Margate Boardwalk Committee President Glenn Klotz addresses the Board of Commissioners Thursday, Aug. 14, 2019.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – The Board of Commissioners Thursday, March 5 agreed to hold a non-binding referendum in November to gauge the community’s interest in building a boardwalk.
Mayor Michael Becker put the issue on the agenda stating there was too much misinformation in the community about the issue.
“We’ve all talked to a lot of people, some in favor of it and some against. My suggestion would be to put it on a referendum and let’s see what the peoples’ wishes are. I think it’s too big of an issue to not do that,” he said.
Commissioner John Amodeo said it would be “the prudent thing to do,” and Commissioner Maury Blumberg said he was in full agreement.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Blumberg said.
Amodeo said he would like solicitor John Scott Abbott to study the issue and make a recommendation on the process.
Although the Friends of the Margate Boardwalk estimate it will cost between $16.7 million and $28.6 million to build a “uniquely Margate” boardwalk, Amodeo said the city engineer should come up with a cost estimate.
“We need to know what the cost would be and the tax impact so the residents of Margate would have a full understanding, not just generalized numbers. We need something done by a professional organization that deals with building and designing boardwalks throughout South Jersey,” Amodeo said.
Upon hearing the news, Margate Boardwalk Committee Chairman Glenn Klotz said he was “thrilled” the voters would get a chance to be heard. However, the committee’s position from day-one has been to poll all the taxpayers, including second homeowners.
“That would be a much higher level of proof for us considering we are a resort town with many people who do not vote in Margate, but they do pay taxes. It’s easy to win the voters because it’s a smaller group, but all the taxpayers will have to pay for it,” he said.
Friends of the Margate Boardwalk have been collecting signatures on a petition to get the question on the Nov. 7 ballot, and have about a third of the required 351 signatures.
Klotz first proposed the issue of building a boardwalk two years ago after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection built a 1.5 mile long protective sand dune across the beach that degraded views and access to the ocean, and created a “dead zone” between the back of the dune and the existing citywide bulkhead.
The boardwalk would solve access issues for the elderly and infirm, provide an additional recreational amenity for walkers, joggers and cyclists, and improve safety for beachfront homeowners, according to the committee’s report, “A Margate Boardwalk for the 21st Century.”
“We thank them for taking this to heart and putting it on the ballot. If people want it, they want it, if they don’t, they don’t. That’s democracy,” Klotz said.
“It’s an emotional issue,” Becker said. “There have been comments made that say the commissioners don’t care about what the people say, and that’s just not true. The easiest thing to do at this point is to let the people speak.”
If the voters approve it, Becker said “we’ll have to see” if it ever gets built.
“We’ll decide when we see the numbers,” he said.
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