Dunes Fight Sets Neighbor Against Neighbor in New Jersey Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times The Army Corps of Engineers has built high dunes in much of Surf City, N.J., but resistance from some homeowners has left a section with limited protection from storm surges. SURF CITY, N.J. - Anchor Produce Market sells homemade mozzarella, its own fresh salsa and what many regulars swear is the best sweet corn on Long Beach Island. A sign on the glass of a meat case at Anchor Produce Market in Surf City lists the names of property owners who have not granted easements to build the dunes. But, a sign on the counter declares, it will not sell anything to the owners of 63 Long Beach Boulevard, 7 Coast Avenue, 12 Sea View Drive South or 34 other nearby oceanfront properties. Those owners have refused to grant easements to allow the federal government to build a massive dune along a 35-mile stretch of the Jersey Shore. Without the protective ridge of sand, engineers predict it is only a matter of time before homes, neighborhoods, even entire communities are wiped out by rising seas - a reality brought into stark relief by the devastation from Hurricane Sandy. So until they sign the easements, holdouts should buy their groceries elsewhere. These and other pressure tactics have been aimed at persuading the more than 1,000 seaside homeowners on two barrier islands who are refusing to allow dune construction on their properties, in many cases to protect their ocean views. But the measures have transformed a philosophical battle of property rights versus public good into a bitter neighbor-versus-neighbor ground war all along the coast. Towns have tried to shame holdouts into signing easements by posting their names on Web sites and sending them to newspapers. Defiant owners say they have received threatening e-mails and phone calls and had dog feces left in their mailboxes or thrown on their decks. Friends have stopped speaking. Still, many homeowners remain resolute, having already resisted through two punishing hurricanes, public shamings - a tactic encouraged by Gov. Chris Christie, who said he had "no sympathy" for their concerns - and a decision by the state's highest court that has encouraged towns to skip the easements and take the needed land by eminent domain. In August, the small town of Mantoloking announced its intention to begin doing just that to deal with its five remaining holdouts, with other communities expected to follow. "It seems entirely selfish," said Mike Nichols, the owner of Anchor Produce, who considers himself "super lucky" because the storm last October washed four feet of sand into his home in nearby North Beach but did not destroy it. "The government doesn't want to annex your property," he added. They want to build up dunes, protect everybody. Holdouts say that they are within their rights and that efforts at persuasion have become abusive. "I am almost tempted to say, does this guy have kids or grandkids, and I'll hack their school's computer and publish their grades," said Ken Burkhardt, alluding to Mayor Joe Mancini of Long Beach Township, who published Mr. Burkhardt's name along with other holdouts" on the town Web site. It's an invitation for whackos to give you a hard time. It's my business whether I sign it or not. The dune project, part of a $1 billion project to protect 50 miles of the state's beaches, which the Army Corps of Engineers has been discussing for more than a decade, involves building or raising existing dunes to 22 feet, which would have the secondary effect of adding about 200 feet of beach between homes and the ocean. Once built, the dunes become the property of the individual homeowners. On the two barrier islands, the Army corps completed some dunes before Hurricane Sandy hit, and where there were dunes, the storm left relatively minor damage. Where there were not, homes - even many seemingly safely inland - were destroyed. In some areas, homes with dunes were still damaged because of gaps left by neighbors without them. One example was in Surf City, where the corps had built dunes along all but two blocks of oceanfront, where six homeowners would not grant easements, providing an opening for the storm surge to flood the neighborhood. The damage led to a redoubling of the effort to complete the protective barrier, which the Army Corps has said it will not do without the permission from all oceanfront property owners.