Downtown Beachwood Rite Aid Proposal: Site Plan Maps

Posted below are the twenty-one pages of site plans and maps submitted to the borough by the developers of the downtown Rite Aid proposal. They have been posted here to enlighten borough residents and enhance their visual understanding of the size and scope of this proposal.

Case Study: Toledo Rite Aid Proposal, December 1998

Today we’re going to start the first installment on a series aimed at examining how Rite-Aid has aggressively targeted historic buildings at main intersections of small towns across the United States. Today’s piece is an older one, coming from writer Joshua Benton’s blog, found here,  with further information provided by Sprawl Busters, located here.

It is a reprint of an article he wrote for the Toledo Blade almost eleven years ago, in December 1998, and holds information markedly similar to what Beachwood is facing today. The Toledo Blade can be found here.

Be sure to check this site Sunday as we begin uploading the entire downtown Beachwood Rite Aid Proposal Plan, as submitted to the borough for review.

Beachwood Borough Master Plan, Part VI

Portion of the original map survey by A.D. Nickerson.

LAND USE PLAN ELEMENT

The Land Use Plan Element of the Master Plan has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28 et seq. It is based upon existing land development patterns and types; natural resources and sensitive environmental features including stream corridors, floodplains, freshwater wetlands, vegetation, and subsurface hydrology; existing roadways; existing and proposed utilities; historical subdivision plats; and conformance with the Pineland Comprehensive Management Plan. Future development within Beachwood Borough will be affected by regulations on land development imposed by the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan within the Pinelands area of the borough west of the Garden State Parkway, and by the policies and regulations of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Coastal Management Program within the portion of the borough under the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) jurisdiction east of the parkway. The Land Use Plan Element of the Master Plan Map has been prepared in recognition of the development and environmental regulations of the New Jersey Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan and the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act. The Master Plan will be submitted to the Pinelands Commission for certification for the area west of the Garden State Parkway in accordance with the New Jersey Pinelands Act, 12:18A-1, and the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan, N.J.A.C. 7:50-1 et seq.

OVERALL DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS

Development in Beachwood Borough is predominately single family homes. Approximately 58.1 percent of the 1,207 acres of developed land in Beachwood Borough is residential. Most of the residential structures in Beachwood were constructed during the period 1950 – 1990.

In the central portion of the borough, Atlantic City Boulevard (N.J. Route 166 and N.J. Route 9) serves as the commercial “Main Street” of Beachwood. This area includes retail, service and wholesale commercial establishments. At the northern border of the borough are the Toms River shoreline, a marina, and 3.5 acres of parkland and shoreline access points. Both east and west of Atlantic City Boulevard are residential neighborhoods laid out in a gridiron pattern. At the southern end of the borough, along Pinewald Road, is a small area of commercial, office and industrial development. No large single private ownership parcels of developable vacant land exist in Beachwood Borough. Undeveloped tracts with multiple owners occur along Pinewald Road between Chestnut and Poplar Streets. This area is planned for non-residential development and public and school uses. Future residential development will occur through infill of scattered lots, most of which are non-conforming, undersized lots of 4,000 to 6,000 square feet.

PROPOSED LAND USE

Land development in Beachwood can be categorized into three groups: residential development, non-residential development, and recreation/conservation. The proposed Land Use Plan Element for Beachwood Borough reflects zone districts from the current and previous land development ordinances, existing and planned borough facilities, and the Ocean County active and passive recreation and open space at Beachwood West.

The Land Use Plan proposes two residential districts, the R-B Single Family Residential and R-D Single Family Residential. The former R-A Single Family Residential and R-M Medium Density Residential areas are not included in this Land Use Plan. The R-A Single Family Residential zone was eliminated from the borough zoning ordinance in 1997 and replaced with AR Active Recreation to reflect the borough and county plans to develop the area west of the parkway for active and passive recreation and open space. The R-M Multi-Family Residential area is deleted from the previous Master Plan since the area has been developed for a construction company office and equipment storage facility for more than five years. The boundaries of non-residential development reflect existing land use patterns and the active and passive recreation and open space area acquired by Ocean County at Beachwood West. Proposed land use development areas are shown on Figure 8-1, Master Plan.

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

The Master Plan identifies existing and proposed residential development areas. These residential areas are designed to reflect the prevailing housing development patterns within the borough.

