South Jersey Real Estate News and More

2008-03-08T16:19:00.001-05:00

Wind Farm Proposed off Cape May County Coast
Cape May County Herald
By Herald Staff

NEWARK –– PSEG Renewable Generation and Winergy Power Holdings announced March 4 that they have submitted a proposal to the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (OCE) to build a 350 megawatt wind farm about 16 miles off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties.

The wind farm would be called Garden State Offshore Energy and, subject to receipt of all required permits, financing and other conditions, could be fully operational in 2013. The project is expected to utilize an innovative construction methodology and create onshore construction jobs for New Jersey at a cost lower than other construction methods. The project is expected to consist of 96 turbines arranged in a rectangular grid as far offshore as commercially feasible to make it virtually invisible from land.

This proposal was submitted in response to a solicitation by the OCE, which was established by the NJ Board of Public Utilities. The solicitation was for formal proposals to build a large-scale pilot wind farm off the New Jersey shore in order to gain experience constructing and operating an offshore wind project and to determine if similar projects should be built.

If chosen by the OCE, the project is expected to apply for permits and conduct additional feasibility and environmental studies. The decision to build as well as final location, design and construction schedules could be affected by these studies.

"We are committed to maximizing the positive benefits of this clean energy project while limiting any negative impact that this might have on the Jersey shore communities or on the environment," remarked Nelson Garcez, vice president, PSEG Renewable Generation. "We believe that to see the wind turbines from land, you would need to use potent binoculars," added Garcez.

The companies announced that they will be forming a community advisory committee made up of local residents, elected and tourism officials as well as community, environmental and local business leaders.

"We've located the project as far offshore as possible in order to make offshore wind a positive resource for everyone," said Chris Wissemann, chief operating officer of Winergy. "New Jersey has been at the forefront on promoting solar energy and, with this project, it will move to the cutting edge of offshore wind power as well."

PSEG Renewable Generation is a subsidiary of PSEG Global and is part of the PSEG family of companies with headquarters in Newark NJ. This is PSEG Renewable Generation's first project though PSEG Global has experience with wind generation in Latin America and biomass generation in the U.S. and Europe. PSEG is a diversified energy company (NYSE: PEG - News) and parent of PSE&G with over 100 years of delivering safe, reliable energy to New Jersey consumers.

Winergy Power Holdings based in New York was formed to explore opportunities for offshore wind development on the eastern coast of the U.S. Winergy offices in New York, New Jersey and Texas handle permitting, development and engineering.

2008-02-29T09:50:00.001-05:00

Survey: Upper Twp. 2nd best place in state to live
By MICHAEL MILLER
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, February 29, 2008

New Jersey Monthly Magazine named Upper Township the second-best place to live in New Jersey in this month's issue. The township's low tax rate, ample open space, low crime rate and good schools made it tops in the list of 566 towns.

UPPER TOWNSHIP - The township was named the second-best place to live in New Jersey in a state survey - even as its beachfront hamlet is begging to leave.

This sprawling township in northern Cape May County was second only to Chatham Township in Morris County as the best place to live in the state, according to a survey commissioned and published this month by New Jersey Monthly Magazine.

The list was compiled by Monmouth University's Polling Institute. It ranked the state's 566 towns based on property taxes, crime rates, open space and school test scores, among other measures, institute Director Patrick Murray said.

"We tried to come up with a way to list characteristics that, taken together, would give you an idea about things that are important to people in New Jersey," he said. "What's important is that no one town is perfect."

Upper Township Mayor Richard Palombo basked in the glow of the survey. Members of the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy on which he serves complimented him for his town's ranking at their meeting in Newark.

"I've often said that I love living in Upper Township. By and large, most people are comfortable with the township. It's a great place to raise your family," he said. "I think it's in recognition of the people who live there more than anything."
Palombo noted that his brother and parents, including former North Wildwood Mayor Aldo Palombo, moved to the township.

Not everyone is so full of rosy praise for the township. Its island community, Strathmere, is trying to leave No. 2 for Sea Isle City (No. 462 on the list).

"Their high ranking doesn't surprise me," Strathmere resident Randy Roash said. "We feel it's a fine community with a lot of fine people."

And as for Sea Isle's less-than-stellar showing?

"I'm confident the moment Strathmere joins Sea Isle, their rankings will soar," he quipped.

The Polling Institute's Murray said the rankings have generated some friction, mostly among border towns in northern New Jersey.

"There's a lot more fight in northern New Jersey towns. They're much more densely packed, and their borders are very close together. They're like the Hatfields and McCoys spitting across the border," he said. "With the townships in southern New Jersey along the Cape May-Cumberland area, you don't have that rivalry."

In any ranking, someone must be last. The 566th best place to live in New Jersey was Chesilhurst, in Camden County.

Mayor Michael Blunt saw nothing complimentary about his borough's ranking.

"They are wrong, wrong, wrong," Blunt said. "They must have mixed us up with someone else."

His tiny borough made news recently when Blunt closed and padlocked the volunteer fire company's firehouse because of its deplorable conditions. A former councilman awaits trial on charges of animal cruelty.

Blunt said his Pinelands town has small-town charm.

"Have those people lived here? Have they been here, talked to any residents?" he said. "If people didn't like it here, they'd be leaving in droves."

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2008-02-10T10:58:00.000-05:00

Bottleneck at Shore will be a breeze
By Jacqueline L. Urgo
Posted on Sun, Feb. 10, 2008
Inquirer Staff Writer

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - For some, the trek across the Route 52 Causeway has long been the most annoying part of a journey to the Jersey Shore.
But when a $400 million state plan to improve the causeway area is finished, it will become something entirely different: a spot to enjoy a sunny day.

Fishing piers, boat ramps, bike paths, walking trails, and a new visitors' center complete with a scenic overlook are taking shape in one of the largest projects carried out by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

"Instead of just a causeway that leads in and out of Ocean City, this project will actually make the Route 52 Causeway a destination unto itself," Ocean City Mayor Sal Perillo said. "People will actually look forward to going there."

Under the state's plan, the two fixed bridges and two drawbridges connecting Somers Point to Ninth Street in Ocean City are being replaced by two fixed spans more than five stories above the Intracoastal Waterway.

Shoregoers will welcome the change. Besides the annoying hourly openings during summer, the drawbridges - one at each end of the causeway - were notorious for malfunctioning on the hottest days, when the gears would stick with a bridge open and tie up traffic in both directions.

Built across the Great Egg Harbor Bay in the 1930s over a series of islets, the causeway had four 10-foot-wide lanes and no shoulders, a hazardous design for today's higher speeds and SUVs.

The causeway was designated an evacuation route for the barrier island where Ocean City grew, but was so close to the water that waves would wash over the two lowest bridges whenever a strong storm hit, forcing officials in recent years to close the road for safety.

The planned elevated causeway will ensure the road can be used in an emergency, Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said.

"The Route 52 Causeway, which will provide a critical evacuation route, represents one of the largest bridge projects the NJDOT has ever undertaken," he said. "We look forward to advancing construction as quickly as possible."

The project began in July with construction of the northbound lanes connecting Elbow and Garrets Islands and of a section of road across Rainbow Island.

The four new lanes - two in each direction - will feature 12-foot-wide lanes, 8-foot shoulders on each side, and a concrete median barrier.

A section of the completed northbound lanes has already been woven into use, with traffic in both directions shifted onto them while workers finish the southbound lanes.

Officials said the northbound section of the project should be completed by Memorial Day, with southbound lanes completed by fall 2009.

