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Point Pleasant Beach Restaurant Suing Over Plan To Build Sand Dunes

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - The owners of Jenkinson's Pavilion in Point Pleasant Beach are suing over a plan to build sand dunes, saying the project would transform their privately owned beach into a public one.

Attorney for Jenkinson's Pavilion, John Buonocore, told WCBS 880's Jim Smith they are not opposed to building a protective dune, just the permanent nature of the easement.

Point Pleasant Beach Restaurant Suing Over Plan To Build Sand Dunes

"Once you sell your property or give it away, whoever you gave it to has whatever rights you gave them," he said.

Buonocore fears the legal language involved is too broad.

"This deed clearly reflects that one of the things you're giving is the right to operate a public beach," he said.

But State Department Spokesman, Larry Ragonese, said that's not the case.

"The sole intention here is to create a more resilient, a more protective coastline," he said.

Ragonese notes 95 percent of the 3,000 easements needed up and down the Jersey Shore have signed on voluntarily.

The case is now in federal court.

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