R-B Single Family Residential – The R-B single family residential areas comprise a total of 1003.8 acres. These areas encompass the two largest existing residential areas in the borough east and west of Atlantic City Boulevard. Residential R-B areas are planned and zoned to have a minimum lot size of 8,000 square feet, the size of four of the original 20 x 100 foot lots as platted in 1914 prior to the formation of the borough in 1917. The R-B areas have been developed through the years except for scattered individual lots. Permitted accessory uses in the R-B areas as zoned include a garage space for the storage of a motor vehicle, fences, recreational facilities such as pools, and structures not used for profit such as storage sheds.

R-D Single Family Residential – The R-D single family residential areas comprises a total of 3.5 acres. This small area encompass a strip of land along the southeastern Beachwood border with Berkeley Township, east of Berkeley Avenue, where lots are only 60 feet deep. The planned and zoned minimum lot size is 8,000 feet. Permitted accessory uses can include a garage space for storage of a motor vehicle, fences, recreational facilities such as pools, and structures not used for profit such as storage sheds.

NON-RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

Commercial development in Beachwood Borough is presently located in two main areas. Property along Atlantic City Boulevard contains the majority of the commercial development in the borough. The second general area is at the northern end of Pinewald Road in the west central portion of the borough east of the parkway. Varieties of retail, wholesale, service, and manufacturing commercial uses currently exist in the borough. The Land Use Plan provides for a new, small B-1 Planned Commercial Area on the east side of Double Trouble Road south of Birch Street west of the Garden State Parkway. This area was designated for business use in previous Master Plans.

B-1 – General Business – The B-1 General Business area along both sides of Atlantic City Boulevard is planned and zoned to allow general business uses oriented toward consumers and small business users. The existing B-1 General Business area located along Atlantic City Boulevard is nearly fully developed. The proposed B-1 area on Double Trouble Road south of Birch Street is owned by the borough. It is undeveloped and consists of approximately 4.2 acres. The area has 1,000 feet of frontage and is 50 to 200 feet in depth. This area can provide for limited neighborhood commercial uses across from Beachwood West on Double Trouble Road at Birch Street.

B-2 Planned Commercial – Two B-2 Planned Commercial areas contain 34.6 acres and are intended for planned business and commercial development. The B-2 areas consist of portions of nine tax blocks between Walnut Street and Pine Street on the west side of Pinewald Road and portions of eight tax blocks between Hickory Street and the southern municipal boundary east of Pinewald Road. Planned commercial developments can include a variety of commercial developments, with less emphasis on development based on traffic volume. Provisions are in place for regulating access to the developments. The B-2 Zoning District regulations currently require a minimum lot size of 220,000 square feet. Consideration should be given to reducing the minimum lot size to 120,000 square feet.

The B-2 areas are also suitable for public uses including schools, vocational facilities, park and recreation facilities and quasi-public uses such as churches and other houses of worship.

B-3 Neighborhood Business – The B-3 Neighborhood Business area is a 33.3 acre area consisting portions of five tax blocks along the east side of Pinewald Road between Chestnut Street and Walnut Street, 15 tax blocks along the west side of Pinewald Road between Pine Street and Hickory Street, and two tax blocks between Hickory Street and Cherry Street along the east side of Pinewald Road. The area is intended for offices and warehouses for contractors as well as other manufacturing uses. These areas are located along Pinewald Road.

The B-3 areas are also suitable for public uses including schools, vocational facilities, park, and recreational facilities and quasi-public uses such as churches and other houses of worship.

B-3A – Neighborhood Business – The B-3A Neighborhood Business area is a 6.6 acre area consisting of portions of five tax blocks located along the western side of Pinewald Road between Walnut Street and Chestnut Street. The area allows the same businesses as the B-3 Neighborhood Business area in addition to many of the same businesses allowed in the B-1 General Business area. The B-3A areas are also suitable for public uses including schools, vocational facilities, park and recreation facilities and quasi-public uses such as churches and other houses of worship.

RECREATION/CONSERVATION

RC – Recreation/Conservation – RC Recreation/Conservation was created for passive and active recreation, and conservation of sensitive lands. These areas, totaling 81.2 acres, are located in the eastern portion of the borough, east of the Garden State Parkway. Major recreation areas are located along the Toms River at the borough beach and Mayo Park, in the southern portion of the borough at the Berkeley Street Soccer Fields, and at Birch and Surf Park in the west central area of the borough at Birch Street and Surf Street. The plan also designates the former borough landfill west of Pinewald Road between Hickory Street and the southern municipal boundary for future recreation/conservation following formal closure by the NJDEP. Uses include athletic fields, parks and recreation sites, small open space areas, and conservation areas, and the continuing operation of an existing composting facility on a limited portion of the zone.