The rest of the causeway, including the elimination of the drawbridges, is scheduled to be completed between June 2009 and December 2012.

That part of the project will be concurrent with improvements along MacArthur Boulevard in Somers Point, which runs for about a mile between the causeway and Route 9.

At the foot of the causeway on the mainland, the Somers Point Circle has been known to confound even the most experienced drivers. It will be replaced by an intersection with traffic signals.

The Transportation Department has tried to minimize the construction project's impact on drivers, keeping lanes open and not planning any detours during the two phases, officials said.

The centerpiece of the new causeway might be the recreational opportunities it will create along the backbay section of Ocean City.

Pedestrians and bicyclists will find a 10-foot-wide concrete path along the length of the causeway. The path will connect with a 25-mile Atlantic County bike path that meanders through Somers Point, Linwood, and Egg Harbor Township to Mays Landing in Hamilton Township.

At the Ocean City and Somers Point "gateways" to the causeway, landscaping and design will encourage pedestrians to take advantage of improved accessibility to historic districts, restaurants, docks and parks.

In Somers Point, a new parking lot, a green lawn, and a perennial garden next to the historic Somers Mansion will make the foot of the causeway more attractive, officials said.

At the foot in Ocean City, a two-story, 2,800-square-foot visitors' center built to emulate the historic Ocean City Yacht Club will provide restrooms and parking. The building's wide porches and decks will become a scenic overlook for the wetlands locally known as Great Bay.

Also, four fishing piers and boardwalks will be constructed on the bay in Somers Point, on the north and south ends of Rainbow Island, and on Garrets Island. Boat ramps with parking for boat trailers will be constructed in Somers Point and on Rainbow Island.

"I can't wait to see the completion of this project and how it will really open up the back bay of Ocean City for both residents and visitors," said Margo Smith, an environmental advocate and longtime Ocean City resident. "That whole area has always been such an underutilized asset to the town and the region."

2008-01-31T09:54:00.000-05:00

Bids Being Accepted for Ocean City Beach Replenishment
January 31, 2008
By Herald Staff
Cape May County Herald.com

OCEAN CITY -- The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has started the bidding process for a $6-million beach replenishment project in this resort.

On Jan. 10, 2007 the DEP released bid specifications for the needed beach project that should result in a beach re-nourishment project this spring. The project will result in additional sand on the beaches from the north end of the island to 12th Street.

“This has been one of our priorities and it is good to see that the State is fast tracking this project,” Mayor Sal Perillo stated in a Jan. 28 release.

State funding will pay for 75 percent of the cost and the remainder will be paid by the city. Ocean City funding for this project was budgeted as part of the 2007 Capital Plan.

Once bids are received and revised, the state will award a contract and the contractor should be mobilized by April.

Additional improvements to the stormwater piping on the beaches are also planned as part of this project.

2008-01-19T09:06:00.000-05:00

Shore home prices, sales escape brunt of market downturn

Saturday, January 19, 2008
By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

AVALON
Chip Moran just put the family vacation house up for sale.

His father died in July and his mother is in an assisted living facility. Selling the house would help offset the costs for his mother's arrangement, said the Westmont resident.

Moran and his two brothers are asking $2.1 million for the five-bedroom, beach block house on 20th Street. His parents paid about $350,000 for it in the early 1980s.

"If it sells for the price we're looking for, that's the best. But there's no rush on our part. If it doesn't sell and we end up keeping the house, great," Moran said.

The Moran situation typifies the real estate market at the Jersey Shore as the new year unfolds.

While the home-sale market nationwide has gotten hammered since the real estate bubble burst in 2005, the shore has weathered the downturn better than much of the country, said Drew Fishman, president of the New Jersey Association of Realtors.

As a corollary, the repossession market has not hit the shore area, said Lester Argus, president of the Atlantic City & County Board of Realtors. Because so much of the market consists of second homes, neither sellers nor buyers are pressed to transact a sale.

"The shore does better because buying and selling are discretionary," said Richard Perniciaro, director of the Center for Regional and Business Research at Atlantic Cape Community College.

"People are not moving in or out for jobs. Most are in a position to wait a year or two to sell," said Matthew Iannone, president of Freda Real Estate in Sea Isle City.

Yet, real estate experts say the time is better than ever to buy. Prices have come down from the bloated figures of a few years ago. Interest rates are favorable, dipping below 6 percent.

And inventory is high.

"There's more inventory than buyers by a 4-1 margin," said Alex Linsk, a Realtor with Farley & Ferry Realty Inc. in Margate. "Lenders are anxious to get the market started and lend, but they will look a little closer into the buyer's credit history. Still, it doesn't cost anything to make an offer."

Back in 2005, there was a dramatic increase in the number of homes on the market at the same time buyers throttled back, said Randy Leiser, a Realtor with Avalon Real Estate Agency.

"Demand decreased, supply increased, and there were more on the market ever since."

The ups and downs are a cyclical thing, Linsk said. "It happens every seven or eight years. I've seen it three times since the early 1980s."

A lot of professionals, steeped with cash in 2002 and 2003, were sold on real estate.

"They didn't think there would be an end to the boom. Now they're paying the price. They can't sell their properties. Those who spent $500,000 to $1.5 million and thought they can flip with a 20 percent increase, they got hurt," Linsk said.

In 2005, the last strong year at the shore, some 435 units sold in Avalon and Stone Harbor.

Last year, the figures were around 300, Leiser said. But the turnaround began this past year.

"We had a good run in 2007, much better than 2006," Iannone said.

The market experienced a 13 percent drop in the volume of sales in the last year. But prices have not taken the hit other areas did, Argus said.

In Ocean City, the number of sales was up compared to 2006. November and December numbers picked up over the previous year by as much as 25 percent, Fishman said.

"It's not 2005, but it's not bad, and the dollar amounts are well ahead," Fishman said.

Said Iannone, "The asking and selling prices are not far off nowadays. We haven't had a distress sale to any great extent." Certainly, sellers are not going below what they paid for the property, Leiser said.

"One unit came on the market at $740,000 two years ago. It came off for a while, then went back on for $649,000. However, the folks paid $200,000 10 years ago. What has happened, sellers have gotten the message and depending on the situation, are reducing asking prices."

The average sales price has declined from $1.7 million in 2006 to $1.57 in 2007 in Avalon and Stone Harbor.

"The market is not as strong as we'd like it to be," Argus said. "But indicators for 2008 are looking pretty good. Mortgage companies are getting a lot more activity. We hope that translates into sales."

"We believe barring any major economic disaster, there's no cause for a further decline in values during the next 12 months," said Ian Lazarus, president of the Cape May County Association of Realtors.

Moreover, interest rates tend to ease in a presidential election year, he said. Outside of some high-end properties, Realtors aren't seeing bidding wars anymore.

"Buyers can take their time for inspections and due diligence. I think lots of buyers are on the fence figuring when they can get a good buy. Sellers are willing to negotiate," Leiser said.

Not Moran and his brothers. Then again, they don't really have to. Properties over $1.5 million sold even when the market turned, Linsk said.

Shore home buyers come in with their own financing, and larger down payments. They come in with more income. In Ocean City, there was a bidding war for a million dollar home that sold for over the asking price, Fishman said.

So the prospects look good for Moran, a 47-year-old facility manager.

If the house sells, he has a condo on 78th Street in Avalon he'll use more often. Or he and his brothers will get together and buy something else a little less expensive.

