DEAL -- Deal officials are considering charging for access to one of its beaches they say is getting so crowded in summer because of ongoing construction in other areas of the oceanfront.

Mayor Sam Cohen said an entrance fee at the Hathaway Avenue beach would help pay to put a lifeguard there next summer to handle the crowds that have grown there on summer days. Charging a fee could also encourage beachgoers not willing to shell out the yet-to-be-determined amount to go to the town's other beaches, which will remain free -- for now, he said.

"Initially we're probably going to deal with the Hathaway area. That seems to be the most problematic as far as the amount of people that come there," Cohen said. "And then we will see how it goes, whether we will extend it to other beaches."

Outside of the two beach clubs in town, Deal beaches are free, but are also unguarded, so beachgoers are prohibited from swimming. Those unguarded beaches have been a major draw for surfers.

"I hate the idea of charging for the beaches, but I also hate it when residents complain," said Committeeman Morris Ades, who served as mayor last year when the borough first raised the issue of a controversial parking plan along the beachfront.

Criticized by surfers as an attack on their sport and by beach access advocates as too restrictive to the public, that parking plan was withdrawn earlier this year but borough officials said they would still study the issue.

Ades and Cohen said residents have been complaining about litter problems at the Hathaway Avenue beach since more people have been going to that spot. The borough plans to spend $150,000 for a piece of equipment that will clean up beach litter.

That beach has become more of a draw to the public in the past two years because of ongoing construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on other beaches in the borough. Hathaway also has a parking area, making it more convenient for beachgoers in a town where there is limited parking along the oceanfront.

Cohen insisted it's not a way to discourage beachgoers from heading to Deal.

"We want them to come," he said.

John Weber, northeast regional manager of the Surfrider Foundation, said he doesn't object to a beach entrance fee and lifeguards as long as it doesn't apply to all the beaches in town, which would result in surfers getting shut out of that section of the oceanfront.

"I think that's a good thing. I had suggested that a long time ago - at least for some of your beaches for sure. I think the town needs that in terms of revenue," he said. "If there's a couple beaches here and there where there's no guard and there's still surfing, it still keeps Deal a destination."

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.