AR – Active Recreation – The AR Active Recreation area is an approximately 395 acre area created to provide for large-scale active recreation use in the Beachwood West area west of the Garden State Parkway. The permitted use on this parcel are golf courses and athletic fields. A permitted accessory use is parking. A canoe rental facility and one residence are also located in the AR area of the borough.

PINELANDS

In December 1978, Section 502 of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, (P.L. 95-625) was signed into law by President Carter creating the nation’s first National Reserve area in New Jersey. The creation of this National Reserve designated approximately 1.1 million acres of southern New Jersey as the “Pinelands National Reserve”. This area, which constitutes 23.17 percent of the state, extends west from Brigantine City in Atlantic County, to the Township of Medford in Burlington County, and from Dennisville in Cape May County in the southern portion of the state north to Route 527 in Jackson Township in Ocean County. In February 1980, Governor Brendan Byrne signed into law the Pinelands Protection Act, which created the New Jersey Pinelands Commission and established regulatory control over the New Jersey Pinelands Area. The New Jersey Pinelands Area is located within the Pinelands National Reserve but does not include all of the reserve area. The portions of the Pinelands National Reserve that are not in the Pinelands Area are regulated by the New Jersey Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) which was established in 1973.

Within the New Jersey Pinelands Area, development is regulated by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) which divides the Pinelands into two broad categories: the Pinelands Preservation Area and the Pinelands Protection Area. The Pinelands Preservation Area is the core of the Pinelands. The preservation area provides for stringent development and ownership of new residential development controls, the bulk of the cranberry operations within the state and vast tracts of state-owned forest and wildlife management areas. The Pinelands Protection Area provides for various categories of development, including Pinelands Forest Area, Regional Growth Areas, Agricultural Production Areas, Rural Development Areas, and Pinelands Towns and Villages.

In Beachwood Borough, approximately 414 acres are located within the Pinelands National Reserve Area and the New Jersey Pinelands Area, constituting approximately 23 percent of the borough land area. The entire 414 acres contained within the Pinelands is classified as a “Regional Growth Area” by the Pinelands Commission Comprehensive Management Plan.

The goals and objectives of the Regional Growth Areas, as defined in the CMP at N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.13(g), are:

“Regional Growth Areas are areas of existing growth or lands immediately adjacent thereto which are capable of accomodating regional growth influences while protecting the essential character and environment of the Pinelands provided that the environmental objectives of Subchapter 6 [Management Programs and Minimum Standards] are implemented through Municipal Master Plans and land use ordinances.”

Regional Growth Areas are designed to attract a greater proportion of the development within the Pinelands Area, albeit with conditions and restrictions. Allowable development includes residential development; “…any other development not otherwise limited pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:50-6 may be permitted in a Regional Growth Area…”

The Pinelands Area of the borough encompasses the Beachwood West area west of the Garden State Parkway and the small commercial area on Double Trouble Road at Birch Street. The area west of the Garden State Parkway is subject to Pinelands Commission regulations for protection of wetlands, floodplains, threatened and endangered species and other environmental standards. The freshwater wetlands and 150-foot wide wetlands transition areas required by the Pinelands Commission in Beachwood West restrict the amount of land that can be used for active recreation. The freshwater wetlands and associated transition areas will remain as permanent open space areas. A canoe rental facility that existed before Beachwood West was fully acquired by Beachwood Borough remains on the southern end of Beachwood West.

The Land Use Plan Element conforms with the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) adopted on June 16, 1992. The SDRP incorporates the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan by Interagency Agreement. The proposed Ocean County park, recreation and open space area at Beachwood West conforms with the SDRP.

Local Founders Profile: Warren T. and Mary F. Burnett

From the pages of his own 1924 Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who, here is what William Mill Butler wrote about original residents Mr. and Mrs. Warren T. Burnett. Click on all the embedded links for a broader understanding of his life and background:

Burnett, Warren T., west side Beachwood Boulevard, Block B-28. All-year resident.

Mr. Burnett was born in Seneca Falls, N.Y. His parents removed to Yonkers, where he attended the public schools. At sixteen years of age he struck out for himself at Maplewood, N.J., where he started in the oil business and succeeded on a capital of $5. He told us the story in his quiet, humorous way, and it is so good that we shall try to reproduce it as an example of what a plucky and honest American lad can do.