"The Jersey Shore is great. I've been all over the country. I'll put Jersey beaches against anybody," he said.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or bsokolic@camden.gannett.com

2008-01-18T08:46:00.000-05:00

N.J. Beach Town Scraps Rain Forest Deal
By WAYNE PARRY – 8 hours ago
Associated Press

OCEAN CITY, N.J. (AP) — A plan to buy $1.1 million worth of tropical rain forest wood to fix the boardwalk was scrapped Thursday following a year of delays and protests from local residents and environmentalists around the globe.

"This has become a big embarrassment for the city of Ocean City," said Councilman Scott Ping.

The wood carried a hefty price tag because it was certified as having been harvested responsibly. But environmentalists say such harvesting is still denuding the rain forests and said the city should use domestic wood or synthetic alternatives.

Several council members said they now prefer using domestic yellow pine to cover a block-long section of the boardwalk that has been ripped up in anticipation of the wood being delivered.

"This is amazing, fantastic news," said Rhonda Van Wingerden, head of a local environmental group, Friends of the Rain Forest, which has been fighting the plan for the past year.

In a 6-0 vote, the council passed a resolution declaring the Louis J. Grasmick Lumber Co. of Baltimore in default of its contract with the city. The company said Monday the delays in shipping the wood were due to unavoidable factors, including record low water levels in the Amazon jungle that made it hard to float the logs to mills.

The council does not intend to pay for any of the wood, including the 3 percent of the order it has already received and another 15 percent that is supposedly on its way, Councilman Keith Hartzell said after the meeting.

"Our preference is to send it back," he said.

The only way the city would pay for the wood it has already received is if it were ordered to do so by a judge, he said.

City Attorney Gerald Corcoran, said the council's refusal to pay the bill could lead the lumber company to sue, but said he doubted that would happen.

2008-01-16T23:55:00.000-05:00

Ocean City may scrap rainforest wood boardwalk deal
By WAYNE PARRY | Associated Press Writer
Newsday.com
5:04 PM EST, January 14, 2008

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Since this southern New Jersey beach town broke a decade-old promise last year not to use wood from tropical rainforests on its boardwalk, just about everything that could go wrong with the plan did go wrong.

Environmentalists picketed and the mayor's office was flooded with 50,000 protest e-mails from around the globe.

The wood, which was supposed to be certified as having been harvested responsibly from trusted sources in the Amazon, cost anywhere between 30 and 70 percent more than wood without the certification.

And the Baltimore lumber company that was supposed to have the wood here by the end of the year still hasn't. It blamed, among other things, unfavorable currency exchange rates, and low water levels in Amazon jungles that made it hard to float logs to mills.

Now, after suffering serious damage to its reputation as an environmentally friendly community, the city that calls itself "America's Greatest Family Resort" may be ready to scrap the $1.1 million deal _ even if it means a costly legal battle.

A majority of the City Council is considering voting Thursday night to refuse to pay for the wood, claiming the Louis Grasmick Lumber Co. has defaulted on its contract with Ocean City.

"We've taken this entire community down a path of divisiveness, for reasons I still don't understand," said Councilman Jody Alessandrine. "It has put our city on the map and on the Internet and in the newspapers for all the wrong reasons. Some people are just unwilling to admit their mistakes."

That was a reference to Mayor Sal Perillo, who since last January has championed the use of Brazilian ipe wood for a block-long section of the boardwalk. He likes the durability of the wood, and says the environmental certification it carries proves the city is doing the right thing. He also said breaking a contract could expose the city to damages, and hurt its reputation among other companies that do business with it.

Perillo did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

Ten years ago, Ocean City voted never to use tropical rainforest wood again for its 2{ mile-long boardwalk that is a mixture of ipe and domestic yellow pine, citing the damage that logging operations are doing to the Amazon. But last January, it decided that using wood certified as having been harvested responsibly would be OK.

Ipe is a flowering tree that towers over others in the forest canopy and can grow to 100 feet. Because it lasts longer than pine, it has been used in boardwalk projects from coast to coast, including Atlantic City, New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami Beach and Long Beach and Santa Monica, Calif.

Ocean City bought wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a group of industry and environmental groups who seek to improve forestry management practices. Certification means that loggers operate in ways designed to damage the ecosystem as little as possible, including not over-harvesting or wasting trees.

But environmental groups are split over whether that represents true progress or just a fig leaf covering for practices that still denude the rain forest.

Matt Miller, a sales representative for Grasmick, said the company has asked Ocean City for more time to deliver the wood. He said an additional shipment left for Ocean City on Monday, and would not comment on what the company would do if Ocean City refuses to pay for the wood.

So far, only about 3 percent of the wood has reached Ocean City. And only part of that bears stickers claiming that it meets responsible forestry guidelines, said Georgina Shanley, one of many local activists trying to get the city to kill the plan.

"We look ridiculous in the eyes of the world," she said. "We have all these wonderful initiatives _ green cars and solar buildings, but then we have this absolutely ramming through of something that is incredibly damaging to the environment."

The delay in delivering the wood has left a gaping hole in a block-long stretch of the boardwalk, which was ripped up in preparation for the new boards. And several councilman are worried that if work doesn't start immediately, the boardwalk won't be ready by Easter _ the traditional start of the spring season for boardwalk merchants.

"We all agree that the boardwalk has to be ready by Easter, even if it means we have to use a different kind of wood," said Councilman Greg Johnson. "If a correction needs to be made, we will make it."

2008-01-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! Travel: December 31, 2007

Yahoo! Travel's biggest domestic ''Movers & Shakers'' -- destinations that got the biggest increase in page views in Yahoo! Travel Guides -- were Lancaster, Pa., Ocean City, N.J., South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Wildwood, N.J., Helen, Ga., and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

2008-01-02T10:06:00.000-05:00

Housing market should weather dire forecasts
Published: Sunday, December 30, 2007

The latest housing market forecast from Moody's Eco-nomy.com predicts Ocean City and Atlantic City will see home prices fall more than most anywhere outside the overheated Sun Belt.

It predicts that the median price - at which half are higher, half lower - for single-family homes in Ocean City will plunge by 24.9 percent from now until early 2009.

For Atlantic City, a drop of 18.6 percent in home prices is expected.

Nationwide, Moody's Eco-nomy.com expects home prices to decline 13 percent.

Those are shockingly worrisome numbers. But how likely are they to be accurate?

The forecast for next year by the National Association of Realtors is for the median price of an existing home to increase by 0.3 percent, after falling 1.9 percent this year.

The Realtors expect prices in the Northeast to do better than average.

"The improvement in the Northeast reaffirms a trend apparent for some months now that shows signs of recovery, noteworthy because that was the first region to slump," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, said in a statement accompanying the forecast.

That outlook seems as optimistic as the Moody's view seems pessimistic. How can these be reconciled?

It's worth noting that Moo-
dy's Economy.com issued a similarly distressing forecast last year for the two local markets.

It predicted home prices in Atlantic City would drop 12.2 percent by early 2008, and those in Ocean City would fall 7.6 percent by 2010. (It takes either courage or foolishness to predict where a volatile market will be in four years.)

Weighing in on the pessimistic side is the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, which this week reported that nationwide home prices dropped 6.7 percent in October. That index tracks 10 major metropolitan areas.

The National Association of Realtors too have reported price declines this year, but much smaller ones. Most recently, it said prices in the third quarter declined 2 percent from the same period the year before.

In Atlantic City, however, it found that the median home price increased 6.2 percent from the prior year for the third quarter.

Part of the explanation for the wide discrepancies in these surveys is that they use different methods for tracking prices.

