Dueling signage dots the Margate landscape prior to boardwalk referendum question.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE A question on the Margate general election ballot will gauge voter interest in building a boardwalk in Margate.
According to Glenn Klotz, director of the Friends of the Margate Boardwalk group, the results of the referendum are not binding on the Board of Commissioners and does not provide for funding to build anything on the beach right now.
Klotz recently issued a press release touting the benefits of building a boardwalk, stating it would be a win-win for Margate residents.
As a new addition to an already highly valued attraction, a Margate boardwalk would be a wonderful upgrade to the existing beach system Margate has now, he said.
The question asks voters if the city should appropriate $285,000 to conduct legal, engineering and financial studies to determine the feasibility of building a non-commercial boardwalk.
Klotz said the opposition is not taking the entire community into consideration and instead is catering to a few homeowners who have beachfront property.
They claim voting in this non-binding referendum will raise Margate's taxes, when, in reality, this vote does nothing of the kind, Klotz said. What a Yes' vote does is send a message to the present commissioners that Margate wants a boardwalk.
The referendum does not provide funding to build a boardwalk, he said.
Trying to scare people into thinking it does, as the opposition has attempted to do, is dishonest, he said.
Margate Citizens Opposing Boardwalk Project has been active on Facebook and has distributed signs that ask voters to vote No to Higher Taxes.
The group, which consists of some of the same people who opposed the dune project, says the $25 million estimate on the cost of building a boardwalk is wildly optimistic and does not include amenities such as lighting, trash removal and security. They suggest the beachfront homeowners will file lawsuits to stop it, which will drive up costs and take years to resolve. They also say the boardwalk will increase Margate's relatively low crime rate.
Approving the referendum would throw money down the drain, they say.
According to one post on the MCOBP page, Spending nearly $300,000 to study something that has little or no chance of happening makes no sense.
Regulatory oversight agencies, including the NJ DEP and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will make obtaining approvals insurmountable, and obtaining post-COVID-19 pandemic grants to help pay for construction will likely be impossible.
Attempts to reach the administrator of the MCOBP page were unsuccessful.
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