“I wished to get up a route to sell kerosene oil,” he said, “but I had no horse or wagon. I happened to read in a paper the advertisement of a man in Orange Valley who wanted to sell a rig. So I went to see him and told him I would like to buy the horse and outfit. ‘But,’ said I, ‘I have no money.’ ‘Neither have I,’ he replied, ‘and the horse is starving. Have you any feed?’ I said no, but I would get some. ‘All right,’ he then said, ‘take and try him for two weeks, and if you like him you can pay me fifty dollars for him, wagon and harness and all.’ Then I went to a farmer and said, ‘I want 500 pounds of hay, but have no money to pay for it just at present.’ He replied, ‘All right, back your wagon up and pay me when you can.’ So I got the hay, but how about feed? I went to the mill and said I needed either a bag of feed or a bag of oats. The miller replied, ‘you can have both.’ ‘But,’ I said, ‘I have no money to pay for them yet.’ He looked at me and said, ‘You look as if you would pay for them; you can have them.’

“So far so good. Then I drove down to Newark and saw Mr. McKurgen, what was in the oil business there, and I bought a barrel of oil. It cost me $4.38, and as my entire capital was only $5, it nearly ate it up. I had to have a faucet, but the man in the yard said, ‘We have several lying around here that are not in use and you can have one.’ Then I bought a measure and a funnel for sixty-two cents cash and had twenty cents left. I worked hard and at the end of a whole week I found I had sold just one quart of kerosene; but I had some promises and kept right at it and at the end of another week I found I had sold three barrels. I felt like a young Rockafeller.”

And Warren T. Burnett kept at it for six years, and while he did not amass a fortune like John D., he was able to marry at the age of twenty-three, Miss Mary F. Van Riper, of Newark. After that, with Mrs. Burnett, he removed to Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, where he worked as a carpenter for a time and afterwards became a builder. Later he removed to Newark, and while there went on an excursion to Ocean Gate, with the result that he purchased lots at this resort and opened a store in 1918. In 1921, however, upon seeing Beachwood he and Mrs. Burnett decided to settle here, and they built a two-story dwelling and store combined on Beachwood Boulevard.

Wife, Mrs. Mary F. (Van Riper) Burnett: children, Milton T., Warren F. and Florence Edna Burnett.

Milton T. Burnett, of East Orange, married Cynthia Morris, and their daughter married Jack Wines, of East Orange, and they have a son, Milton, thus making Warren T. Burnett a great-grandfather. His second son, Warren E., of Newark, married Lizzie Richards; they have three children. Florence Edna Burnett married Eugene L. McKee, and they have one child and reside at Gray, in the State of Maine. Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Burnett are members of the Beachwood Property Owners’ Association; Mr. Burnett is a member of Volunteer Fire Co., No. 1, and a trustee of the Fireman’s Benefit Association.

Be a Bay Buddy: Connect the Drops from Your Yard to Barnegat Bay

Swimming off Beachwood Beach, circa 1950. This scene, once a regular occurrence for decades, is now an almost impossibility with the introduction of hostile stinging sea nettles to our waters as a result of nitrogen pollution.

The following is a followup to last week’s Bay Buddy program, held at the Beachwood Community Center. This article was written by Clean Ocean Action and found on Mr. Andrew King’s “Experience the Shore” blog, found here:

http://experiencetheshore.wordpress.com

The Barnegat Bay Buddy Program is a wonderful opportunity for Beachwood residents to do their part in breathing life back into our bay and river.

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Beachwood, NJ - Clean Ocean Action (COA), Save Barnegat Bay (SBB), Ocean County Freeholders, and Beachwood Township joined together to launch the Barnegat Bay Challenge to engage homeowners and businesses to connect the drops to save Barnegat Bay. The groups also announced over 15 towns that have embraced the program and presented the first certified Bay Buddy’s with the official Lawn Medallions.

“Independent studies confirm that Barnegat Bay is suffocating from pollution. Now is the time for voluntary citizen actions to reverse the tide,” said Tavia Danch, Pollution Prevention Coordinator at COA.

The Barnegat Bay Buddy Program is a simple and easy stewardship program in which citizens can earn points by taking actions that will reduce the pollution entering the Bay. In addition, the Barnegat Bay Buddy Challenge helps individuals become better Bay stewards, and will incorporate them into a larger movement for collective citizen action to help Barnegat Bay.

The extraordinary Barnegat Bay ecosystem is essential to our quality of life, and to New Jersey’s economy. For many, Barnegat Bay is where they first learned how to fish and boat while others enjoy summer sunsets, crabbing, and clamming. Sadly, many of these joys are disappearing or are at great risk. “Both government and individuals must make changes if we are to restore Barnegat Bay,” said Willie deCamp, chairman of Save Barnegat Bay. “The Bay Buddy Program addresses the elements most accessible to us as citizens, the things we can do in our yards and homes.”

A sea nettle, one of thousands off Beachwood Beach this past summer, preventing swimmers from enjoying the water.

