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The seaside town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey, bills itself as “God’s Square Mile.” It also has for over 150 years enforced a rule barring residents from accessing the beach on Sundays. However, a clash with the New Jersey government may have finally brought an end to the community’s enforcement of sabbath on the sand.
Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as a Methodist retreat. The community is run by The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA), which was given a charter by the state in 1870 that allowed them to enforce the Sunday beach restriction. Initially, the association banned beach use for the entirety of the day, but eventually partially gave in to secular and non-Christian residents’ requests and only blocked off the beach until noon.
However, in October, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a violation notice to the association for using chains and padlocked barriers to block access to the Monmouth County beach. The state threatened to fine the group $25,000 a day if OGCMA did not comply.
In response, the association has filed a lawsuit, claiming “the public’s right of access to its beachfront is not unlimited and that as a private property owner, (Ocean Grove) has complied with its legal obligation to provide reasonable access to the public.” Interestingly, the state of New Jersey was not actually named in the suit, according to NJ.com. Rather, the suit listed two opponents to the beach access ban, as well as 100 citizens who entered the beach on Sunday, against the association’s wishes. That suit was then withdrawn in late November, but OGCMA decided to continue to fight for the beach ban by attempting to amend their Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) permits through the NJ administrative court system.
“The slight limitation on physical presence on the beachfront on the Lord’s Day is consistent with the plaintiff’s mission to build and maintain a beautiful seaside community to serve as a place for meditation, reflection and renewal during the summer months,” wrote the association in the lawsuit. “The ability to reflect upon an empty and quiet beachfront during this limited time is at the core of plaintiff’s very creation. Regardless of one’s beliefs, spending the morning hours in an unhurried morning stroll on a less crowded boardwalk has emotional, spiritual and bodily health benefits.”
“Ocean Grove is God’s place,” Mary Martin, an 87-year-old long-time Ocean Grove resident, told the Associated Press. “I love it here. I love the Bible hour six days a week, great speakers, great singing, great fellowship, great joy, everyone welcome.” Martin continued to point out that the association had already bent their will to secular residents, and that, “We should be able to enjoy our Sundays.”
Newer residents of the town beg to differ, though. “We just feel that’s wrong, that it’s not what America is supposed to be about,” said Paul Martin, who bought a house in Ocean Grove in 2003. “It makes living here very uncomfortable when you’re gay, when you’re Jewish, an atheist or agnostic.” Last year, Paul and his wife Aliza Greenblatt were among the people who went onto the beach on a Sunday, despite warnings. In response, the association called the police, who arrived on the scene but did not intervene.
However, despite OGCMAs dogged attempts to uphold the ban, it appears they may have finally lost the fight. An administrative hearing for the organization to challenge the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection order was scheduled for May 16. Since then, the Ocean Grove website has quietly removed mentions of the Sunday beach restriction, as Surfrider reports.
