This summer, the seashore town of Wildwood is charging a fee for people with the right cars to park in a very convenient location.
The start of summer, writes Nick Corsaniti in The New York Times, is also the start of "the perpetual battle over beach access in New Jersey, where towns along the 127-mile coast regulate parking spaces, meter rates, beach access points and, most contentiously, beach tag prices."
The town of Wildwood, in a predictably controversial effort to raise revenue and draw more visitors, has built a tunnel under its boardwalk for cars.
Officials are using their vast wealth of sandy expanse to welcome any four-wheel-drive vehicles (not to be confused with all-wheel-drive, which will get stuck in the sand) to park on the newly accessible beach for $10 a day or $20 during special events like concerts. Nearby private lots can charge anywhere from $15 to as much as $30 on holiday weekends.
Corsaniti also reports on several other beach access controversies, including a town that just starting charging to park and a lawsuit over restricting access to certain motorized vehicles.
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