Identifying and claiming the coastal commons in industrialized and gentrified places

The coastal region of New Jersey, like that of most other coastal states, is imbued with a mixture of private, public, and common property rights, including the public trust doctrine. This project, which is focused on the bayshore region of the Raritan-Hudson Estuary and the neighboring northeastern tip of the New Jersey shore, will examine the changing nature of property and access rights in places that are both industrialized and gentrified. Through interviews and archival work, we will also identify the existence of and potentials for local and extra-local institutions that support public and common property rights. Institutions of interest range from local ordinances, zoning, and planning to the state-wide Coastal Areas Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) permitting system to court cases, legal settlements, and applications of the state's public trust doctrine. Of particular importance are the following common property rights: a "working waterfront" accessible to commercial and recreational fishermen, safe and productive coastal waters, and public access to the beaches, bays, and inshore waters. Industrialization has long narrowed these rights because of its effects on available waterfront and on water quality. Gentrification also threatens such rights because of the competition it creates for waterfront and the privatization of access that often follows