New Jersey mayor says town has reached capacity, closes it to visitors

Belmar Beach, NJ on Saturday.
(Image credit: Facebook.com/Belmarbeach)

So many people were clamoring to get to Belmar, New Jersey, on Sunday, that the mayor stopped all incoming traffic from coming in during the afternoon, saying the small town had reached capacity.

The population is usually about 6,000, but during the summer it soars to more than 60,000, NJ.com reports. Mayor Matt Doherty told NJ Advance Media that he spoke with the police department about the huge number of people packed in the 1.6-square-mile beach town, and they decided Belmar needed to be closed to visitors for safety reasons. Doherty said a "perfect storm of good things" caused the swell in visitors, including the 29th annual seafood festival and beautiful weather. Although visitors were turned away, residents just had to show their license to get around the road closures, and the town reopened for everyone at around 7 p.m.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.