The Case-Shiller index, for example, tracks particular houses and compares how the prices for those houses change. The Realtors, on the other hand, round up all the housing prices for a survey period - so the character (and therefore value) of the housing being sold can change from period to period.

There's another housing price database that is fairly comprehensive but also tracks price changes in particular homes to ensure less volatile data.

That's the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's House Price Index, and it seems to support the view of the Realtors.

The OFHEO's index for the third quarter found that prices in Atlantic City were 0.78 percent higher than in the prior month. Those in Ocean City were 0.54 recent higher.

For the nation as a whole, the OFHEO found that prices declined 0.4 percent from the second quarter, but were up 1.8 percent from the year-ago period.

The southern New Jersey housing market saw a big runup in home prices during the housing boom earlier this decade, as did many (particularly resort) areas around the nation.

But our market was less driven by investors fleeing the declining stock market than other areas and more driven by two factors particular to our geography and economy.

The first is our proximity to the huge populations of northern New Jersey and New York, in which a large cohort of boomers is looking for a retirement place. We're convenient to where they've spent their lives, and our home prices are substantially lower than theirs.

The second is the substantial expansion of the casino industry, which provides a level of confidence in the area's growth for the next decade.

As we've been saying for the couple of years, these factors are mitigating the effect on our area of the national housing slump. The sales and price figures have so far born that out.

I expect that to continue, and for our housing market to do as well or better than the National Association of Realtors expects, and far better than the more pessimistic forecasters.

To e-mail Kevin Post at The Press:
KPost@pressofac.com

2007-12-02T09:58:00.000-05:00

CAMDEN, N.J. - November 29, 2007 --
Action News - WPVI-TV/DT Philadelphia

In February, the Diocese of Camden closed two elementary schools in the face of shifting demographics. More changes and school closings were announced on Thursday.

The changes are designed to strengthen and revitalize catholic schools in six counties of the Diocese of Camden.

"To have allowed the status quo to continue would have left weaker, not stronger schools," explained Reverend Joseph Bishop Galante, who announced the merger of 16 elementary schools in the Camden Diocese and the closure of one, due to declining enrollment and escalating costs. That one is in Ocean City.

Story continues belowAdvertisement"In the face of this reality, in the interest of the common good and with the objective of strengthening Catholic school education for the entire cluster, the closure of St. Augustine school at the end of 2007-08 year is necessary," Galante said.

Shifting population in the six-county diocese has meant a drop in catholic elementary school enrollment from 15-thousand in 2001 to less than 11-thousand now.
Tuition no longer covers school costs and shrinking parishes cannot offer enough subsidies to make up the difference.

This fall, St. Augustine students can enroll in other schools. Displaced teachers will get priority hiring status and be offered severance packages.
While unsettling, the Bishop believes these tough choices today will help avoid what he fears would otherwise happen in the future -- the withering and failure of diocesan schools.

"With low enrollment, rising costs, we would not be able to continue in an effective way the education of as many of our children as possible," he said.
Camden is creating special governing body and creating a fund to assure low-income students in the struggling city have access to catholic education.
For more information about the changes, visit the Camden Diocese website by clicking here.

2007-11-30T06:51:00.001-05:00

N.J. gas price s rising, but still relatively cheap

Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, November 29, 2007
From Press staff reports

Gasoline prices in New Jersey have gone up 3 cents per gallon in the last week, 31 cents in the last month and 84 cents since this time last year, the American Automobile Association Mid-Atlantic said Wednesday.

But the good news is the Garden State has the second-cheapest gas in the country, an average of $2.95 per gallon of regular, second only to Missouri's $2.90, the AAA said. The national average is $3.10.

Southern New Jersey prices are cheaper than the state average, with regular going for about $2.91 per gallon in Atlantic and Cape May counties and $2.93 per gallon in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Gas prices are expected to remain stable or rise slightly in the near future, the AAA said.

2007-10-09T22:47:00.000-04:00

Safety Of Ocean City Boardwalk Questioned
(CBS 3) - Philadelphia, PA
Oct 9, 2007 7:14 am US/Eastern

OCEAN CITY, N.J. There are growing concerns over the substructure of parts of the Ocean City boardwalk after nearly 80 years of erosion.

On a busy weekend Ocean City gets 200,000 visitors. Many tourists pack the boardwalk, a portion of which was built in 1928, to take part in a vast array of shops and eateries that line the wooden walkway.

"Ocean City represents over one billion dollar a year in tourism. It is our life's blood," said Ocean City Councilman Jody Alessandrine.

Recently there has been debate as to what type of material should be used to replace damaged boards, but many have not seen the damage underneath the boardwalk.

One cement segment of the boardwalk has settled approximately five inches below where it meets another section.

Cracks along the bottom of boardwalk can be seen and there is visible erosion from years from exposure to the salty air.

"The core of the boardwalk substructure is antiquated," Alessandrine said. “It’s important to note it's safe

Concerned residents hired an independent engineer to examine the substructure.

"There are a few isolated areas that need some rehabilitation work, but I would estimate that to be somewhere in the ten percent range," McLaren Engineering Group's Malcolm McLaren said.

In response to questions about the condition of the boardwalk, Ocean City Engineer George Savastano said, "The city is well aware of the condition of the substructure and we have all the intentions to do the necessary repairs."

But regardless, all agree the decades old boardwalk is in need of some attention.

“There really hasn’t been an extensive study on the condition of the substructure for over ten years,” Alessandrine said. “Any engineer that has been under there has said, ‘Yeah, it needs maintenance and needs repair.’”

Ocean City officials said $21,000 has been dedicated to fixing the ailing portion of the boardwalk in the coming weeks, but some are concerned it may not be enough.

2007-08-18T12:14:00.000-04:00

Boardwalk Battle Raging In Ocean City
Aug 17, 2007 10:52 am US/Eastern
(CBS 3)

OCEAN CITY, N.J. Protesters joined vacationers as battle over boards on the Ocean City boardwalk came to a boiling point Friday.

The controversy has grown with city officials’ decision to fix a portion of the boardwalk with wood from the rain forest.

The wood in question is called ‘Ipe.’ While it is only used on a few blocks, its ability to withstand large crowds on the boardwalk each summer led city council to approve the use of the wood for repairs on 9th Street.

But opponents are hoping to cut down the plans before any trees fall. Protestors voiced their opinion and delivered their message to city council Thursday evening.

"One block equals approximately 2,000 acres of deforestation and I think that’s awful," protestor Rhonda Vanwingerden said.

Opponents of the use of Ipe said a plastic lumber alternative is 40 percent cheaper and just as reliable.

City council voted 4-3 to recommend that the mayor's office rescind the purchase of Ipe. Now it is up to the mayor to decide on how the timber will fall.

2007-08-05T08:24:00.000-04:00

Ocean City, N.J.
This family-oriented resort thrives on its virtuous origins
By Alexis Raymond | Special to SunSpot
Daily Press - dailypress.com
August 5, 2007

In 1879, four Methodist ministers arrived on a New Jersey barrier island called Peck's Beach, renamed it Ocean City and set up a Christian retreat. Residents built a boardwalk, prohibited alcohol, forbade bathing on Sundays and eventually began promoting the island as "A Moral Seaside Resort." Despite these restrictions, Ocean City flourished.

The founders' conservative intentions lingered well into the next century. In fact, the Blue Laws that prohibited bathing, shopping, recreation and other acts of "personal comfort" on Sundays weren't repealed until 1987, following a very close vote.