Excessive nitrogen from lawn care fertilizers, as well as other land-based pollution from pet waste, deforestation, overdevelopment, and air pollution are destroying the fragile and unique ecosystem of the Bay. “An important objective of the Bay Buddy program is the recognition and the understanding of the connection between our actions and the problems that are occurring in Barnegat Bay,” added Danch.

Making the challenge even greater is that the Bay’s watershed is over 425,117-acres encompassing 33 municipalities with a combined estimated population of 560,000 that increases to more than 900,000 during the summer months. With such a large area and so many people, it is evident that we need to work together to reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the Bay. To that end, Clean Ocean Action and Save Barnegat Bay urge the citizens of Ocean County to take the Barnegat Bay Buddy Challenge.

“The power to improve the quality of Barnegat Bay is in the hands of we the people. While state leadership would make a big difference, the state is trapped by red tape, indecision, and budget cuts. If we wait, it will be too late,” said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action. “Initiating citizen action such as the Bay Buddy program, Save Barnegat Bay’s fertilizer ordinance, the American Littoral Society’s Shore Stewards BayScape program, The Barnegat Bay National Estuary Program’s activities and the LBI Foundation of the Arts and Sciences’ Blue Pages are all essential and will truly make a difference,” Zipf added.

To participate in the program you must first obtain a copy of the artistic yet informative Bay Buddy brochure. You can download the brochure at www.cleanoceanaction.org, www.savebarnegatbay.org, or www.nitrogenfree.com.

“By completing the Bay Buddy checklist, individuals will identify and accomplish small steps to reduce non-point source pollution and implement the most environmentally efficient management practices on their properties and in their daily lives” says William de Camp.

To become a certified “Bay Buddy,” mail your completed brochure to the Clean Ocean Action office (18 Hartshorne Drive, Suite 2, Highlands, NJ 07732). Certified Bay Buddy’s are awarded an attractive yard medallion to highlight your “bay friendly” status.

Barnegat Bay Buddy is a collaborative project by Clean Ocean Action (COA) and Save Barnegat Bay (SBB), and is part of a bay-wide initiative by Save Barnegat Bay called the Nitrogen Pollution Action Project.

Pollution Prevention Coordinator
Clean Ocean Action
18 Hartshorne Drive, Suite 2
Highlands, NJ 07732
phone: (732) 872-0111
fax: (732) 872-8041

www.cleanoceanaction.org

Berkeley Development Plans Will Affect Beachwood

Today we’re passing along a piece of information sent to us by Helen Henderson, Atlantic Coast Project Manager for the American Littoral Society and the current chair of the Lacey Rail Trail Environmental Committee. This press release regards Berkeley Township’s plans for developing the open land that borders Beachwood to the southeast, including redeveloping the dilapidated Route 9 Beachwood Plaza [note: the Beachwood Plaza is actually in Berkeley Township, but according to an archival news article, Jimmy Johnson, who built the plaza in 1959, named it for our borough as a way to spite Berkeley Township officials at the time due to ongoing conflicts he had with them].

To the left we have posted a 2002 aerial photograph of the Beachwood/Berkeley border. Here you can see the area commonly known in the borough as “Johnson’s Pit” to the south, the location of the original Central Railroad of New Jersey line that will be developed as a portion of the Barnegat to Toms River Rail Trail, and the Beachwood Plaza area to the north of that.

Beachwood Borough officials and residents should take interest in Berkeley Township’s upcoming plans, given the proximity of the site to our border and questions we may have regarding it.

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Friends in Ocean County,

The State Plan Endorsement (Township-wide development plans) of Berkeley Township will undoubtedly have a direct impact on the surrounding municipalities of Beachwood and Lacey.  In addition, the health of our waterways, especially Barnegat Bay, has declined because of years of unchecked, inappropriate coastal development.  This vital resource is at further risk due to continuing development proposals throughout the watershed.  We must be vigilant in our efforts to bring this issue to the forefront.

Map showing the current hydrologic features of the area along the Beachwood/Berkeley border.

Please join the American Littoral Society and Lacey Rail-Trail Environmental Committee in requesting a public hearing on Berkeley’s proposed development plans so that the public’s concerns can be heard!

Requests should be sent to:

Lorissa.Whitaker@dca.state.nj.us

NO LATER THAN MONDAY, MARCH 30TH.

In addition to new areas proposed for dense development, other issues will be open for discussion and comment such as: newly proposed preservation and development areas (TDR sending and receiving zones/Town Centers); the Barnegat Branch rail-trail and extended trail network in the community; Route 9 improvements and new road circulation elements; and most importantly the impacts that further development will have on Barnegat Bay.

