TRENTON — Is it possible that New Jersey might truly have free beaches after all?

State Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Somerset) says he wants a law that requires shore communities using federal or state money to rebuild their beaches after Hurricane Sandy to provide free access to the public.

All but five beaches in New Jersey — Atlantic City, Strathmere, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and North Wildwood — charge a fee to plop a chair or a towel on the sand. Others can be as high of $15 per carload at Sandy Hook — a federal park — to $9 for adults in Spring Lake, Avon and the private beaches of Point Pleasant Beach.

Doherty considers beach fees an unfair barrier to all citizens from using something they pay to maintain — and rebuild.

“I’ve long believed that the state’s beach tag system unfairly limits access to a public resource which has been the beneficiary of a great deal of state and federal investment,” Doherty said. “The damage done by Hurricane Sandy simply illustrates this point on an unprecedented scale. The Jersey Shore is a state treasure and an important economic engine, but it is a resource that belongs to all of us and is maintained by the taxes that all of us pay.”

He said he is in the process of drafting legislation that besides giving free beach access, would also not allow towns to charge for the use of restroom facilities.