The vote was 5-0 with one councilman abstaining. And just like that, a fight that outlasted careers, court battles, and at least one generation of determined residents was over. South Seaside Park will now be part of Seaside Park.
On March 30, 2026, the Seaside Park Borough Council voted to annex South Seaside Park. The neighborhood, roughly 10 blocks of barrier island tucked between Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park, had technically been part of Berkeley Township for more than a century.
But on paper was about all that connection amounted to.
The geography never made sense since South Seaside Park sits on a narrow strip of land. To reach Berkeley Township’s offices on the mainland, residents had to drive nearly 16 miles across the Mathis Bridge and through several other towns. Services felt distant and representation felt even more so.
The fight to leave is not new, Don Whiteman’s father led a similar effort in the 1970s, but it was rejected. Whiteman picked it back up around 2014, filing a petition with Berkeley Township to formally de-annex. The township said no, so residents took it to court.
Then they went back to court again.
The process wound through 38 Planning Board hearings between 2015 and 2019. A trial court found the process biased and the denial unreasonable. An appellate court agreed. In July 2025, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that South Seaside Park had met the legal requirements to seek de-annexation.
There was no longer a roadblock. Only a decision to be made.
“This time, we weren’t going in blind. To me, it was always about services.”Don Whiteman, South Seaside Park Taxpayers Association
Seaside Park did not rush. The borough hired Government Strategy Group to conduct an impact study. It held public information sessions. It commissioned a planning and zoning analysis.
The process was thorough enough to surface at least one significant error. An early version of the report claimed the merger could reduce taxes by 40 to 51 percent.
That figure was wrong. A corrected addendum revised it to 8 percent. Some residents called the process broken. Others said the outcome was never in doubt.
On the night of the vote, 154 people watched remotely from home. The meeting room was nearly full. When the council voted yes, it unified the southern end of Ocean County’s northern barrier island under a single municipality for the first time in over 50 years.
What happens next is a negotiation. Under New Jersey law, Seaside Park and Berkeley Township now have roughly 60 days to agree on how to divide assets, debts, and tax revenue connected to the area. If they cannot reach a deal, a court-appointed panel will decide for them.
Berkeley Township’s representative struck a cooperative tone. “We’re going to be as neighborly as possible to make this a smooth transition,” he said. “We’re looking out for the residents on both sides.”
For Whiteman, the moment carried something heavier than a resolution. “My father would be so happy,” he said after the vote. “He would have said, ‘You did good, son.'”
A small community on a strip of barrier island. A fight that spanned two generations. And a final vote that, in the end, was not close at all.
