South Seaside Park in Berkeley Township submits petition to join Borough of Seaside Park

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South Seaside Park, a Jersey Shore community, has formally submitted its petition to join the Borough of Seaside Park, the municipality just north of the neighborhood. The area is currently part of Berkley Township in Ocean County.

Seaside Park Mayor John A. Peterson Jr. declined to comment, citing that the town is “engaged in a process of due diligence.” He previously told the Asbury Park Press that town officials must undertake a “thorough review process” before any decision is made to accept the petition.

South Seaside Park is separated from the rest of Berkeley Township by 2 ½ miles of water or 16 miles of roads

Sandwiched between the Borough of Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park, South Seaside Park is home to about 400 residents and is approximately a half mile long and 450 feet wide. To reach the rest of Berkeley Township, the drive can take up to 45 minutes through five other towns.

In 2022, a group of residents who call themselves the South Seaside Park Homeowners & Voters Association sued Berkeley Township for the right to break away, or de-annex, in hopes of connecting themselves to the neighboring town. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the neighborhood breaking away from Berkeley Township “would not cause significant injury to the Township’s well-being.”

“To get a building permit, you have to go the 16 miles,” said Donald Whiteman Jr., the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against Berkeley Township. “When you talk about the distance that we have to do, it’s not right that we have to do that.”

Whiteman said because of the separation by water, they don’t feel part of Berkeley Township.

“How often do we go shopping over there? We don’t,” Whiteman said. “We go to the grocery store up here on Seaside Heights, or we go to Toms River. We go out to dinner here.”

Township services were also a factor in residents seeking de-annexation.

“Our services of snow plowing and policing were a lot less than what we expected,” Whiteman said.

On a recent day, Whiteman stood at the Island Beach State Park Marina and pointed to a group of houses to the north where residents were snowed in waiting for Berkeley Township plows to come through.

“It took them three days to plow them out, when the next town up had their streets all done,” he said. “That should not happen.”

Berkeley Township’s mayor is not surprised residents wanted to de-annex

The latest effort by South Seaside Park residents to detach did not surprise Berkley Township Mayor John Bacchione. He said residents in the neighborhood attempted to de-annex more than 50 years ago.

“At that time [it was] a different dynamic, different aesthetic, different administration. And it went through the court system back then,” he said.  “The lower courts decided, yes, you can deannex from Berkeley Township.”

Back then, that effort was led by Whiteman’s father, Donald Whiteman Sr. It took 10 years to get court permission to de-annex and join Seaside Park. However, borough officials turned down their petition.

The de-annexation blueprint was passed down from father to son. The younger Whiteman followed the basics of the original plan, including setting up the association and going through the judicial process.

Whiteman began this current effort in 2014. The Berkeley Township Planning Board held 38 hearings between January 2015 and February 2019 and recommended denying South Seaside Park’s petition to de-annex from the township in August 2020. The township council denied the petition the following month.

The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed two lower court rulings on July 10 that stated the planning board did not make an objective decision regarding South Seaside Park’s petition and ruled that the residents met the legal requirements to seek de-annexation.

Through an amicable break up, Whiteman hopes Seaside Park ‘will take us in’

Bacchione, who was complimentary of both sides in court, disagreed with the court’s ruling and some of the reasons for de-annexation.

He believes the court ignored the town’s arguments that it will experience a hardship if South Seaside Park secedes because it makes up about 10.5% of the township’s tax base. The court ruled that any loss in tax revenue would be offset to some degree by cost savings.

But, Bacchione said he doesn’t have any hard feelings for South Seaside Park residents.

“We wish everyone well,” he said. “We’re all on the same team here. We’re all Ocean County residents.”

Should Seaside Park annex South Seaside Park they would have to take over municipal assets Berkeley Township now owns in the neighborhood. Some high school students who live in South Seaside Park would still have to travel to the mainland to attend class.

When asked if he believes Seaside Park will accept South Seaside Park’s petition, Whiteman said “it’s all in God’s hands.”

“It’s up to Seaside Park, that’s all I can say,” Whiteman said. “I just hope that it will, that they will take us in here.”