Public Invited to Weigh In Sandy Hook Fee Hike

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By Liz Sheehan
Public comments, which are due by Sept. 5, will play a major role in determining if the National Park Service (NPS) will put into place proposed increases in parking fees at Sandy Hook and other beaches in the Gateway National Recreation Area.
The increase in fees at Sandy Hook would include a jump for each car from $15 a day to $20, and from $75 a season to $100. For oversize vehicles the fees will increase from $30 a day to $50, and from $150 a season to $200.
Those with Senior and Access passes (for the disabled) will pay half-price.
Daphne Yun, a spokesperson for the park service said Wednesday that similar increases were proposed in 2014 but not put into effect because of the requirement that the NPS has to “prove public support” for the fee increases, which it could not. The last fee increase was in 2012.
Yun said that if the new fees were put into place, “we keep 80 percent,” and “20 percent goes back to NPS.”
The park service scheduled three sessions for the public to learn more about the plans for the fee increases and to express opinions about the proposal. The first was held at Sandy Hook on Aug. 12, another will be at parking area D from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20. An open house will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sandy Hook Chapel at Fort Hancock on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
In addition, comments can be sent to Gateway_Fee_ Increases@nps.gov or to the Office of the Superintendent, Gateway National Recreation Area. ATTN: Proposed parking fee increase, 210 New York Ave., Staten Island, New York 10305.
Asked why the parking fees at Riis Park, another Gateway beach, will be lower, increasing from $10 to $15 a day for parking and $65 for a season to $75, Yun said that the fees are based on comparisons to charges at other beach facilities in the area. She said some beaches near Sandy Hook charge both parking fees and beach entrance fees, which Sandy Hook does not do.
Yun said funds from the fees will pay both for future projects at Sandy Hook as well as some already completed.
In a statement released concerning the proposed fee increases, the park service said the funds would be used “to maintain and improve current levels of services,” which would “provide enhanced visitor services including repair and maintenance of facilities, enhance amenities and additional programs and services.”
It listed past projects that the fees have been used for at Sandy Hook as extending the dock facility, shoreline monitoring, paving the multi-use path and adding a webcam which is underway.
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, (D-NJ) released a letter sent to Jonathan Jarvis, the director of the park service on Aug. 9, in which he said he opposed the fee increases.
Pallone, whose district includes the park, will attend the information session concerning the fee increase proposal on Aug. 31, Anton Becker, communicators director for the congressman, said Wednesday.
“The increase would cause additional financial burden to the many individuals and families who visit the park for recreational purposes and has the potential to negatively impact the local economy,” Pallone said.
He asked for information relating to Sandy Hook, “specifically visitor counts and revenue information from prior to the last fee increase through the most recent data available.”
Pallone, in his letter, also asked to meet with park representatives “who can provide an explanation of the proposed use of the increased fees, and if the fee money collected at Sandy Hook is dedicated specifically to Sandy Hook, or if any is diverted to other parks within Gateway Recreational Area, or other NPS parks.”