Some Long Branch residents are threatening to sue the Department of Environmental Protection over a controversial beach club just off the boardwalk.

The News 12 New Jersey I-Team first investigated the club in May when the developer, the Applied Group of Hoboken, appeared to have broken environmental rules by building its private dune with sand stolen from the public beach. The DEP then hit the developer with a violation notice and said everything, from the fences, to the palm trees to the five cabanas, had to go.

Since then, the developer has removed the dune and brought the fence back onto its own property, but residents still aren?t happy. They say the fences should be gone completely, as the DEP requested.

A DEP spokeswoman said the developer has done some of what they?ve asked and they are in negotiations to resolve the rest. She adds, ?The bottom line is that we want compliance as do the activists, but these things aren?t fixed overnight.?

Some residents say the DEP isn?t working hard enough to get the issue under control. ?We?re ready to engage the DEP in a lawsuit to regain access to our beach,? Long Branch resident Jim Keelen said.

Related Information:I-Team Investigates: Sand Stealers