You can't buy booze in Ocean City, but you can play Skee-Ball, eat saltwater taffy and fried foods, ride a boogie board, sunbathe, play miniature golf, watch the sun rise and set, and partake in dozens of other activities. This combination of wholesome and winsome makes Ocean City one of the most popular family destinations in the mid-Atlantic.

All beachgoers must purchase and wear beach badges during the summer months. Badges are sold at the following locations in Ocean City:

City Hall, 861 Asbury Ave.: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday

46th Street Municipal Building: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily

Music Pier, Moorlyn Terrace and the Boardwalk: 10 a.m.- p.m. daily

Information Center, 9th Street Bridge Causeway: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Sunday

The only way into Ocean City from the mainland is via Route 52. This makes the folks at the Circle Liquor Store, just before the causeway, very happy.

This is the last chance to buy wine, beer and other libations before entering Ocean City, and it is always bustling with vacationers hoping to keep their whistles wet in the "dry" town.

Ironically, alcohol played a part in one of Ocean City's most legendary occurrences. Near midnight on Dec. 14, 1901, the British sailing ship Sindia -- en route to New York from Japan and carrying $1 million in silks, satins, porcelain and other wares -- drifted off course in a storm and crashed on the beach near 16th Street. Soon after, townspeople began circulating rumors that the ship's crew was drunk, an accusation that the captain and crew vehemently denied, blaming instead the bad weather.

The tip of the Sindia could still be seen approximately 150 yards off shore until the early 1990s. It has since disappeared and is totally submerged in sand. Today, the only reminders of the wreck are the Sindia Restaurant, named in its honor, and an extensive display at the Ocean City Historical Museum, a 6,000-square-foot museum that details the town's history from the Victorian era to the 1960s.

Walking around town is a history lesson in itself. The brick Tabernacle at 500 Wesley Ave. sits on the site of the island's first house of worship, a wooden tabernacle that was destroyed by a hurricane in 1944. The 300 block of Central Avenue is literally a stroll down memory lane; the large, architecturally varied homes look very much like they did 100 years ago. The Victorian-style New Brighton Inn, at 518 Fifth St., was built in 1882 by one of Ocean City's founders, the Rev. William Burrell. It was called the "marrying house" because of the hundreds of weddings he performed there.

Although Ocean City's 16,000 current residents form a melting pot of religious affiliations, ages and ethnicities, the town once claimed a thriving Italian immigrant community. In his best-selling book, "Unto the Sons," Ocean City native and journalist Gay Talese provides a vivid account of growing up on Marconi Street, the stretch of Simpson Street between 9th and 12th streets that, in the early 1900s, was Ocean City's Little Italy.

America's greatest family resort
For a town founded on principles of strict morality and rectitude, Ocean City is surprisingly -- and tastefully -- fun. It might be the only place in America where you can celebrate the end of tax season at the annual Doo-Dah Parade in April or compete in a taffy-sculpting contest during Weird Contest Week in August.

The hub of action in Ocean City is the boardwalk -- 50 feet in width, 2 1/2 miles long and packed plank to plank with arcades, miniature golf courses, sweet shops, cafes and pizzerias. It serves as a genteel alter ego of the more famous Atlantic City version 10 miles to the north.

Gillian's Wonderland Pier, with dozens of amusement rides, a miniature golf course and a water park, is the biggest amusement conglomerate on the island. Perhaps the most famous spot to get a cavity is at Shriver's, which has sold fudge and saltwater taffy on the boardwalk since the "days of Queen Victoria." Johnson's Popcorn sells legendary buckets of caramel-coated kernels from three locations on the boardwalk. The white-and-pink Music Pier, built in the Mediterranean Revival architectural style in 1928, is a boardwalk landmark. Locals and visitors flock to the Music Pier to see the Ocean City Pops orchestra, as well as many other concerts, craft shows and musicals.

In the early mornings, joggers and bikers populate the boardwalk, giving over to hordes of teenagers by afternoon. The eight miles of clean and well-maintained beach provide a popular gathering spot, but remember that all beachgoers must purchase and wear badges.

The Bayside Center is a great place to catch a sunset or pass a rainy afternoon. The vintage 1910 home has an environmental education center, a lifesaving museum, a display of classic ship models and three floors of reconstructed bayfront porches. Its observation level is a great place to watch the annual Night in Venice, a boat parade on the bay in July.

The Ocean City Arts Center offers a cultural escape from the arcade game bells and food vendor barks. The facility hosts fine arts classes and workshops, monthly exhibits, art and jewelry shows, concerts and lectures.

For the first time, in June 2003, the town sponsored the Ocean City Film Festival, a weekend-long celebration of feature-length films, animated movies and short films from around the world.

Planning a trip
Accommodations in Ocean City are abundant and range from weekly rentals to budget hotels to luxurious bed and breakfasts.

The extravagant Beach Club Hotel has a beachfront pool, on-site restaurant and rooms with private balconies. Just a block from the boardwalk, the Impala Island Inn offers moderately priced rooms and a pool for the kids. The Tahiti Inn, with low prices, weekly apartment rentals, connecting rooms and a small pool, is ideal for budget-conscious families.

Restaurants cover every corner of town. Given the family-centric atmosphere, they trend more toward casual places serving comfort food and pizza, although Chinese, Japanese and Greek cuisines are represented. Large concentrations of eateries can be found along the boardwalk, in the historic district and along Asbury Avenue.

Cousin's, loved for its gourmet food, "early-bird" specials and bargain family-size take-out portions, has an extensive menu of poultry, steak, seafood and Italian dishes. The Blue Planet Diner serves standard, inexpensive comfort food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mack & Manco on the boardwalk is a favorite for pizza. Tory's, a 1950s-style ice cream parlor, makes a great after-dinner stop.

Nightlife in Ocean City is sedate and family-friendly. Since no alcohol is sold or served, there are no bars or nightclubs. Yet the boardwalk and its amusement parks, golf courses, ice cream parlors and sweet shops are usually buzzing with the energy of a big-city dance club until 10 or 11 p.m. Teens prowl the wooden walkway and meet friends at the Strand 5 Theatre, which always has an assortment of G, PG and PG-13 movies. Families browse the shops and cool off with ice cream cones.

Ocean City is a unique destination on the mid-Atlantic coast. It is not for the thrill-seeking, unencumbered and urbane. Rather, it is a playground of simple pleasures and a reminder that spending time with family can provide the greatest entertainment of all.

2007-07-22T21:26:00.000-04:00

Road projects could ease shore congestion - eventuallyAs Shore traffic woes grow, the cure adds to the pain
By Jacqueline L. Urgo
Inquirer Staff Writer
July 22, 2007

GERALD S. WILLIAMS / Inquirer Staff Photographer
Traffic on the Route 52 causeway heading to Ocean City, N.J., stacks up at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday. In the background are cranes building spans to replace the antique drawbridges.
» More images On any hot, steamy Friday afternoon, hordes of drivers flee the city and suburbs, stringing a Shore traffic jam that can stretch as far inland as the Walt Whitman Bridge.
Even on most summer Saturday mornings, big pockets of traffic collect along the Atlantic City Expressway as drivers funnel through tollbooths and past fender benders and stalled vehicles.

By Sunday night, the parade repeats - in reverse.

More traffic is headed to and from the Jersey Shore than just 10 years ago. More even than last summer.

The number of vehicles using the Atlantic City Expressway, a toll road that many consider the primary route between Philadelphia and the Shore, is projected to be about 13 percent higher this year than it was five years ago.

"It takes me an average of 30 minutes longer now to get from my house in Plymouth Meeting to my house in Ocean City than it did when we bought the place 15 years ago," said Phyllis Cordon, 61, a self-described Atlantic City Expressway veteran. "The route hasn't gotten any longer, so it's got to be the traffic."

