already there,” Custer said.
The city was able to acquire some additional property recently that could be incorporated in the proposed fishing pier and kayak launch site. The property consists of wetlands overlooking the bayfront near 59th Street. Sea Isle foreclosed on the wetlands site after the owner failed to pay property taxes for “many, many years,” City Solicitor Paul Baldini said.
