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The Herald and The Lantern

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Turtles A photograph of a crushed turtle isn't the most pleasant thing to behold, but it is a picture which must be faced because it is a scene too often repeated along the roadways l)ctwcen the mainland and resort islands in Cape May County. Along Stone Harbor or Avalon Blvd., for example, one will encounter scores of such lifeless bodies along the shoulder of the highway — where motorists have deliberately swerved off the main thorofare for the sole purpose of crushing these defenseless creatures. THE SENSELESS KILLING of these animals is an act which happens with such frequency that it must often occur within sight of other drivers. We do not know whether there are actual laws on the books that prohibit the senseless killing of turtles. There arc, of course, roadside signs which warn the driver that a particular area is a Turtle (Tossing. Perhaps there is need for additional wording beneath the Turtle-X'ing signs proclaiming that running over the creatures is punishable by a tine of $500 or more. BET, LIKE THE SIGNS WHICH point out that roadside dumping and litter is illegal, such posters would undoubtedly be useless or without meaning to the type of individual who goes out of his way to run over a turtle. To such a person, it is meaningless, too, to point out that the turtle is crossing over an area that has served as thettnimal’s homeland territory for countless hundreds of years before there were ever roadways here. SOMEDAY, PERHAPS, YOU WILL read a news account naming an individual who has Iwen cited for allegedly purposely running over a turtle. Perhaps the embarrassment of being so named would serve as a deterent to other would be turtle-killers. That can only be conjecture. What is reality is the sad fact that there are so many human beings’ out there behind the driver's wheel who arc so thoughtless and so wretched. It certainly doesn't speak very highly of Earth’s seemingly most intelligent creatures!

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Cogent Warning by Yvonne S. Ballenger ,1 wish to thank you for the article by John Macy Jr., director of Federal Emergency Management Agency, in the July 9 Herald entitled “History’s Teachings Have Been Ignored." It would be my hope that every home owner in Avalon, and indeed, in Cape May County has read this cogent warning since we are now emerging into hurricane weather. If there are homeowners here in Avalon who have not gotten the menage from this pertinent article, I would advise that they secure a copy of the Herald and ponder the warnings that are given. It may save lives. Yvone Ballenger is chairman and secretary of the Avalon Environmental Commission. Dogs Don’t Belong On Beach, Parks I read your editorial “Those Other Dog Days" in the July 9 Herald. Hurrah, for you. and many thanks for your interest for the homeowners m Avalon. W«Hive near a public park, and needless to say some are not courteous at all with their dogs. People show up in droves, and not one has ever cleaned up after their dog. The bushes, planted in the park are (timing brown; the lawn even worse. Children play in these parks and it has becomeTan unsightly mess and most of all a health hazard. I feel sorl-y for the workers hired by the borough to care for the parks They turn away in distaste at the messes everywhere. Please remind all that our parks and beached are beautiful and. for the enhancement of Avalon and not a dog toilet. P.S. We are dog lowers, having a few of our own. They use their own yard and it is cleaned up every day. D. Schmidt is an Avalon resident. It Means a Lot ' by Caro| J.VaM On behalf of the people who daily use the public dock at 20th St. and 5th Ave., I would like to thank the construction crew who did a marvelous job of rebuilding it. That dock gets a lot of hard use, and Andy and his men made sure that it will be there for many years to come. We joked and heckled them a lot, however what they did means a lot to us. We don’t have to worry about the dock every time a storm rises now. Thanks guys. (P.S. A floating platform would still be nice.) Carol Pahi is a 20th St. resident in Avalon. Beautification Begins With Consideration By Resident, Visitor by Ellsworth Armacost / We are proud of our Borough and the officials and the /employees work hard to make it a place where people \ are proud to live. Many individuals and civic groups have raised funds to Beallttfjrlhe islands on Dune Dr., and the Avalon Environmental Commission has worked hard to preserve the dunes in their natural state. WE NEED THE COOPERATION of each and every one of you to help make Avalon the most beautiful spot on the coast. Each resident and visitor can help us. When you cut your grass, don’t sweep it into the gutter. It blows around and clogs the catch basin, creating an additional problem and eye sore. Trash must go out in containers — not just plastic bags. The sea gulls have a feast and leave a trail of debris. THERE ARE DUMPSTERS THROUGHOUT town for people who won’t be here to put trash cans back. These dumpsters are for trash — not bulk items. (Bulk items will be picked up if you call Borough Hall and request it.) Place bags in the dumpsters — not in front of them. All of these steps will help keep Avalon more beautiful, but they will also save money. A clogged catch basin requires a public works crew to spend time cleaning it out. Trash blown, thrown or dragged around means a crew has to go out and clean up — all of this costs money — taxpayers' money. Ellsworth Armacost is the Mayor of Avalon. the SOVEREIGN STATE of AFFAIRS

WELL. THIS WEEK WE RE GETTING A LESSON IN HOW OUR GOVERNMENT WORKS

Wednesday. July 23,1*80

Dune Act Must Go!

by James R. Harley

One of the inherent flaws in the legislative process is what I call the “mudball principle" If you throw enough mud at a wall, some of it will stick. If it isn't scraped off quickly, it will dry and become as hard as concrete and almost as difficult to remove. That is the principle that governs what happens to certain kinds of legislation that should never be proposed at all. Every time a totally absurd approach is suggested to solve a problem, the public outcry may force that proposal to be modified — but a piece of the original oddball idea inevitably survives to become law. SUCH. I FEAR, will be the fate of the Dune and Shorefront Protection Act (A-182S) untess it is withdrawn entirely. The so-called “protection act" would protect nothing and benefit no one if allowed to pass in its current form. It would forbid a shorefront property owner to rebuild or repair his building if it suffered damage worth more than half its value. Suddenly the property would be entirely without value, and there is no provision in the bill to compensate the owner for the loss. THERE ARE SOME other aspects of the bill that represent a threat to the continuation of private property maintenance and reasonable enjoyment of shorefront property. One is the concept of sand removal, which can be so broadly interpreted that it could prohibit a shore homeowner from sweeping hLs back steps.

the state’s second largest industry — tourism. AND THAT conclusion is drawn only from what the bill actually says. It doesn’t take into account what the commissioner of, the Department of Environmental Protection may do in interpreting and enforcing the act; for the act gives the DEP Commissioner carte blanche to write the rules and interpret the act -r as have too many environmental protection laws in the past..,. The sponsor of the act has saiuhe will amend it to redefine some of the most blatantly unacceptable areas, such as the 50 percent reconstruction prohibition and the sand removal clause. .BUT I MUST ASK, even insist, that he Withdraw the bill — which was written by the DEP — and go to the trouble of writing specific and narrow legislation to accomplish his goal based on a realistic view of New Jersey’s beaches and a healthy respect for the basic Constitutional rights of property owners. That, unfortunately, almost always seems too great a task for New Jersey legislators, who would rather delegate their elected legislative authority to bureaucratic sidewinders who answer to no one but their own appetites for power and authority. But it need not be so. It is time for the legislature to quit abdicating its legislative responsibility and write the laws precisely the way they expect the law to be enforced.

The ultimate result of the bill, if enacted, could be to empty New Jersey's beachfronts and barrier islands of human habitation and to destroy

James Hurley represents Cape May & Cumberland Counties in the lower statehouse, where he Is Assembly Minority Leader.

DAVID BOYD