Hers was among the 66.8 million vehicles that plied the 44-mile expressway last year, up 3.5 percent from 2005. In 2002, 59 million vehicles used the road.

"This summer's numbers are robust, so we expect that the total for this year will be an increase over last year even though the numbers for 2007 started out a little sluggish," said Laurie Brewer, a spokeswoman for the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which operates the expressway.

So the question many stalled drivers will ponder is: "Just what is being done about this mess?"

"With the projects the DOT has on the table right now, I think we are certainly trying to address some of these problem areas at the Shore," said Tim Greeley, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

During the summer, the department tries to schedule construction to minimize the impact on Shore traffic, Greeley said.

Still, some projects continue, such as the $37.3 million replacement of three county-owned bridges along Delilah Road, an artery from Absecon and Pleasantville to Atlantic City. That project, which began recently, is to be finished in late 2009.

Then there is the Route 47/83-Dennis Creek bridge replacement in Cape May County. Route 47 is a main route from Cumberland County to beaches in Cape May County. The $7.6 million project is expected to be completed next month.

The Route 70/Manasquan River bridge replacement in Ocean County has created headaches on that main road to the Point Pleasant and Manasquan Beach areas since early last year. The $52 million project is ahead of schedule and is to be finished by late 2010.

Another bridge is being replaced over the Manasquan River on Route 35, at a cost of $33 million. It is to be finished by early 2009.

Farther south on Route 70 in Ocean County, intersection improvements on Massachusetts Avenue in Bricktown, costing $5 million, are expected to be completed in November 2008.

"In general, we do not have lane closures during the day. They would be kept to overnights and off-peak tourist travel times," Greeley said.

One project that might make entering and leaving Ocean City along the Route 52/Ninth Street causeway more difficult is expected to pay off big time when complete, Greeley said.

The $154 million project is replacing two antique drawbridges that often get stuck upright at the height of summer because the gears jam in high humidity. Two taller, span bridges will be built along the 2.2-mile causeway connecting Somers Point to Ocean City.

"Because of concern about summer traffic, we've kept all four lanes open on those bridges and causeway while construction takes place alongside the existing route," Greeley said.

Off the beaten Shore paths, the concern was the same with a project being completed along Pitney Road in Galloway Township, a mainland community with a steady stream of traffic to and from Atlantic City, Brigantine, and the downbeach towns of Ventnor, Margate and Longport.

"You don't routinely think of Galloway as being affected by summer traffic, but it is because the Shore becomes so saturated with people this time of the year," Atlantic County Engineer Joe D'Abundo said.

Galloway has several golf courses frequented by barrier-island residents and is a bedroom community for Atlantic City casino workers.

"There's really no good time to do a road project at the Shore," D'Abundo said. "In the summer, people complain that they make the Shore traffic worse, in the fall it's the school buses, and then at the holidays people say it makes it tough to get around then."

Like his colleagues in Ocean and Cape May Counties, D'Abundo said he tried to minimize the number of road projects during the summer.

But that doesn't mean much to people such as Cecelia Rogers, 57, of Ventnor.

She said construction detours along Pitney Road had added 30 minutes each way to her commute to work at a Galloway Township supermarket.

"It's bad enough with the tourist traffic everywhere you go now," Rogers said, "but then they close roads and make detours that make you go eight miles out of your way just to get to work. It's ridiculous. They need to plan the timing on these things a little better."

And as experts continue to seek ways to ease congestion, some say the traffic problems likely will only get worse.

"There's more and more people all the time visiting the Shore and deciding to live here full time," Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster said. "And there will always be only so much land to work with in terms of creating and widening roads."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Jacqueline L. Urgo at 609-823-9629 or jurgo@phillynews.com.

2007-07-22T21:18:00.000-04:00

Jul 22, 2007 4:44 pm US/Eastern

Amusement Park Ride Injures 5 In Ocean City, N.J.
(CBS/AP)

OCEAN CITY, N.J. Five people were injured Sunday when an amusement park ride malfunctioned along the Jersey shore, according to police.

According to the Ocean City police department, the five people received minor injuries when riding the "Log Flume" ride at Gillian's Wonderland Pier on the Boardwalk.

The victims were identified as Kimberly Aceto, 40, of Barrington; Travis Lindenmoer, 27, of Lehighton, Pa.; and Danielle Summreil, 23, of Lehighton, Pa.

A 9-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were also injured, but due to their age, their names are not being released.

The victims were taken to Shore Memorial Hospital.

There was no information on what happened to the ride.

The "Log Flume" will remain closed until the New Jersey State Department of Community Affairs, which oversees amusement parks, can figure out what caused the accident, police said.

Telephone calls left at the amusement park office were not immediately returned.

2007-07-18T08:58:00.000-04:00

County officials to discuss fate of Beesleys Point Bridge
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2007

UPPER TOWNSHIP — A state lawmaker is hosting a meeting Friday of state and Cape May County officials over the future of the Beesleys Point Bridge.
Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said he will help mediate an agreement between the county and the state Department of Transportation over the long-closed toll bridge.

Under the proposal by Cape May County Administrator Steven O’Connor, the county would add the bridge to its inventory of five toll bridges. The county would pay to operate the bridge.

The state would take care of bonding for the estimated $20 million in repairs the drawbridge needs, O’Connor said. The county has not determined what share, if any, it would contribute toward repairs, he said.

Friday will mark the first time the DOT has opened the bridge’s finances to the county, despite a lawsuit and an Open Public Records Act request the county filed.

“If we operate it, we want all the information we can get about previous income and expenses of the past owners,” O’Connor said. “We have to sit down and discuss what the expectations of the DOT are as far as the county’s financial position toward rehabilitation costs.”
Van Drew said he expects many issues to be resolved this week. The Beesleys Point Bridge Co. closed the private span three years ago after an old concrete pier threatened to fall into a newer one. The company said it did not have money to make repairs.

DOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri on Tuesday said he would participate in the meeting with Freeholder Director Dan Beyel and Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster.

Staff writer Thomas Barlas contributed to this report.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-07-14T08:03:00.000-04:00

Guarding the Point where the ocean meets the bay

By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic city
Published: Saturday, July 14, 2007

CAPE MAY POINT — Pete Pietras tracked it as it crossed Delaware, knowing that it could mean nothing or it could mean everything to his job of keeping bathers safe.
Pietras, 37, a Cape May Point native and beach patrol captain since 1995, knows well the unpredictability of summer storms crossing the Delaware Bay. He's seen water spouts spin right off the beach and lightning bolts slam into the waters.

Pietras knows that some days a far-away storm will rumble for a long time and never make its move east. Other storms will be in Lewes one minute and suddenly hit here furiously after crossing the open water with no resistance.

This particular storm Wednesday turned out to be nothing much, just a little sprinkle of rain. But Pietras and Chris Garrison, a former captain who now works as a lifeguard, were on top of it early.

“The biggest thing we have here is T-storms. We get hit first. Brainard Avenue, where Chris sits, he's my eyes. We track it and decide if it will skirt us or hit us. If it's going to hit us, we get everybody off, and then we get off,” Pietras said.

That's the way it is here at the most unusual bathing beaches in New Jersey, where for almost a century lifeguards have had to be acutely aware of the weather and the unique geography where the ocean meets the bay.
Some of the guarded beaches are on the ocean and some are on the bay, but during the course of the day, an individual beach can be both a bay and ocean beach. It depends on what the tides are doing in the bay named after Virginia Colony governor Lord De La Warre.

