More than 100 people attended a meeting Saturday, July 13 to learn more about a proposal to build a boardwalk in Margate.
MARGATE A committee formed last year to investigate building a boardwalk from the end of the Ventnor boardwalk to the city's boundary with Longport and next to the landward side of the new sand dune, presented its findings Saturday, July 19 at a public meeting held at the William H. Ross Elementary School.
About 100 people attended the meeting to hear Margate Boardwalk Committee Director Glenn Klotz and his associates present the results of their one-year study on the feasibility of building A Boardwalk for the 21st Century.
The information was being presented for residents to determine if they would support the idea and agree to incur the costs associated with building the 8,500-foot-long boardwalk, which could include a scaled-down version, one similar to what Ventnor has, or a boardwalk that is uniquely Margate.
Ellen Lichtenstein presented the history of the old Margate boardwalk that crossed the sand from 1907 to 1944 when a storm washed away portions of the boardwalk.
The boardwalk was the first road in Margate, she said.
Having a boardwalk adjacent to the unwanted 14-foot high dune would ensure residents would have access to what brought them to Margate in the first place and improve access for the elderly and infirm to the shoreline, she said. The 27-foot-wide boardwalk would include 30-40 access ramps from street ends to the top of the dune, making it easier to access the beach.
She compared the community effort to build a boardwalk to its support for preserving Lucy the Elephant.
It's doable and a way to repair the damage done to our community, she said. This could be our legacy.
Margate unsuccessfully fought to stop the dune project, but the cards were stacked against us, board member Steve Davidson said. Margate's former natural beach has now become industrialized and sliced in both directions with the dune and outfall pipes, which makes it difficult to get the shoreline, he said.
Margate lost its view of the sea along with the physical and social connections that made us a beach community, he said. The solution is to turn the dead zone between the dune and bulkhead into an asset.
Gregg Lichtenstein, who is a CEO of several companies and has a Ph.D. from the Wharton School of Business, said the actual cost of building a boardwalk is small in comparison to increased recreational and safety benefits, such as giving children and adults a safe place to ride their bikes.
Using recent costs for building boardwalks in other communities, a scaled down version would cost $14 million to build using black locust instead of the more expensive ipe wood. A boardwalk similar to Ventnor's, which is 20 feet wide, would cost $19 million, and a design suitable for Margate, which would include 3-4 pavilions, water fountains, outdoor showers and LED lighting would cost $24 million, he said.
Assuming a 20-year bond at 4% interest, property owners would pay between $110 to $190 more per year in taxes. But that would be a worst case scenario, he said. If the city would take advantage of other funding sources, such as grants, the cost could be lower. Maintenance would be minimum in the first years, he said.
Although it could be built quickly, within months, it could take quite a while longer to get CAFRA approvals to build and get through the political process, Klotz said.
He would like the commissioners to approve a referendum as soon as November to determine if the people want it. Although the commissioners did not oppose the idea when it was presented last year, they said they would like to hear more, and asked Klotz to do some research.
The boardwalk would be located about 75 feet away from the bulkhead in most areas, although there are several properties that jut out closer to the dune. Those property owners have riparian rights and could challenge having a boardwalk close to their beachfront homes.
One resident said that if he owned beachfront property, he would challenge it, but Klotz said that the beach is a public park owned by the public and that if taxpayers and the city agreed to do it, the city would have the powers of eminent domain to obtain easements, just like the DEP and Army Corps of Engineers did to build the dune.
Klotz said the next step is to get the public to sign an initiative petition asking the Board of Commissioners to put a question on the ballot asking taxpayers if they want the boardwalk. More than 80% of those in the room signed the petition and the committee will continue to get signatures before presenting it to the commissioners at a future meeting. Klotz said he would also like the commission to poll second homeowners who do not vote in Margate.
Commissioner Maury Blumberg, who attended the meeting, said the committee did a good job presenting its report, and that he is looking forward to hearing more from the public in the coming weeks and months.
The entire report, which includes a letter from criminologist Marissa P. Levy stating she did not believe the residential boardwalk would attract any additional crime, is available on the Margate boardwalk website and on Facebook.
Although the presentation highlighted important points, Klotz urged residents to read the entire report before they make an informed decision should the commissioners agree to hold a referendum. The initiative will continue at another public meeting at Lucy the Elephant park planned for August, he said.
This is just a start, Klotz said. We were asked to do a report and get a petition, which is what we have done. Now it's up to the people to say they want it and for the commissioners to act. If they don't want it, I'm OK with that too."
The Margate Boardwalk Committee Report
