Property owners pack the Margate Board of Commissioners meeting, Sept. 20.
MARGATE The Board of Commissioners Thursday, Sept. 21 permanently tabled a controversial ordinance that would add a boutique hotel as an additional use in a six-block area along the Margate beachfront where several high-rise residential developments already exist.
It's dead, Commissioner John Amodeo told the more than 100 people who packed the meeting room. The standing-room-only crowd overflowed into the lobby and onto the sidewalk outside Historic City Hall. Fire Chief Dan Adams announced the room's capacity was 115 people.
Fueled by misinformation, a lack of understanding about the ordinance and rumors that spread like wildfire on social media sites, they showed up to protest the ordinance, a lack of communication and transparency, and a lack of trust in public officials. It was evident that many in the room were not familiar with land use regulations and the role of the governing body.
Although the ordinance was squashed and the Planning Board would not be asked to review it further, there is no guarantee that restaurant owner Lou DiVentura will not ask the city's Planning Board to approve any and all variances necessary to build a high-rise condominium complex at the site of his Offshore Café.
DiVentura met with NJ Department of Environmental Protection Historic Preservation Office on March 1 to begin the process of obtaining a permit from the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act, which regulates development along New Jersey's beaches, dunes and tidal water areas to ensure they will have a minimal impact on the environment.
I'm here to voice my disapproval of rezoning our district, said Sharon Ianoale, manager of the 246-unit 9600 high-rise condominium just blocks away. She said residents chose Margate because of its quiet residential beach environment, which would be ruined with hotel rooms.
If the issue should come up again at the Planning Board level, she would like to be at the table, she said.
Although the city is not required to notify individual property owners when proposed ordinances are up for a vote, the city sent notifications to several homeowner associations within the zone and residents living within 200 feet of the proposed overlay district.
According to the Open Public Records Act, a state law that ensures the public is informed about important actions and issues, the city is required to advertise when public hearings on proposed ordinances will be held in a local newspaper that offers paid subscriptions. All the proper notifications were made, officials said.
Several residents complained that they do not know when meetings are held, but all upcoming meeting dates are published on the front page of the city website, www.margate-nj.com. The website also posts agendas ahead of meetings, publishes audio of the meetings, and meeting minutes after the commission approves them, according to state law. The website also includes a full listing of all ordinances and resolutions for public review, along with a searchable City Code Book.
Summer resident Eliot Chack said he selected Margate because it is a nice residential community. A hotel would ruin the city's character, he said.
The board is trying to turn this into a commercial, Niagra Falls, honky-tonk town, he said. It's withdrawn but that doesn't mean it won't come back. The issue here is about the vision of what Margate is or should be.
He said he is collaborating with 10 homeowner associations to form a Political Action Committee, the Margate Preservation Fund, to vote the current commissioners out of office if the ordinance is not permanently withdrawn.
Despite the commission's action to withdraw the ordinance, numerous speakers approached the microphone to ask commissioners to ensure the issue would never be brought up again.
There is no plans and will be no plans or further discussion regarding a hotel overlay zone, Commissioner Maury Blumberg told the raucous crowd. There are no Marriotts being built, there's no plans for any Marriotts to be built. The commission has no desire to see any Marriotts to be built. We love Margate the way it is. It's our goal, as long as the three of us sit here, to keep Margate the way it is, keep that zoned the way it is, to have life lived the we are used to living it here at our beach community. The misinformation is unfortunate, it brought you all out here today, unfortunately. We got the message. The idea is there will be no subsequent meetings related to any hotel overlay zone.
Amodeo explained, however, that the New Jersey Land Use Law guarantees that every property owner has the right to request variances. Planning boards exist to allow communities to find an acceptable balance in future development, he said.
Squashing the overlay ordinance, which would have allowed a condo/hotel to be built without the need for hard to get variances, does not prevent a property owner from submitting an application to be heard by the Planning Board.
There is a process that any business owner, any resident can go through to get approvals to do what they want to do. We have to accept and allow them to go through that process, Amodeo said. We have not seen any formal application at this point, not to say it couldn't come in the future. Keep your eyes and ears open.
The ordinance change was recommended after a lengthy Master Plan review process by the Planning Board, a volunteer board comprised of nine residents and several alternate members. The Board of Commissioners is the legislative body in Margate responsible for changing laws.
One resident suggested the commissioners revise the ordinance to make it more difficult for anyone to build a high-rise in Margate or contact the DEP to say it objects to issuing DiVentura a permit.
Chack said the commission lost control of its message∧ your constituents became infuriated. Communication became twisted and there is now mistrust on the part of property owners.
Longtime resident Steve Woerner, who regularly attends commission meetings and often challenges commissioners, defended them and said the attitude of people in the room was off the hook.
I know what goes on in the city and how hard these three guys work to keep the taxes down, to make it affordable, clean and safe and a city you can be proud to live in, he said. Someone is stirring people up and it's wrong, dead wrong. There's no sinister anything here. I think its being stirred up for some sort of political advantage.
Another woman said she feared Lucy the Elephant would have to be relocated to Atlantic City.
Lucy is going nowhere, Administrator Richard Deaney said.
He explained that the city owns Lucy and leases the Green Acres funded land she sits on to the Save Lucy Committee, which raises funds to maintain and market the National Historic Landmark. The committee's lease is due to expire at the end of 2019. The city is in ongoing negotiations to hammer out a new long-term lease, Deaney said.
No one needs to fear Lucy is going anywhere. She is owned by the city, he said.
Former Planning Board member Toni Jacovini offered several worthy suggestions to improve communication in the city.
Actions should be posted on the city's website in time for people to do any research they require, residents need to educate themselves about legal processes that need to be followed, and homeowner associations and other interested groups should send a representative to all municipal meetings, she said.
One property owner asked if the Master Plan could be reopened and re-written.
Solicitor John Scott Abbott said he believes the Planning Board will look into the Master Plan that was approved in 2016.
I believe the Planning Board has already undertaken and looking for further input. They will be considering other aspects of the Master Plan, he said. There are other issues to deal with down the line, low-income housing for one∧ backbay issues.
