Seaside Park, Citing Demand, Increases Number of Beach Buggy Permits for 2026

Beach buggy access is blocked at the Brighton Avenue entrance, Seaside Park, N.J., April 18, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Seaside Park officials will increase the number of beach buggy permits issued in 2026, but also ensure the borough’s rules for driving on the beach are more widely enforced after demand soared following a controversial decision by state officials that resulted in fewer in-state residents securing permits to access Island Beach State Park for fishing.

For many years, Seaside Park issued 250 permits per year, but there was no codified reason for doing so beyond the fact that there were simply that many physical stickers printed. The ordinance that regulates beach buggy access – using a four wheel drive vehicle to access the sand in order to allow anglers to carry equipment to the ocean and chase the bite – did require the borough council to set a number each year, but 250 had become the standard practice over time.

“By November we sold all of them,” for 2025, said Borough Administrator Karen Kroon.

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Since the rush of spillover demand began this season after the Island Beach State Park controversy, the borough began looking into whether it should increase the number of permits as well as the price of a sticker. Ultimately, the price for a sticker will remain the same and the number will increase to 350.

“In terms of fees, we’ve talked about potentially raising it but now, commensurate with other towns, we’re in line, or we’re even on the high end,” said Mayor John Peterson.

A beach buggy permit costs $50 and allows those with four wheel drive vehicles to access the sand for fishing purposes from Jan. 1 to May 14, and Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 each year. Seaside Park is one of a handful of towns that actually set an annual limit on the number of permits issued.

“A lot of the towns have not specified any limit,” said Councilman Joseph Connor, during a discussion held recently. “I think we should keep it open-ended and not lock ourselves in.”

As it turned out, the borough code already required a number be specified, leading the governing body to decide to increase the number of permits by 100 and, if necessary, increase it in the future. There have only been one or two days when officials saw a large number of vehicles on the beach – coinciding each time with highly-shared news on the presence of striped bass in the surf – and a decision to enforce the permit ordinance saw little in the way of intentional violations, according to Kroon. In some circumstances, anglers didn’t know a permit was required and immediately went to town hall to buy one, only to find out that there were none left since all of those that were printed had been sold.

“The biggest complaint that I’ve gotten from people who have the passes are complaints about people being there who don’t have those passes,” said Kroon. “The one day we did enforcement, we had about 10 people come to the code office wanting to buy one. There’s been a lack of enforcement for many years.”

The borough saw an uptick in demand for beach buggy permits this year because of a much-derided decision by the state Department of Environmental Protection to use a random digital selection system to sell a limited number of beach buggy permits for Island Beach State Park. Traditionally, the state had sold the permits in person at the gate, ensuring those who wanted the permits most would show up early to buy one. This year, the random nature of the sale led to more out-of-state residents receiving permits than Ocean County locals or New Jersey residents as a whole, officials said, meaning many people who purchased permits conceivably would not use them since they live too far away, while local residents are essentially locked out of accessing some of the best areas for fishing in the park, which are not accessible by foot with fishing equipment.

As a result, demand in neighboring Seaside Park increased, but officials said the actual number of vehicles on the beach has not led to any significant problems.

“Other than those couple of days where there were a lot of people when the fish was really jumping, there wasn’t an issue,” said Councilwoman Gina Condos. “I think, this year, we should sell them and get that revenue because of the Island Beach issue.”

The council officially increased the limit to 350 permits at its reorganizational meeting Jan. 1, 2026.