For those of you that have previously followed Berkeley’s development plans, please be advised the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program has changed the sending and receiving areas.  A public hearing specifically on this issue is forthcoming.

Should you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Helen Henderson

Atlantic Coast Project Manager
American Littoral Society
732.575.5701
helen@littoralsociety.org
www.littoralsociety.org

Chair
Lacey Rail-Trail Environmental Committee
hhlaceyrailtrail@msn.com
www.laceyrailtrail.org

Please feel free to forward this message to others who may be interested.  Thank you.

Snapshot of the Past: The Beachwood Circle, 1938

Today we’re going to take another look at the original Beachwood Circle, courtesy of a postcard sent in 1938. This time we’ll focusing on its southwestern quarter, currently home to Clancy’s News – Tobacco Shop.

Please be aware that the Beachwood Historical Alliance is now embarking on a photo hunt of any and all photographs taken in the downtown Beachwood area, both inside and out of its structures, from 1914 to today. If you have any such photos and are willing allow the Beachwood Historical Alliance to add them to their archive (but do not want to part with the originals), please contact us at beachwoodhistoricalalliance@gmail.com. The best method would be for us to borrow the photos for a day or two to properly digitize them and any others you may have to the highest possible imaging industry standards so as to avoid having to rescan them again in the future. Thank you.

Beachwood Circle, looking across to the southwest quarter, circa 1938.

In it you can see a fairly different downtown Beachwood area than appears today. What is today used entirely for Clancy’s can be seen here as three separate shops – The Handy Shop (Soda / Luncheonette and featuring Abbott Ice Cream), The Great Atlantic and Pacific Company (just plain old A&P to us today), and what appears to be a shop called Krueger’s.

Next if we look just a little to the right, we’ll see a shop that begins with “American” (and a tree cutting off the rest) that has in recent years been Clancy’s Pharmacy, Sherry’s Scrubs, and today, Clutter Sales and Consignments.

Moving on to the right, we can see an unidentifiable shop that later became Grumpy’s Pub and is today the Beachwood Pub.

And finally, looking all the way to the left we can make out part of the Beachwood Boulevard shops.

Here’s the back of the postcard. Its text has been typed out and is visible beneath the image.

Dear Doris,

Am having a good time, but now I know what it is to be away from your boyfriend. Will be seeing you soon.

Love,

Helen

Addressed to:

Miss D. Vogt

243 Griffith Street

Jersey City, N.J.

August 10, 1938 – Beachwood.

Beachwood Borough Master Plan, Part V

MASTER PLAN

OBJECTIVES, PRINCIPLES, ASSUMPTIONS, POLICIES AND STANDARDS

The first purpose listed in the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2 et seq., is to “encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use or development of all lands in this state, in a manner which will promote the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare.” There are several other purposes included in the Municipal Land Use Law that provide a basis for guiding development at the municipal level.

The Municipal Land Use Law requires that when a municipal Master Plan is prepared that is shall include “a statement of the objectives, principles, assumptions, policies, and standards upon which the constituent proposals for the physical, economic and social development of the municipality are based.” While predominately developed, Beachwood has established specific objectives, policies, and standards in its overall planning program that have guided development through the years. The specific objectives, principles, assumptions, policies and standards upon which the Beachwood Borough Master Plan is based are included below.

LAND USE

Objective: Preserve the residential character and density of the borough and permit infill of isolated residential lots in a manner that will not have a detrimental impact to adjacent properties.

Policies and Standards: Through land development regulation, preserve viable residential neighborhoods by promoting sensitive infill development following existing lot patterns and the existing zoning in order to avoid excessively high densities and minimize excessive residential lot size deviations from the existing neighborhood pattern of 80 x 100 foot lots.

Maintain the commercially zoned areas as presently constituted while recognizing that the area along Atlantic City Boulevard is essentially developed but will undergo redevelopment thereby providing opportunities for upgrading buildings and site improvements including parking, drainage, landscaping and lighting. Commercial, office and manufacturing area along Pinewald Road can sustain limited additional development and future redevelopment. A small commercial area on the east side of Double Trouble Road, west of the Parkway, provides an opportunity for limited neighborhood retail and office uses.

HOUSING

Objective: Provide housing opportunities to meet the current and future population needs including housing opportunities to address Fair Share allocations of affordable housing for low and moderate income households in accordance with the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing rules and guidelines.

Policies and Standards: Continue the current residential zoning pattern that has provided ample opportunities for moderate priced housing for families and senior residents.

