After 90 minutes of debate and hearing concerns from residents, Point Pleasant Beach’s Borough Council voted to advance a temporary permit for summer Seastreak ferry excursions.
The council voted 3-2 on Tuesday to approve on first reading an ordinance for a temporary permit with conditions. Members John Dixon and Andy Cortes voted no. The permit would allow the Highlands-based ferry company to run select weekend trips to the borough this summer.
The ordinance now goes to a public hearing and second vote at the next council meeting on June 15.
The temporary permit would only be valid for this summer. Seastreak and Captain Bill’s Landing would have to go through a full review and zoning hearing for a permanent permit next year.
Service is scheduled to start on Friday, June 19, with one trip from New York City and a return trip on Sunday, June 21, pending council approval.
Mayor Don Vitale announced the service was starting at the last council meeting on May 19.
The proposed service between Manhattan and Captain Bill’s Landing was announced on May 21, catching some residents by surprise.
Vitale said he only received the announcement two hours before the council meeting and assumed Seastreak and marina owner Bill Cleary had obtained the needed approvals and permits.
“I assumed that there were all these logistical issues taken care of, which come to find out they weren’t,” Vitale said. “That’s why we’re here tonight to talk through this.”
In addition to concerns about traffic and parking requirements that could be generated by the proposed excursion service, residents and some council members objected to the last minute nature of the service.
“I feel that this operation is no different, certainly no more imposing than, um, than the other marine vessels that operate directly in front of that property,” said Bill Cleary, owner of Captain Bill’s Landing.
Dixon questioned whether Seastreak and Captain Bill’s Landing were seeking permission for a ferry terminal.
The proposed service was described as excursions rather than regular commuter ferry service by Jack Bevins, Seastreak senior vice president of marine operations.
“This is very, very far from the traditional sense of the ferry terminal,” he said. “There’s no building infrastructure. There’s no overnight storage of these vessels.”
The vessel to be used by Seastreak has a capacity for 500 people. Tickets can only be purchased by making an online reservation, Bevins said. So far, the company has 22 reservations for the first June 19 trip. Subsequent trips have fewer reservations so far.
“You’re bringing people from Manhattan, down to Point Pleasant Beach. That’s a ferry terminal, in my opinion,” Dixon said.
Both Cleary and Bevins apologized to residents and officials for the confusion. Seastreak was waiting for a U.S. Coast Guard security waiver to use the dock at Captain Bill’s Landing, Bevins said.
“This was a loose discussion in January, I did not think it would come to fruition this year,” Cleary said. “We never had an agreement until last Tuesday.”
Some residents who spoke said they were concerned about whether Inlet Drive could handle pedestrian and vehicular traffic when ferries arrive and depart, since it had no sidewalks.
“I don’t think we’ve got any studies for parking, any studies for traffic, and I heard about this two days ago,” said resident Sean Casey. “I live across the street, and I’m going to have people standing there with luggage, waiting, to get back on this ferry, to go back to New York. It needs to be thought out better.”
Councilwoman Kitty Stillufsen suggested part of Inlet Drive could be separated with traffic cones for waiting ferry passengers if needed.
“I’ve taken a lot of those ferries and know how efficiently they load and unload,” she said. “I am disappointed we found out at the last minute. This is not a final vote, this is a first vote.”
Seastreak would contact borough police after the ferry loaded with a passenger count so officials could decide what traffic control was needed. Cleary and Seastreak said they would pay for additional police coverage.
“The biggest issue here is the added traffic, and the cars, and where they’re going to go, and where they’re going to queue,” said resident Mary Alice Kinsella. “And anybody that’s been on Inlet Drive on July Fourth, the weekend, knows what a nightmare it is.”
The ferry operation would be similar to what is done at Sandy Hook during the summer, where a ferry lands at a floating barge and shuttle buses take passengers into the park, Bevins said.
If bad weather put the ferry out of service, Seastreak would send buses to take passengers home, he said.
Resident Dan Friendly raised concerns about both land traffic and whether water traffic would be blocked when a ferry was loading or unloading.
“It’s already kind of a tight spot,” he said, referring to the Manasquan Inlet to the Atlantic Ocean. “You have hundreds of boats on Flag Island coming and going, you have all the commercial fishing boats. blocking the majority of that passageway seems to me a little insane.”
Plans call for the ferry to dock nose first against the bulkhead, instead of at the end of the dock, Cleary said.
Other residents who spoke in support said the ferry is no different than party boats or fishing charter boats that operate out of Point Pleasant Beach and suggested a limited trial this year.