Given all the history, lawsuits, letters and meetings, it can easily feel like you’re neck-deep in sand when thinking about the “Five Mile Island” project.
That’s the massive $54 million Jersey Shore project, which is meant to reinforce a roughly 5-mile stretch of coast in Cape May County amid severe erosion and build up defenses in the face of future storms.
The project has been in the planning, design and finalization phase for over a decade.
It has also ignited a litigious debate between mayors in the project area of Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood and Lower Township.
Here is the latest on the project and how (as currently designed) it is expected to reshape the southern most tip of the Jersey Shore.
Why the debate?
In short, North Wildwood — where erosion became so severe last year an emergency beach-fill was needed — is fervently in favor of the project. Lower Township agrees it should happen too.
However, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest officials have repeated that the beach construction would threaten the size of their beaches (where events like a large country music festival are held), would sink part of the local economy and adversely limit beach access.
The state has denied the claims.
Regulators with the DEP said construction — which would build a tall dune the length of Five Mile Island — is needed especially as climate change fuels stronger storms. They also noted that as opposed to the suggestion to refill North Wildwood with sand dredged from Hereford Inlet, there are millions on hand to do this new project.
Why the arguments now?
Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera and Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano say when they first signed off on state agreements for the island-wide project to happen, those were only partial plans.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental and Army Corps’ release of a 95% plan — and how officials say some slivers of beach could be scaled back — has meant new uproar.
The state asked the towns to re-agree to move forward with the project by March 18 or risk losing funds dedicated for it. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state noted, had already indicated that the money could be re-diverted to other projects elsewhere in the nation.
The future of New Jersey’s project is now locked in litigation after a judge asked town officials in Wildwood Crest to pause issuing government actions to withdraw from it.
North Wildwood, which has not had a federal replenishment since Hurricane Sandy, praised the latest court actions.
Representatives with Wildwood Crest are now scheduled to appear before a judge in April.
Mark Heinzelmann, an attorney for Wildwood Crest, told NJ Advance Media on Friday that the town filed a new motion to “dissolve that portion of the court’s March 19, 2025 order that seeks to restrict Wildwood Crest from carrying out its governmental functions by requiring the parties to ‘maintain the status quo.‘”
Instead of the “status quo,” ostensibly not being able to withdraw from the Five Mile Island project through a municipal action, Wildwood Crest is currently limited by the judge.
Heinzelmann called the restrictions “unlawful.”
North Wildwood officials on Friday declined to comment on the litigation specifically.
What will the project actually do to the beach?
As currently designed, the Five Mile Island project would distribute about 2 million cubic yards of sand when completed.
The project is set to be covered by about $34 million in federal funds and about $19 million in state allocations. Earlier this year, officials said construction was slated to start in 2026.
Given the latest lawsuit, that timeline may change.
Wildwood and Wildwood Crest officials have worried that “borrow areas” — where the sand will be taken from to make the project possible — are primarily in their two towns.
Is that true? Yes.
The roughly-3 mile-long borrow area is located approximately 20% within Wildwood City and 80% in Wildwood Crest, based on the 95% plan, Army Corps experts confirmed.
When first drawn up, federal officials said, the Five Mile Island plan outlined that sand could be taken from beaches in any of the four towns. However, the latest design made the most sense for the project scope and in order to be effective, they explained.
Federal engineers have noted in the past that replenishments, given wave action and other environmental factors, are very dynamic.
These coastal projects — which act as defenses for homes, power lines and other shore infrastructure — are meant to be wiped away over time.
“It’s important to again note the beach will naturally adjust as longshore transport begins to move sand back from North Wildwood along the coast and infill the borrow area,” spokesman Stephen Rochette said in statement provided by experts at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Philadelphia District.
Some experts and nonprofits have shared however that coastal replenishments have only encouraged more development on vulnerable parts of the shore.
Jersey Shore fight ramps up as mayors fear project could shrink the beach https://t.co/F9AXC1nmXt
— NJ.com Politics (@NJ_Politics) March 19, 2025
What about the size of each town’s beach?
Many variables are at play when considering how a beach replenishment project will impact a shore.
Asked by NJ Advance Media, Army Corps experts provided the following on how the Five Mile Island project as designed today would impact Cape May County’s coast (figures are based on 2024 surveys of beach sizes):
- Wildwood Crests' beach would go from an average width of 688 feet to 519 feet post-construction (a loss of about 170 feet)
- Wildwood’s beach would go from an average of 1,367 feet to 1,134 feet post-construction (a loss of about 233 feet)
- There is minimal change in beach widths for Lower Township and the beach widths for North Wildwood would increase.
Therefore, at most a Jersey Shore beach would lose around 230 feet of beach on average as part of this project.
North Wildwood’s beach — an average width for which was not immediately available — would increase to 530 feet after project completion but right away “start to erode post-construction,” the Army Corps said.
Wildwood residents have seen their beach grow to as much as 1,600 feet in the past, according to Stockton University experts.
A combination of particularly harsh coastal erosion up north and winds pushing sand toward Wildwood and Wildwood Crest previously took a 10-block chunk off North Wildwood’s beach.
“My focus is on preserving a 50-year federal commitment to shore protection for the Wildwoods,” North Wildwood’s Mayor Patrick Rosenello said Friday of the latest project updates and litigation. “Our entire island is ultimately in this together.”
Has it really been all hands on deck?
There have been multiple community meetings to involve towns and stakeholders in the planning of the massive project, the state has previously said.
“The Army Corps and DEP have continuously worked with the four communities along five-mile island to ensure that existing activities along the beach are compatible with the coastal storm damage reduction project,” spokespeople with the Army Corps' Philadelphia District said Thursday.
“The design team has made multiple revisions over the years at the request of the local communities concerning the dune alignment to best meet the needs of the community” the federal agency added. “The project will reduce the excessive beach widths in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest and still allow current beach activities.”
The DEP commissioner has also said Wildwood and Wildwood Crest will still be able to host large-scale events even after the massive project is done.
As far as community input, private homeowners on Diamond Beach in Lower Township have criticized the process. Among other issues, they say Lower Township’s agreement to the latest 95% plan acted was a tacit agreement on their part too. But they never got a chance to give their own OK.
Residents there claim to have been left out of design and planning conversations.
Chris Adam, one such homeowner at Seapointe Village in Lower Township, said Friday: “NJDEP (is) currently dealing with the town officials directly and not the private owners of the beaches particularly the condo associations.”
Adam said overall he was in support of the goal of the Five Mile Island project, but worried the latest design would reduce his beach and homeowners could face future costs after the project (such as expenses tied to a walkway).
The Army Corps referred questions about Diamond Beach to the DEP, which did not immediately comment on the concerns.
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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @stevenrodas.bsky.social.
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