Middletown Makes Ideal Beach Parking Changes

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — At their meeting Monday night, the Middletown Township Committee approved a series of changes to the parking rules at Ideal Beach.

The Ideal Beach parking problems came to a head last July, when the secret got out that Middletown's beaches were free — and were inundated by out-of-town visitors during the pandemic.

Parking, traffic and litter were a huge problem last summer, particularly at Ideal.

Now, as of Monday night, the new parking laws for Ideal Beach are:

• No parking at any time on the north side of Bayside Parkway from Ocean Avenue to Weehawken Avenue (this applies to residents, too).
• Bayside Parkway East from Ocean Avenue to Weehawken Avenue will become a one-way street starting at the Friday before Memorial Day through midnight on Labor Day each year.

In summer 2020, there were reports of unprecedented amounts of litter, public drinking, illegal parking and people "using the dunes as bathrooms" at Ideal, beaches in Keansburg and along Bayshore Waterfront Park. Past reporting: Middletown Addresses Ideal Beach's Trash, Illegal Parking Problem (July 2020)

Middletown's beaches were inundated by New Yorkers and North Jerseyans fleeing COVID, Mayor Tony Perry said at the time, but license plates were seen from as far away as Baltimore and Illinois.

Middletown directly took action last summer by closing all the beaches at 8 p.m. and closing off the Weehawken Ave. entrance to Ideal Beach; it was filled in with sand.

Middletown even mulled the idea of starting beach badges, where residents would need to pay for a beach badge to access Ideal Beach from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

However, that idea was very unpopular when it was introduced; the town appears not to be following through with it.

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