OCEAN CITY, NJ — A Superior Court judge ruled that Ocean City must issue a road opening permit to Ocean Wind 1, allowing the offshore wind developer to continue progress on the project.
The ruling came from a lawsuit against Ocean City filed early in May. This suit was regarding a transmission cable that would connect the windmills to the power grid on shore. The developers needed a permit to open portions of 35th Street to “perform utility and environmental investigations.”
READ MORE: Offshore Wind Developer Sues Ocean City Over Transmission Line
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But the permit was never issued, and on March 26, Business Administrator George Savastano told Ocean Wind 1 that Ocean City would not issue the permit and said that the city “will be seeking an order staying the issuance of permits pending a decision in the appeal of the [BPU’s] order. The permit will not be issued until that motion has been decided.”
Now, a judge says that Ocean City has to issue that permit, but that the work cannot commence until Sept. 11, 2023.
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A spokesperson for Ocean City did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The city has previously tried to appeal the decision to allow the transmission cable to come ashore at 35th Street, asking the project to take a less harmful route called the Great Egg Harbor Route.
The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) found that the transmission cable that would come ashore on 35th Street was “reasonably necessary” for the offshore wind farm back in September, overriding Ocean City’s authority in the matter to approve it. Ocean City has appealed that decision. READ MORE: Controversial Offshore Wind Transmission Line Approved In Ocean City
City officials previously said that Ocean Wind 1 has no right to the permit as it comes before federal and state approvals.
“The application to open Ocean City’s streets comes before the federal decision on whether the project can be built in the first place,” Mayor Jay Gillian previously said. “It came before the decision on whether the project can cross state tidal lands.”
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