Atlantic City, NJ, to Hold Public Meeting About Offshore Wind’s Use of Beach, Park, Bader Field

The City of Atlantic City will be holding a public meeting later this month about offshore wind's plans to take over a portion of a city park, use several blocks of beach, and a part of Bader Field for the "installation of underground utility facilities and associated
activities."

The parcels of land include the following parts of the city:

• Roughly 1.7 acres of beach between South Texas and Iowa Avenues
• Aprox. 0.44 acres of land at Bader Field on Albany Avenue
• Roughly 0.32 acres of land at Fairmount and Sovereign Avenues at the Pete Pallitto recreation fields, near the Chelsea Village apartment complex

This public scoping meeting is required under the state's Green Acres regulations as those properties are owned by the City of Atlantic City and the Atlantic City Board of Education and are encumbered by NJDEP restrictions.

Any major changes, like the ones being proposed by the developers of offshore wind, require a public meeting prior to the submission of any formal application for the diversion of parkland.

• Ventnor, Margate, and Longport Battle Wind Energy Scheme

Atlantic Shores is a partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America and its Offshore Wind Project Lease Area is located approximately 10-20 miles off the coast of New Jersey between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light.

• Gov. Murphy Signs Tax Break for Orsted's NJ Offshore Wind Farm
• NJ's Other Wind Farm Developer Wants Government Breaks, Too

Two years ago, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities awarded Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind a contract to develop 1,510 MW in offshore wind energy.

Atlantic Shores is in the process of acquiring various properties, permanent rights of way and easements needed to install underground cables and related infrastructure in connection with the Project which will be necessary for the transmission of offshore wind generated energy to the electric distribution network.

In addition to the proposed permanent changes across the city, the project is expected to temporarily impact about 15 acres of land at those three points.

• Offshore Windmills Will Cost Cape May, NJ, $1B in Tourism Revenue - Report

Meeting details

The meeting will be held at the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 1301 Bacharach Blvd. in Atlantic City on Thursday, July 27th, at 6:00 PM.

This Scoping Hearing will not be held during normal business hours and attendees should make inquiry as to how to access the building for the meeting.

All interested parties are invited to attend and participate in the hearing.

Written comments

Written comments on the proposed changes may be directed to:

Terence Kelly, External Affairs Manager for Atlantic Shores
One Dock 72 Way
Brooklyn, NY 11205

You may also email
terence.kelly@atlanticshoreswind.com with any comments or questions regarding the hearing.

Get our free mobile app

A copy of any written comments must also be submitted to the Green Acres Program at
PublicLandCompliance@dep.nj.gov. Please include “Atlantic Shores” in the subject line.

Comments may also be mailed to:

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Green Acres Program, Bureau of Legal Services and Stewardship
401 East State Street, 7th Floor, Mail Code 401-07B, P.O. Box 420,
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0420
Attn: Atlantic Shores Application

Deadline

Public comment on the proposed land use changes will be accepted during the scoping hearing or until two weeks after the date of the meeting, which will be August 10th.