Long Beach Township

BY ERIN MCFEETERS

Travel through the New Jersey Pine Barrens to the causeway bridge over the bay to this seaside island township on Long Beach Island. In the early years, traveling to Long Beach Island was hazardous, and many visitors experienced flat tires, mechanical breakdowns, and even highway robbery.

Despite the harsh travel conditions, everyone who ever came to this island…came out of pure enjoyment and returned year after year for the same reason, wrote John Baily Lloyd in his book, Six Miles At Sea.

The dawn of the 20 th century brought major roadways like County Route 539 and U.S. 72, which have made traveling down the shore a sea breeze.

Long Beach Township is a water lovers paradise,” said Dave Powitz, Dipper-in-Chief of Skipper Dipper Ice Cream and life-long resident of Long Beach Township. “Beautiful beaches, great waves and access to Barnegat Bay. And the sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking.

The township is comprised of 13 beaches that span across the island: Brant Beach, Beach Haven Crest, Brighton Beach, Peahala Park, Beach Haven Park, Haven Beach, Dunes, Beach Haven Terrace, Spray Beach, Holgate, North Beach, Love Ladies, and High Bar Harbor. Interesting enough, these towns are not right after another along the 18-miles of Long Beach Island. Rather, towns such as Beach Haven, Surf City, and Harvey Cedars break up the township into smaller sections.

“Although Long Beach Township is large,” said Samantha DiPietro, manager of Stefano’s Restaurant, “within the township, the small neighborhoods are close knit communities that look out for each other.”

Like many beach or coastal areas, in the winter months Long Beach Township tends to be on the quiet side, with no vacationers and a majority of businesses closed during the off-season. The tides switch during the summer months with warm weather and summer tourists.

The community life here is like any small town, said Powitz. For a resort town, which attracts thousands of people every summer, when you live here, you still run into people.

Nearly eight years ago in 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit Long Beach Island and much of the Jersey Shore. Today, as you drive down Long Beach Island Boulevard, the difference in home types is obvious. In some areas that were heavily

damaged, with many homes left in ruins, newlybuilt homes replaced them. These new builds are beach cottage style on a larger scale, while others have a more modern look with dark window frames and clean lines. Areas of the island that were not as damaged, have much smaller classic style beach cottages with wood shingles.

Prior to Hurricane Sandy, in September 2012, the year-to-date median sales price was $800,000 year-to-date according to monthly housing data from New Jersey Realtors® . In April 2020, the median sales price in Long Beach Township was $932,250 year-to-date, which is the highest median sales price out of all Long Beach Island local markets and over a $100,000 median sales price increase in less than 10 years.

Looking ahead, many small businesses were concerned COVID-19 would not allow them to open this summer, and with an economy reliant on summer tourism, they were concerned. But, with Gov. Murphy’s Restart and Recovery Plan, as of June 15 businesses down the shore opened for outdoor dining, non-essential retail opened, and rentals resumed.

DiPietro doesn’t foresee the summer to be extremely different from previous summers,

because the heart of an LBI summer is enjoying the island, spending time with friends and family and supporting local businesses—and none of that is changing!

Many businesses, like Skipper Dipper, have planned a change in the way they do business this summer to keep customers safe.

Putting safety first, we pivoted the business so that our guests now place their orders ahead on our website. We are providing contactless, curbside pickup,” said Powitz. Ice cream feels more essential than ever right now, and we’re doing our best to provide a service that brings our guests joy.