Officials in a New Jersey shore town have tabled a proposed ordinance requiring residential parking permits on streets with beach access points.

Deal Mayor Sam Cohen on Wednesday said there will be further study of the proposal.

Surfers and fishermen were among the critics who said the measure catered to the owners of multimillion-dollar beachfront homes while restricting others from the borough's free beaches. But Cohen had said the ordinance aimed to appease beachfront residents who have continually complained about parking near their homes.

The Citizens in Opposition to Beach Restrictive Access group claims the ordinance violates a provision of the roughly $40 million taxpayer-funded beach replenishment project that requires reasonable public access to the beaches.