Margate Turns Thumbs Down on Building Boardwalk

Tuesday night's early results seem to leave little doubt that Margate residents are not interested in moving ahead with a referendum to build a new boardwalk.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, residents voted 2,110 to 989 against the boardwalk plan.

The boardwalk idea was put on the ballot in August when Margate city commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to let Margate residents decide whether the to approve conducting a feasibility study about the boardwalk. Margate Mayor Mike Becker has said that study would cost $285,000.

Margate's original boardwalk was destroyed during a hurricane in 1944.

The idea of building a new boardwalk in Margate has been promoted for the past several years by a small group of Margate residents known as the Margate Boardwalk Committee.

Standing outside of Casels Market on Ventnor Avenue this summer, the group was successful in getting 275 signatures on a petition in favor of the boardwalk.

Glenn Klotz of the Margate Boardwalk Committee had claimed a boardwalk would improve lighting along the coast, allowing police to better patrol the area.

Those opposed to the boardwalk saw it as leading to higher taxes, creating even more problems for police and changing the overall character of the town.

As a resident of Margate, that was my primary concern. Adding a boardwalk would change the town from a beach community to a boardwalk town. That's not the town I signed on for when we moved to Margate almost 20 years ago. We simply like Margate the way it is.

This decision is certainly not a surprise to anyone familiar with Margate. Lawn signs around town over the last two months have largely favored 'No" to "Yes" on the boardwalk question.

Source: Press of Atlantic City