JWoww and Snooki allowed to film in New Jersey

JWoww and Snooki: Filming of their MTV reality show will go on in New Jersey, a judge ruled. Neighbors went to court to try to stop filming of the third season of "Snooki & JWoww" saying it disrupted Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts.

 A judge won't stop production of the MTV reality show "Snooki & JWoww" in a New Jersey town that's rebuilding from last year's Superstorm Sandy.

Berkeley Township officials and residents fear taping of the third season of the "Jersey Shore" spinoff could hinder recovery efforts.

Millard’s decision comes about a week after Red Bank attorney Ron Gasiorowski filed a complaint on behalf of Robert Heffernan, who lives two doors down from the house used for taping.

Gasiorowski claimed in the complaint that “to allow this activity to go forward in the residential zone is a ‘threat of irreparable harm’ ” to Heffernan and his neighbors. He also noted that the production violates township code that prohibits commercial enterprise in an area deemed a residential zone, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Attorney Ron Gasiorowski tells the Asbury Park Press he's not pleased with the ruling. But he says the judge has not ruled on his argument that the production violates the town's zoning ordinance.

Earlier, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi weighed in on the dispute on Instagram, saying: "Adults are trying to ban my son, fiance and I from enjoying our summer at the shore. Grow up, get over yourself and move on," she writes."This is not how we should be treating one another. Absolutely sick and very sad. I pray for you. There's much bigger things to worry about in life than trying to ban my family from your neighborhood."

Superstorm Sandy tore up large stretches of the state's coast.

Meanwhile, two of the Jersey shore towns hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy in October will soon be protected by a steel sea wall.

Mantoloking and Brick have received federal and state approval for the wall that will be covered by sand and form the base of a makeshift dune system. Work is expected to begin this fall.

"Wouldn't it be great to drive the metal in by the first anniversary of this storm?" asked Mantoloking spokesman Chris Nelson. "It might take a little more time, but it will happen."

The steel wall will extend 16 feet above the beach and reach 32 feet below the ground to keep it firmly anchored. The metal will not be visible because of the sand covering it.

The wall will run for the entire length of Mantoloking and neighboring Brick Township and cost about $40 million, Nelson said.

It is meant as a short-term protective measure, to be complemented by an extensive beach widening and dune construction project being planned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The federal government will pay 80 percent of cost of the steel wall, with the state paying the remainder. The towns' only expense will be to keep it covered with sand.

Mantoloking also hired an appraiser Tuesday to determine the fair market value of land the borough is threatening to go to court and seize for the beach replenishment project.

Officials also say the reconstruction of Route 35 through the Ocean County community is due to begin Monday. Mayor George Nebel said he is dreading "a terrible nine months of gridlock" from the work, and said he is trying to get the state Department of Transportation to delay its start until the Tuesday after Labor Day.

There are about 128 oceanfront homeowners whose permission is needed for the beach work. All but five have signed easements, legal permission for the government to access their land to do the work, borough spokesman Chris Nelson said. The borough must pay fair compensation for the land it acquires for the project.

In April, Mantoloking hired a lawyer to represent it in eminent domain cases. Nelson said the borough plans to go to court within a few weeks, barring a last-minute change of heart among the holdouts.

The work is desperately needed in this wealthy seaside enclave, which saw every one of its 521 homes damaged in the Oct. 29 storm, with scores destroyed. A resolution authorizing the hiring of an appraiser says the protective shore project is "essential to the survival and long-term viability of the borough."

The storm cut the barrier island borough in half, opening a new inlet between the ocean and Barnegat Bay. Filling in that breach and rebuilding Route 35 along the shore took a massive emergency construction project.

And Mantoloking lives in fear of the next storm. Its public works crews have bulldozed large walls of sand into makeshift dunes that residents hope will hold out against a storm that hits before a long-term protective system can be put in place.

"We are sitting pretty exposed until the sheet metal comes in," Nelson said, even though Mantoloking's beachfront sand piles are higher than those of its neighbors.

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Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC