NJ steps in as Ocean Grove loses fight to close beach for religious reasons

✅ A judge ruled that beaches in Ocean Grove could be closed on Sunday morning

✅ New Jersey’s DEP commissioner rejected the ruling

✅ Public beach access is required under state law, the commissioner said

NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP — Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette has determined that the boardwalk in Ocean Grove must open on Sunday despite a court ruling.

An administrative judge ruled in June that the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which owns the land in the seaside community that calls itself "God's Square Mile at the Jersey Shore," could keep the beach and boardwalk closed on Sunday mornings from Memorial Day to Labor Day to allow for church services. LaTourette was given the final say to uphold the ruling or modify or reject it.

After three extensions, LaTourette has rejected the ruling, paving the way for Sunday morning swimming.

The commissioner cited state law that requires all those holding permits to operate a beach to provide public access. The camp association has also reaped the benefits of state investment in "nourishment" of private beaches and upkeep of the boardwalk, according to LaTourette. The terms of funding for those projects require public access.

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Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association cites religious mission

The group said that restricting activity on Sunday morning is central to Ocean Grove's very existence. The purpose was to allow church services. Access to the ocean was not restricted.

The association, a nonprofit Christian entity that owns the beach and the land under all of Ocean Grove's houses under a charter given to it by the state in 1870, has long kept people off the beach before noon on Sundays. The practice to allow for church services went on for generations.

Some people defied the rules in 2023, venturing onto the beach on Sunday mornings. They said association personnel called the police but officers did not intervene once they arrived.

In court papers, the association contended that “all members of the public are welcome (onto the beach) 365 days a year. Anyone, regardless of race, creed, religion or orientation, is welcome onto this private property 99.5% of the year, a policy the association called “abundantly reasonable.”

The association did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for comment.

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