Provide for rehabilitation of low and moderate income housing that has become deteriorated due to age and/or lack of proper maintenance through the use of funds from the Ocean County Community Development Residential Rehabilitation Program and, where possible, through other funding sources.

CIRCULATION

Objective: Improve the existing vehicular circulation system for all roads in the borough in accordance with the on-going Beachwood program of street maintenance and upgrading for borough streets and coordination with county and state agencies to upgrade county and state roadways.

Policies and Standards: Maintain a Functional Classification System for all the roads in the borough in accordance with the Ocean County Transportation Plan as approved by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Continue local roadway improvements in order to upgrade the borough circulation system through storm drains, intersection traffic controls and signage.

Coordinate borough roadway improvement with plans for state and county roadway and intersection improvements.

COMMUNITY FACILITIES

Objective: Encourage the expansion and improvement of community facilities to serve the needs of existing and projected population of the borough.

Policies and Standards: Coordinate plans for expanded school and library facilities with the Land Use Plan.

Provide additional recreation facilities for long-term population growth.

UTILITIES

Objective: Maintain and, where necessary, upgrade the borough infrastructure system to serve present and future residential and non-residential uses.

Policies and Standards: Coordinate proposed expansion of water and sewer distribution system with the Land Use Plan.

CONSERVATION

Objective: Promote conservation of environmentally sensitive land and overall energy conservation in the borough.

Policies and Standards: Coordinate land use planning with other state agencies to ensure that environmentally sensitive land, including wetlands and floodplains, will be protected from development.

Promote the public acquisition of passive open space and conservation areas to preserve environmentally sensitive vegetation and wildlife including threatened and endangered species such as Atlantic white cedar, Pine Barrens tree frogs, corn snakes, pine snakes, and others that may occur in remaining habitats in the borough.

RECREATION

The Tot Lot at Jakes Branch Park.

Objective: Provide for both active and passive recreation facilities to serve existing and projected populations of the borough.

Policies and Standards: Encourage the expansion and upgrading of recreational areas in the designated public land areas, especially in the southern portion of the borough at Hickory Street and, following closure by the NJDEP of the former Beachwood Borough Landfill on Pinewald Road.

Coordinate borough recreation programs with the future development of the Ocean County park, recreation and open space area west of the parkway at Beachwood West.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Objective: Enhance and expand the borough’s economic base by promoting the development of new business and employment opportunities in the commercial areas along Atlantic City Boulevard, Pinewald Road and Double Trouble Road.

Policies and Standards: Promote redevelopment of underdeveloped and incompatible older existing commercial uses along Atlantic City Boulevard and new commercial growth in the Pinewald Road and Double Trouble Road commercial areas in the borough.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Objective: While no historical buildings or sites are presently recorded, the borough should protect and preserve significant historic sites when identified by listing them on the Borough Register of Historic Sites and the County Register of Historic Sites.

Policies and Standards: Identify and document historic sites within the borough and promote land use patterns that will not adversely affect such sites.

RECYCLING

Objective: Continue to implement the New Jersey Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act.

Policies and Standards: Conform to the Ocean County Recycling Program and promote the maximum practical recovery of recycling materials from municipal solid waste.

Relocate the Municipal Leaf Composting Facility on Cherry Street to a location south of Hickory Street.

Save the Toms River and learn about the Bay Buddy Program!

Tonight the BHA received this important message from Save Barnegat Bay regarding a new program being launched in Beachwood this Friday to show us how we can help save the Toms River and Barnegat Bay starting in our own back yards. This pertains not only to our heritage as a waterfront sailing and recreation community but also our future ability to continue as one.

First, a lesson in what’s been going on in our river and bay from Save Barnegat Bay Chairman Willie deCamp Jr.:

The Nitrogen Problem in Barnegat Bay

The halcyon surface of Barnegat Bay on a warm summer day gives little hint of the ecological difficulty below.

Sail and power boats ply peaceful waters against a background of pleasant waterfront homes, green tidal marshes, and coastal forests. The wind whispers gently; the sun glistens off the waters.

But beneath the surface all is far from well. Precious few of the sun’s beneficial rays reach the life-nurturing eelgrass beneath the water. The light’s passage is blocked by murky, proliferating algae that shade the sub-aquatic vegetation that hosts the clams, scallops, blue crabs, and fish that inhabit a healthy estuary.

This annual algal bloom is part of a cascade of adverse ecological events that stem from a central cause: an excess of nitrogen entering Barnegat Bay.

In correct proportions, nitrogen, the seventh element on the periodic table, is an essential nutrient in the food web of Barnegat Bay and other marine ecosystems.