The government has its own line for marking the mouth of the bay. It's a straight line that runs from the Cape May Lighthouse to the Harbor of Refuge at Cape Henlopen, Del. Pietras doesn't use that line, because it doesn't help him in his job of saving bathers. His line is where the waters of ocean and bay meet, a turbulent area known informally as “the rips.” It moves with the tides and can affect his beaches.

That is another unique thing about the beaches here. Tides go in and out on most ocean beaches. Here they go laterally, and with the force of a fast-moving river. That's because the entrance to the bay is narrower than the middle of the bay.

“When it's going good, you can't swim against it,” Pietras noted.

Rock groins often turn the bathing areas into a lake, but it often presents a false sense of security as the currents hit the end of the rocks and swirl towards the shore.

“The currents are always there, and the guards know that. They move the bathers and shift them from one side to the other,” Pietras said.

There are times when half the beaches in town are open and half are closed.

Geography also creates another situation. Strong northeast winds, a big worry for ocean beaches, are not much of a problem here. The beaches are actually somewhat protected from a northeaster. There have been times when ocean beaches are closed to swimmers and the beaches here are open. Storms moving in from the south and west are a bigger problem.

Much of what Pietras knows about the currents has been passed down to him. This is a beach patrol with a long, rich tradition. The operation is so old they even believe they have a ghost, a friendly one, watching over them. They are starting to plan the 100th anniversary. Town fathers began talking about hiring a lifeguard in 1909 and took action in 1910, giving the duel job to a man also in charge of lighting the borough's street lamps.

The first guard known by name was Clarence Hixox, who was hired in 1912 and got paid $30 per month. This was changed to $1 per day in 1914 when Leo Alvarez took over. Nobody is quite sure if that's a pay raise, because nobody is really sure how long the season was then, or even what hours of the day the strand was open. These days, the season runs from mid-June to Labor Day.

Old minutes make it clear that duel jobs were often expected. In 1920, George Jones was paid $2.50 per day, but he also had to conduct light and water inspections. The price was increased to $3 per day in 1924, when Percy Romtra took over, but he was also given the added job of being the town's marshal.

The minutes give indications of what beaches were covered and how the patrol grew from one guard to today's crew of 25. The first captain was Stephen McGarvey, who was appointed in 1965. In 1966, he was making $55 per week. In 1972, the beach-tag program began and the pay increased. In 1978, the captain made 50 cents more per hour and a lieutenant 25 cents more per hour than a lifeguard. Pietras was hired in 1987 at the age of 16.

“I was cutting grass, and (Captain) Pete Romano approached me. Cape May was paying $4 an hour, and he offered me $4.25. That 25 cents was nice at 16 years old. I thought I was going to be a millionaire,” Pietras said.

The patrol has everything the ocean resorts have. Early equipment mainly included a big wooden cross on the beach with a rope and life ring attached to it. Beach Patrol headquarters used to be a box on Coral Avenue with all the gear in it. Today, they have row boats, four-wheel-drive beach vehicles, personal watercraft and building space behind Borough Hall for headquarters. The patrol has several certifications and since 1989 has run a junior lifeguard program.

The town only has 234 year-round residents, but the quaintness, and lack of parking meters, seems to be drawing more and more people to the beaches. In 1996, the strand drew 36,000 people, but this rose to 74,000 during 2006.

Part of the draw could be lifeguards like Brian Wilson, who takes the time to walk the nuns at St. Mary's By The Sea Convent into the water.

“The nuns love him. He assists them in and out of the water. We actually do that for anybody,” Pietras said.

The patrol also leaves its borders quite often, going as far as Cape May but also to Lower Township beaches, where there are no lifeguards, such as Sunset Beach and Higbee Beach.

“It's not our responsibility, but we do it as the neighborly thing,” Pietras said.

The patrol recently rescued two men who entered the water in North Cape May and drifted to Alexander Avenue. It's the kind of thing small towns do. Pietras intends to keep it that way.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:RDegener@pressofac.com

2007-06-27T08:33:00.000-04:00

Landmark Victorian home in Cape May will come out of Sea Mist
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, June 27, 2007

CAPE MAY — “When was the fire?” asks a summer tourist peddling a surrey down Beach Avenue on Tuesday morning.
A neighbor to The Sea Mist, the landmark four-story Victorian on the beachfront said to be the most photographed structure in Cape May, has to tell somebody for the umpteenth time there was no fire.

What began as a simple renovation to the 1873 landmark has, well, gotten more complicated. It happens with old buildings. Much of the structure is now in a dumpster.

The good news is the new owners say that by next summer the town will have a new Sea Mist that looks just like the old Sea Mist.

“We had to do a more extreme deconstruction than we planned. We're anxious to bring it back to what we think it should be, a landmark,” said Barry Sharer, one of the principals in the company Sea Mist Cape May, LLC.

Sharer and his partners bought the Sea Mist last year with plans to turn the 15-unit apartment complex into eight condominiums. The units will range from $479,000 for a one bedroom to $2,299,000 for the fourth floor penthouse.
It would have cost simply $350,000 to replace the structure. The renovation was originally expected to cost $1.3 million, but that estimate is rising fast.

Renovations are always more expensive than new construction, but in this case, rotten wood and foundation issues complicated matters. It was originally a two-story house with an attic. A third and fourth floor, several additions and decks, were added to the structure.

“There was a lot of added weight put on the foundation it wasn't designed to handle,” Sharer said.

The job now includes new piling, footings and steel girders. None of that will be visible on the outside when the new cedar clapboard is nailed on next year. There will be trim and columns made of Cyprus wood. No vinyl siding. It will be painted. An artist's rendering at the site shows the same red and white coloring, and all five decks are still there overlooking the ocean.

Neighbors were happy to hear that. The Sea Mist has been featured in commercials touting New Jersey's tourism industry. It has been in national magazines and on a New Jersey lottery ticket.

“It's good for business. I can't tell you how many people stop and ask about this. It's helped tourism so much,” said next-door neighbor Kate Egan

The Egans have been next door since 1965 and have old photographs when The Sea Mist was just another two-story house on the beach. They credit the late Fred Morrison, who bought it after the 1962 storm, with turning it into the most picturesque building in a town full of picturesque buildings.

“Fred built it by hand,” said Mary Louise Egan.

Much of what he built was recently removed under a partial demolition permit. City Construction Official William Callahan hasn't heard the end of it.

“My phone rings every day, and they think it's a fire or a bomb hit it,” Callahan said.

The city takes some flak, but Callahan said in the end the structure will conform to modern building codes but with the same look and design of the original. Callahan noted the city's Historic Preservation Commission approved the plans. He said his whole office staff worked on it, putting in twice as much time as normal.

“If it ends up like it was, we'll all be heroes. If it doesn't, they'll kill me,” Callahan said.

Sharer said demolition work is complete and a framing crew should be rebuilding as early as this Thursday.

That will please Glenn McBrearty, a contractor working next door at the Beach Guest House. He admired what is left of The Sea Mist on Tuesday.

“It will look great when they're done, a grand old dame,” McBrearty said.

There will be some minor changes. Callahan said the front awning will span the front of the structure instead of going out towards the beach. Sharer said the columns were four inches square and they will be upgraded to eight inches square. Parking will be moved from the front lawn to the back of the structure. There will be a fire escape in the back and an elevator in the building. There are also lighting changes to highlight the building at night.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:RDegener@pressofac.com

2007-06-20T07:20:00.000-04:00

Picture-perfect park
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

OCEAN CITY — The city unveiled its latest park Tuesday in its bustling downtown.

