## Facts

- Atlantis Beach Club owned and operated a 480-foot stretch of privately owned upland dry sand beach in Diamond Beach, Lower Township, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.
- Until 1996, the beach area on Atlantis’s property was open to the public without charge.
- After 1996, Atlantis operated the property as a private beach club, charging significant access fees and providing amenities such as chairs, umbrellas, and lifeguards.
- Nearby, Seapointe Village offered publicly accessible beach access under a state permit, with DEP-approved pass fees, and free passage along the water’s edge.
- In June 2002, a local resident (and association member) was issued a trespass summons after leaving the wet sand area and attempting to cross Atlantis’s dry sand to reach the end of a public street for the most direct route home.
- Atlantis sought injunctive relief and a declaration that it could exclude the public from its property and had no obligation to provide access to the ocean through its dry sand.
- A neighborhood residents’ association sued Atlantis and the State, alleging that Atlantis’s exclusionary practices violated the public trust doctrine and seeking public access and use of the beach.
- The trial court recognized public rights to limited vertical and horizontal access across Atlantis’s dry sand, and allowed reasonable fees for those remaining on the dry sand where Atlantis provided services.
- The Appellate Division affirmed broader public access and recreational use of the dry sand, permitting DEP-approved reasonable fees for services.

## Issues

1. Whether the public trust doctrine, as applied through the factors identified in *Matthews v. Bay Head Improvement Ass’n*, gives the public rights of vertical and horizontal access over privately owned upland dry sand adjacent to tidal waters.
2. Whether the public trust doctrine includes a right to use the privately owned dry sand area for recreational purposes, not merely passage.
3. Whether, and under what standard, a private beach club may charge fees for public use of the dry sand area, including the role of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in regulating fee reasonableness.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the Appellate Division.
- Applying the *Matthews* factors, the Court held that the public trust doctrine required Atlantis’s upland dry sand beach to be open to the general public for access and recreational use.
- The Court held that the public right included both vertical access to reach the ocean and horizontal access along the shore, and included reasonable recreational use of dry sand needed to make enjoyment of tidal waters practical.
- The Court allowed Atlantis to charge a reasonable fee tied to services it provides, including management expenses, with fee amounts subject to DEP approval.
- The Court rejected Atlantis’s claim that private title (including by riparian grant) permitted complete exclusion of the public where public trust interests required access and use.

## Legal Principles

- The public trust doctrine protects public rights in tidal waters and can require access over, and use of, privately owned upland dry sand when necessary to make those public rights meaningful.
- Courts assessing public access and use of privately owned dry sand apply the *Matthews* factors, including: (1) the beach’s location relative to the ocean, (2) availability of public beaches nearby, (3) public demand, and (4) the owner’s use of the property.
- Public trust rights may include vertical access, horizontal access, and recreational use of dry sand to the extent reasonably necessary for use and enjoyment of the ocean and wet sand.
- Private owners may charge fees that are reasonable and linked to services actually provided, and the State may regulate fee levels to prevent economic barriers that effectively deny public access.
- Private property interests in coastal lands are subject to accommodation between the owner’s interests and the public’s trust rights.

## Conclusion

The New Jersey Supreme Court held that, given the site’s oceanfront location, limited alternative public beaches, history of public use, and Atlantis’s commercial beach-club operation, the public trust doctrine required Atlantis to allow public access and recreational use of its dry sand beach, while permitting only reasonable, DEP-approved fees tied to services provided.


Raleigh Avenue Beach Ass'n v. Atlantis Beach Club, Inc., 185 N.J. 40, 879 A.2d 112 (2005)