But Barnegat Bay is like a garden that is getting too much fertilizer and no weeding. The overabundance of nitrogen that we humans are putting into the water — through fertilizer, pet wastes, deforestation, overdevelopment, and even air pollution — is radically altering the living systems within the bay.

While exploding microalgal populations deprive the eelgrass of light, larger algae, such as sea lettuce, multiply, sink to the bottom, decay, and smother eelgrass and fish habitat.

Invasive species, such as stinging sea nettles, thrive in this unhealthy environment. These and other negative impacts are collectively referred to as “eutrophication” — and Barnegat Bay has a bad case of it.

When natural systems suffer, human enjoyment of the natural resource declines. Baymen who for generations made their living off Barnegat Bay’s biological abundance are unable to find shellfish in their former numbers. Their industry is in steep decline.

Swimming beaches are forced to close due to the unwelcome abundance of stinging sea nettles. The sights and sounds of children at play in the water are transformed to crying and tears as stings from the “Beast of Barnegat Bay” bring them running ashore.

Worst of all, the lower productivity of the altered ecosystem threatens fisheries beyond the bay itself. Over two-thirds of oceanic fish species depend on healthy coastal estuaries during a portion of their life cycles.

To reverse this decline, citizens and environmental groups concerned with this beloved estuary have initiated a campaign to reduce nitrogen inputs into its tributaries.

The battle begins in your yard. Those of us with lawns — even lawns miles from Barnegat Bay but near rivers or creeks that flow into it — use far more nitrogen-containing fertilizer than we need.

Our habits must change. We will need to apply less fertilizer or none; to fertilize just once, in the fall rather than also in the spring; and to replace portions of our lawns with native plants evolved to need no fertilizer.

Government must meet the challenge, too. Townships will have to vigorously implement neglected storm water regulations. The State of New Jersey must recognize the primacy of nitrogen as a coastal pollutant, develop methods to measure its presence biologically, and set maximum limits on its use consistent with Barnegat Bay’s ecological health. Routine approvals of massive new residential developments and golf courses will have to cease.

Barnegat Bay is no stranger to dramatic environmental victories. In the 1970s, the replacement of polluting septic systems with modern sanitary sewers engineered dramatic improvement in the quality of the groundwater seeping into the bay.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the elimination of nine types of dumping in the Atlantic Ocean greatly improved the quality of the salt water entering the bay through the Manasquan, Barnegat, and Little Egg Inlets.

In the coming decade we have the opportunity for a third major victory by reducing the amount of nitrogen entering Barnegat Bay from human sources. Man and nature will jointly benefit when this revolution is accomplished.

~~~

Clearly this problem has come knocking on our front door and can no longer be ignored. For undeniable evidence of this damage right here in Beachwood, view the following images of stinging sea nettles from this past summer, taken by the BHA right at the waterline of Beachwood Beach and representing thousands more floating nearby:

As you can plainly see, action must be taken now to restore our river and bay to their proper state. That action begins in our very backyards and must begin now, not only in our borough with the support of the BHA and, hopefully, the environmental commission and youth, adult and senior service groups but especially with every group and individual in every municipality along the Toms River and Barnegat Bay.

Again, Mr. deCamp:

Please help Save Barnegat Bay and Clean Ocean Action get a supportive crowd out to the
Beachwood Community Center on

Friday, March 20 @ Noon

to launch the 2009 “Bay Buddy” Program which focuses on what WE can do in our yards and homes to save the bay!

This event will be fun, short, and interesting. Please help us get a crowd out!

There will be less than 1/2 hour of talking, and then some displays regarding soil compaction, organic fertilizer, and proper mowing. We will be finished before 1 PM.

Help us save Toms River and Barnegat Bay by starting in your very own yard!

Bring friends! Meet others interested in saving the bay. Create a buzz! Learn how you can get involved!

Snapshot of the Past: Sailing on the Toms River off Beachwood

Beachwood postcard sent in 1956.

Above we can see a typical scene common in the mid-twentieth century and today from any vantage point on the Beachwood waterfront. This postcard was cancelled in 1956 and its backside reveals a little snippet of one family’s life at the time as well as the long heritage of Beachwood’s 4th of July festivities. If anyone has any further information about anything listed therein, please e-mail us at beachwoodhistoricalalliance@gmail.com.

The text of this card has been typed out and is visible beneath the image.

Have had a pleasant visit over the 4th. Bob is coming Sat- to take us home on Monday.

Love from us both

????? and

Amy M. Loo?

Addressed to:

Mrs. John Kozlick

149 Walnut St-

Nutley, N.J.

July 6th, 1956 – Beachwood.