By Emily Schopfer
MIDDLETOWN – Residents of Ideal Beach and Bayside Parkway in Middletown have presented a petition to Mayor Tony Perry and township committee members regarding ongoing Ideal Beach parking lot issues.
“Our neighborhood fronts the Ideal Beach parking lot. While we support public access to Ideal Beach, the ongoing issues experienced have negatively impacted our safety, property conditions, and quality of life,” read the April 4 petition, presented at the April 8 meeting.
Ideal Beach resident Paul Benfer, one of the petition organizers, said about 28 people signed the petition.
“So, people come, they litter, they leave bottles, and they blow over into the street. The street is constantly littered,” Benfer said at the meeting. He also said that while he does see park maintenance out in the parking lot, in his over five years living near Ideal Beach, he has “never once seen them walk into the street. There could be a pile of garbage sitting there, and they won’t pick it up. After a while, it gets a little upsetting.”
In addition to the physical trash from late-night parking-lot partying, Benfer also spoke of noise pollution. Loud, blasting music can often be heard from the parking lots, which Benfer said have been used for full-blown barbecues.
Resident Linda Avelenda said light pollution has been a problem, too, when headlights from cars parked in the Ideal Beach lot shine directly into residents’ homes. She also requested that lines be painted on the road to prevent beachgoers from parking their vehicles in front of walkways and driveways.
In April 2021, the township adopted an ordinance prohibiting parking on the north side of Bayside Parkway, closest to the beach, between Ocean and Weehawken avenues. While this ordinance prevents beachgoers from parking on both sides of the already narrow street, it does not prevent them from potentially parking in front of residents’ homes or their driveways.
Perry said he has been in conversation with Janet Dellet, the director of the Parks & Recreation Department, and Middletown Police Chief R. Craig Weber regarding the matter. Perry said Weber agreed to provide additional officers to monitor the area, but “not during the summer, high traffic months.”
Perry also added that, at one point, the township did consider resident-only parking. The catch-22, however, is that this regulation would deny parking for any invited guests or visitors of residents. As a result, the township did not pursue the idea.
Ideal Beach, similar to all township parks, is open from dawn to dusk; signs will be posted at all three of the Ideal Beach parking lot entrances, according to Perry.
Both Perry and township administrator Tony Mercantante confirmed April 17 that parking lot signage, parking lines on the side street, and police patrols during the off-season will be enacted to remedy the issue.
If the township enforces the nighttime parking ban, that should be sufficient to fix the problem, Benfer said in an April 16 interview. While he acknowledges the remedies will never address every issue, he said he’s sure the mayor will follow through with these actions.
Middletown Township began requiring beach badges for access to Ideal Beach in the summer of 2022, but discontinued the practice. According to the township’s website, admission to Ideal Beach is currently free for the public.
The article originally appeared in the April 23 – 29, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
