Mayors consider only year-round resident access to Wildwoods

The mayors of three of the five municipalities that comprise the Wildwoods are considering taking extraordinary measures to keep non-year-round residents from accessing bridges to the barrier island amid the expanding coronavirus pandemic, according to the Cape May County Herald.

The mayors of Wildwood Crest and Wildwood, joined by the major of North Wildwood virtually, met Wednesday at Wildwood Crest Borough Hall to discuss the measure and its legality.

“Listen, if you’re not a year-round resident or you don’t have a paycheck stub saying you’re working here, you can’t come down,” Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera told the Cape May County Herald.  “It’s an aggressive approach, but somehow we have to limit this and look at their statistics and make good, bold decisions.”

They did not take any official action.

In recent days, Shore towns have seen an increase in second-home owners arriving to their houses. That prompted a plea from Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald M. Thornton.

“We love all of our visitors from Pennsylvania, North Jersey, New York, and further away,” Freeholder Director Gerald M. Thornton said. “But this is not the time to be visiting the shore as we try to focus resources needed during this pandemic to our residents.”

Thornton noted the need to prevent overburdening supermarkets and services, including the only hospital in the county.

Cape May County announced its first coronavirus case on Wednesday afternoon, a 30-year-old visitor from New York City.