Members of the Boardwalk Committee rallied at Lucy the Elephant Suday, Aug. 26.
MARGATE – The idea is intriguing, nostalgic and sentimental. But how much will it cost taxpayers? That’s the unanswered question many in Margate want answered.
About 100 supporters and a few detractors attended a rally beneath Margate’s National Historic Landmark, Lucy the Elephant Sunday, Aug. 26 to hear more about the Margate Boardwalk Committee’s proposal to rebuild the Margate boardwalk.
Many may not know about, and fewer still remember the boardwalk that was originally built in 1906 but destroyed in a 1944 hurricane. The last remaining sections washed away in the storm on Ash Wednesday 1962.
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Save Lucy Committee Executive Director Richard Helfant encouraged supporters to remember Lucy’s plight. When she was headed for the wrecking ball, three local residents got together to move and restore what has become the symbol of Margate.
“One person can make a difference,” Helfant said.
Committee President Glenn Klotz, who approached the Board of Commissioners in April about rebuilding the boardwalk to get past the pain of having to endure the unwanted dune, told the crowd that “state and federal officials won’t stand in the way.”
“But first, you have to want a boardwalk,” he said.
A referendum, binding or not, and survey of non-voting taxpayers is in order, he said.
But when will that occur? It’s too late to get a question on the November ballot, and it could be a divisive issue if it’s on the ballot in May 2019 when the city votes to seat three commissioners to four-year terms.
Klotz said the commissioners could agree to put a question on the ballot or 10 percent of the voting public could petition for it.
None of the sitting commissioners attended the rally.
“Remember, the dune is there because of one man,” Klotz said, referring to Gov. Chris Cheistie who after Hurricane Sandy issued an executive order to build protective sand dunes along New Jersey’s beaches from Monmouth to Cape May county.
“And the dune was built to protect the boardwalk, and you don’t have a boardwalk,” Klotz said.
Helfant said the boardwalk would not only bring Atlantic City visitors to the historic landmark, but also make use of a useless part of the beach between the bulkhead and dune, assist those who need extra help traversing the steep dune, and improve safety by taking runners and bicyclists off of Atlantic Avenue.
Nancy Hite, who’s lived at Margate Towers for 28 years, said she drives to the Ventnor boardwalk where she enjoys walking as often as she can.
“I would like the convenience of having the boardwalk closer to me, but I don’ know what it would look like or how much it would cost,” she said.
Klotz said he would like to see the boardwalk replicate the one in Ventnor, but with pavilions where people can sit and events can be held.
Preliminary engineering estimates range from $18 million to $35 million.
Although committee member Ellen Lichtenstein said the committee would fundraise like the Save Lucy Committee did, the group would also seek grants to reduce the cost for taxpayers.
She said rebuilding the boardwalk would “leave a legacy for our children’s children.”
Klotz said the city needs a commission that will support the proposal, “or they will just get in the way.”
“Lucy was an impossible dream, but there she is,” he said, stating, “There is no downside. We can afford to do this.”
Oleg Fishman said he would support the idea, but with a limit on tax increases.
“I pay about $8,000 now, $200 more would be ok if it helped get children what they need. This is a rich city,” he said.
Longtime Margate resident and attorney Lloyd Levenson called the effort “misguided.”
“They are doing this for all the wrong reasons. I’m sympathetic to what they are saying, but it’s like shooting a mosquito with a shotgun.”
Instead, the committee should be petitioning first-year Gov. Phil Murphy and the Department of Environmental Protection to fix access issues.
“There will be no federal or state funds for this. The taxpayers will have to pay, and their taxes will skyrocket. And, they have not even considered the cost of maintaining the boardwalk,” he said.
Levenson said the committee is promoting it “for sentimental reasons, and that’s no reason to have a boardwalk.”
Although he opposes the idea, he came to the rally to hear what people are saying about it.
“With the new governor and new DEP, we should get them here, tie up one leg so they can’t walk too well, and then tell them to get over the dune. That will fix the access problems,” Levenson said.
T-shirts with Lucy’s quote, “Rebuild my boardwalk,” are being sold for $20 with proceeds benefiting the Boardwalk Committee and Lucy the Elephant.
© MediaWize 2018
