Margate Set to Vote, Pro or No on New Boardwalk

Non-binding ballot question asks whether the city should take the first step in a long process

By Bill Barlow

While the nation wrestles with a contentious presidential race and the future of the Supreme Court, at least some of the attention of Margate’s residents is focused closer to home this election – on the possibility of a new boardwalk.

On this year’s ballots, a non-binding referendum asks whether the city should spend $285,000 on taking the first steps toward building a new boardwalk, continuing the walkway that now extends to the inlet at the  north end of Atlantic City and stops at Margate’s border with Ventnor at Fredericksburg Avenue.

Construction of a new boardwalk would cost millions. Proponents estimate it at about $24 million, while critics of the idea suggest it will cost far more. With the mail-in ballots for the 2020 election already arriving in shore communities, Margate is dotted with signs for and against the idea.

“It’s a very contentious issue. There is division in the community about it,” said Glenn Klotz, one of the organizers of the push for a new boardwalk.

He would not hazard a guess as to whether the referendum has a chance.

“I hear a lot of good thing. I hear a lot of bad things,” Klotz said.

There are a few areas of broad agreement on the issue, with both supporters of building a new boardwalk and those dead set against it saying it all started with a controversial beach project.

While many towns welcome the state and federal spending on adding sand to eroding beaches, the replenishment project in 2017 added a wide swath of new sand dunes to the beach, which proved deeply unpopular in Margate. Dunes have become a standard part of shore protection projects. But many in Margate complain that the dunes were foisted upon the residents, without regard for their opinion, with much of the wrath aimed at former Gov. Chris Christie.

“He basically stepped on Margate, stepped on the voters and came in and did what he wanted,” Klotz said. His committee, formed in 2018, sees a boardwalk as a solution to some of the issues with the dunes, including the loss of water views.

Those in opposition say it’s mostly a question of money.

“It’s almost certainly going to fall on the back of Margate taxpayers and I think the $24 million is wildly optimistic,” said Dan Gottlieb, who has organized a citizen’s group calling for a no vote. He said there are a number of issues with the proposal, including the need to acquire riparian rights from many property owners who legally own the beach in front of their houses.

Klotz suggests the city could get grants to help pay for the project, but Gottlieb sees that as extremely unlikely, especially in tough economic times. He does not think the proposal has much chance of clearing the state and federal regulatory hurdles.

“I think spending that much to study something that has little or no chance of happening makes very little sense,” Gottlieb said. “With the current economic conditions, it would be next to impossible to find money for a project like this. So why waste valuable tax dollars to study something that is a regulatory nightmare, unnecessary and cost prohibitive?”

Margate business administrator Rich Deaney said the city has taken no official position on the ballot question, but has sought to inform residents about the issues. On the city website, the report from Klotz’s committee is posted, along with a detailed response from city officials, which laid out some of the likely costs the project would include, both in construction and ongoing maintenance. That  will include lighting, security, amenities and other expenses.

“It would greatly limit the city’s ability to do other things,” said Deaney. “Financially, it’s very, very difficult to justify.”

Mayor Michael Becker was blunter.

“Very simply, we can’t afford a boardwalk right now. It’s way too expensive for us,” Becker said.

He, too, believes the committee’s estimate of $24 million drastically underestimates the cost. Even at that, though, he said the city has decided to spend $5 million to $6 million on capital projects a year, which means a boardwalk project would mean years without other capital work.

That includes long-awaited dredge projects and other improvements, he said.

“We have a lot of things we have to take care of. We have to do a lot of work to prevent future flooding in Margate. That’s number one,” Becker said.

But according to Klotz, the city finds funding for other projects, including a multiphase effort to complete a bulkhead along Amherst Avenue, including a walkway he said will function like a bayside boardwalk. City officials say the primary focus of that project is to reduce the risk of flooding.

Klotz maintains that the city will be able to get grants to fund at least part of the project, which he says will improve the quality of life in town and improve access to the beach, both for those who use wheelchairs or have limited mobility and for families with children in strollers.

Police patrolling the walk will make the area safe, he said, and emergency vehicles will be able to more quickly access the beach in an emergency.

Ironically, the city’s response to the boardwalk plans also raised the issue of access, stating that a two-mile timber walkway would need to include openings to allow access for beach maintenance equipment and other vehicles.

Margate had a boardwalk for decades. According to Becker and others, most of it was washed away in the 1944 hurricane, a devastating storm that occurred before hurricanes were named. Another small section later washed away in a storm in the early 1960s, Becker said.

“This is not a new idea. We had a boardwalk for 37 years. Of course, that was a long time ago,” Klotz said. “Margate is better with a boardwalk, is our motto.”

Both Becker and Klotz stressed that the referendum is not binding. Not only does it not appropriate the millions needed to construct a boardwalk, it does not oblige the city to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars on engineering and permitting.

The city has agreed to hear what the people have to say. That means if the vote is close, Margate’s governing body still has the final word. If the vote is overwhelmingly in favor of moving forward, they may feel more pressure to take the next steps toward a Margate boardwalk.

“Then again, we’re elected to be leaders, not followers,” Becker said.

If there is strong support for a boardwalk, Deaney said, the first step will be to determine whether state officials will even allow its construction. That means some spending on engineering, he said, to take a proposal to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“The DEP won’t even sit down with you without a plan,” he said.

Klotz said a boardwalk will return part of the joy of living in Margate, giving residents and visitors a place to jog, ride their bikes, exercise or just sit in the sunshine.

“It will allow the simple pleasures to come back to that beach,” he said.

Before the beach project, he said, he would regularly walk to the street end and look out over the water.

“Today, you walk down there and all you see is a wall of sand,” Klotz said.