Resident faults city on ADA beach access Mayor says access rules impact only new development BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - A city resident has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of senior citizens and disabled residents of the city he says have been denied beach access. Ocean Boulevard resident Austin Gelzer, 80, told council members at the Feb. 13 municipal meeting that he would be filing a discrimination complaint form, asking the federal government to enforce the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Gelzer said he filed the form on Feb. 14. In addition to being denied beach access along the city's oceanfront, Gelzer said disabled residents have been denied accessible public restrooms and to some degree, sufficient parking facilities. "The ADA law requires action now and the federal government will provide advice and support to the city so that the disabled and elderly will be able to enjoy the beach starting this 2007 Memorial Day weekend," said Gelzer. Gelzer appeared before the City Council at the Jan. 23 meeting and said there are limited access points for handicapped people at city beaches, adding that disabled residents are also unable to access the beach from Pier Village south to Brighton Avenue. In an e-mail, another Long Branch homeowner said limited access, or the complete lack of beach access points, in the city is an issue she is "very much faced with." Irma Schwartz, 65, of Florida, owns a home off West End Beach in Long Branch and said when she was 16 years old she often would frequent the city beaches. "I used scamper up and down those cement steps without a problem," she said in an e-mail. "Now at age 65, I can't do them without help." Schwartz said she sent an e-mail to the City Council last summer describing the same concerns as Gelzer, but never received a reply. Gelzer said at the meeting that according to Title Two of the ADA, persons with disabilities must have access to public places. "Municipalities, such as Long Branch, are since January 1995, legally and categorically required by the ADA law to make these facilities ADA compliant," Gelzer said. "The city is now 12 years late," he added. But Mayor Adam Schneider said in an interview after the meeting that in terms of ADA, Gelzer's concerns are not accurate. "Should there be more beach access?" Schneider asked. "Of course. But we can't just go out and build a ramp. There are CAFRA issues, ADA issues and we would need to hire an engineer," he said. Schneider explained that the city is not obligated under ADA to build additional access points for people with disabilities along the beach. "We are required to build by the ADA for any new improvements as we move forward with plans," he said. Schneider said the city is currently awaiting approval under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) for a $12 million boardwalk design plan for the city's oceanfront. "If I were to start the process today, I would be doing what we already began six months ago, with the development plans for a boardwalk," Schneider said. "We have been in compliance and will continue to be in compliance with ADA," he said. The boardwalk will run from the Beachfront South redevelopment zone down to Brighton Avenue, Schneider explained. He added that the project will be funded by a developer's contribution from Beachfront South designated developer K. Hovnanian, as part of the beachfront redevelopment project. On July 28, 2005, Gelzer said he met with City Business Administrator Howard H. Woolley and presented him with a petition bearing 150 signatures protesting the lack of beach access. Gelzer said he was told by Woolley that the city was without funds to fulfill the request and would have to wait for the Beachfront South Redevelopment project, which includes amenities to the boardwalk, to be completed. But a year-and-a-half later, Gelzer said nothing has changed. In the beginning of February, Gelzer said he was told by the city's Finance Department that there is approximately $145,000 unexpended in the beachfront South Development trust fund. "But funding or lack of funding is an irrelevant issue," he said. Schwarz said in the e-mail, "Summertime is coming up quickly and I will be leaving Jacksonville to spend five months in Long Branch," she said. "I would so love to walk on to West End Beach, where at my age I can access it without charge. "Instead I drive to the state park beach down the road, where I have to pay to gain entrance, but there are no steps and they even provide a plastic walkway halfway to the surf," she wrote.