Gateway Park on Ninth Street features a shale fountain surrounded by benches and flowers. It's one of the tiniest of city parks but offers a little respite from downtown traffic.

The park on West Avenue is a big step up from the gravel lot it replaced, said Leslie Skibo, of Community Art Projects, the group that initiated the mural.

She credited Georgia Arnold for overseeing construction of the park for the city.

“It's a home run. It's exactly what we wanted. It's just beautiful,” she said. “We have a little stage here. We can have picnics in the park, poetry readings. We could even have weddings here.”
And it's a good way to frame the towering mural “Daydream Junction” by artist Victor Grasso. Grasso attended Tuesday's official opening. When he painted the mural in 2005, it overlooked a dirt parking lot.

“I couldn't have pictured it better. It looks like they did an amazing job,” he said.

The park marks the first of several planned improvements to Ninth Street, the busiest by far of four entrances to the island. The city is keen to make a good first impression, Mayor Sal Perillo said.

As part of a new Route 52 causeway, Ninth Street will be elevated from Bay Avenue past Gateway Park to Asbury Avenue to prevent flooding that is common on these bayside roads now.

The county paid for the park as part of $1 million in improvements to the resort last year. The work included the new Ocean City Dog Park off West Avenue, improvements to soccer fields and new pavers at downtown intersections.

The county contributed $376,142 this year toward more improvements at recreation complexes on the island.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-06-19T22:36:00.001-04:00

Jun 18, 2007 7:28 pm US/Eastern

Disappearing Beaches A Major Shore Concern
CBS 3, Philadelphia
Cydney Long
Reporting

(CBS 3) OCEAN CITY, N.J. Aside from the stretch on five mile beach, also known as the Wildwoods, Jersey Shore beaches are disappearing.

Local leaders met on Monday in attempt to figure out how to combat the growing problem.

The beaches are crucial to the South Jersey economy as tourism is the number one industry in the Garden State.

The long walk in the hot sand to your beach towel and umbrella near the surf, whether you know it or not, gets shorter every summer.

"We've probably lost 500,000 cubic yards in last two years," Avalon Emergency Manager Harry DeButts said.

Some of Avalon's north end beaches have lost the equivalent of 125 feet of sand from the dune to the water.

And that is why concerned residents, politicians, the Army core of engineers and other experts met Monday for the annual Cape May County beach conference.

"It's an effort to learn what Mother Nature is doing and to work with her, not against her," DeButts explained.

"The majority of people who come down the shore, come because they want to enjoy our beaches and our bays, if we lose that we lose that, we lose a major economic initiative in state of New Jersey," Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew said.

Ocean City, Sea Isle, and Strathmere utilize geo-tubes to create an artificial dune that will not erode.

"To protect the shore, it's simply pumping sand into a geo-textile fabric, in effect they are long sausage like shapes, and they create a barrier along the shoreline to protect the property behind it," Ocean City engineer George Savastano explained.

But they say the best alternative, though costly, is to replenish the sand and 25-year shore resident Harold Purvis may have put it best.

"The people love the beach, if the beach wasn't here, we wouldn't have any body coming," Purvis said.

Ocean City spends roughly $8-10 million a year every three years for beach replenishment.

2007-06-15T22:28:00.000-04:00

City Council Votes In Ocean City Boardwalk Debate
Jun 15, 2007 12:18 am US/Eastern
Todd Quinones
Reporting - CBS 3

(CBS 3) OCEAN CITY, N.J. City Council voted four to three in favor of using old tropical trees to replace parts of Ocean City's boardwalk on Thursday.

The decision was a controversial one.

The boardwalk needs repair and what wood to lay down, what people walk on, was the center of a heated debate.

"I respect the opposition's position on this but they're flat dead wrong. The zoo in Washington, our national zoo, has used that. Disney World has used that," Boardwalk Merchants Association Charlie Caucci said.

"In order to cover what Ocean City wants, it's going to take 2,000 acres of rain forest to get to those trees," Georgine Shanley said.

City Council weighed replacing the old treated pine with Ipe, a much harder, more durable wood found in the rainforest.

Ipe would last longer and cut down on long term maintenance work. Over the next five years, Ocean City wants to replace five blocks of its boardwalk beginning with 9th Street next year.

However, environmentalists claim that harvesting tropical hardwood contributes to increasing green house gases.

"It's crazy for a shore community in New Jersey to be participating in activities that are increasing the likelihood of global warming," environmentalist Tim Keating said.

But others contend whether Ocean City buys Ipe or not, it would not matter to people working in the rain forest.

"They going to still cut down the trees because it's a necessity to them," one woman said.

City Council's vote to use Ipe applies to only one block of the boardwalk, the 9th Street block, at a cost of about $1.3 million.

Next year, City Council will have to vote again on what material to use in the next phase of the project.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

2007-06-11T04:49:00.000-04:00

Take that vacation — it could help your career
Down time helps workers recharge, and smart bosses understand

By Eve Tahmincioglu
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 3:57 p.m. ET June 10, 2007

Alexa Hamill, who works in human resources for the Philadelphia office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, got a voice mail last May from a partner at her firm advising her to put in for vacation time. The summer was quickly approaching and Hamill had yet to schedule some time off.

She informed the partner that she’d figure it out, but she never did.

In June, the manager paid a visit to her office.

“He asked me to lay out my calendar going forward,” she says.

Even though the summer is the busiest time for her department, the two hashed out a compromise. She would take one of the slower weeks off but call in for a midweek meeting while on vacation.

Her getaway: A trip to the beach in nearby Ocean City, N.J., with her son. “I did relax and was able to recharge my batteries. It made me more effective at work.”

Few workers have a boss who would try that hard to make sure they got their earned vacation time, but what Hamill experienced is part of a small but growing trend in corporate America. Companies are beginning to realize the benefits of vacations for their weary workers — fewer sick days, smaller health care bills and a more motivated workforce.

Unfortunately, not all employers get this, and sometimes it’s the workers themselves that don’t get this, either. They have a perverted view that not taking time off and keeping their nose to the grindstone will advance their career, or keep their jobs from ending up on the chopping block.

But in fact, it could lead to burnout, emotional and physical illness, and end up jeopardizing their careers, their lives.

So take vacation, people!

“Taking a vacation is not a luxury — it’s a necessity,” says Kathleen Hall, founder of The Stress Institute in Atlanta. “If you don’t have the opportunity to relax and reflect you get stressed, and chronic stress is the driver of most diseases — heart disease, obesity, insomnia.”

Despite the repercussions, a growing number of Americans are tempting the stress gods by bypassing their time off even though they’ve earned it. A survey taken by the Conference Board last year before the summer season kicked into gear, found that only 39.8 percent of individuals planned to take a vacation within the next six months, a 28-year low.

A more recent study taken in April by recruiting firm Hudson, found that 56 percent of the work force does not take advantage of all their vacation time. And when they get away, 35 percent of managers check in with the office frequently, often daily; and 14 percent of non-managers do the same. One-quarter of the work force says their boss expects them to be accessible while on vacation.

“We’ve become a nation of workaholics,” says Jeff Pfeffer, Stanford University professor and the author of the forthcoming book "What They Were Thinking: Unconventional Wisdom about Management." “Part of it is a macho culture of ‘I can work more than you can. I don’t need sleep or rest.’ ”

Indeed, the United States is one of the only industrialized nations that does not require employers to provide their workers with vacation or sick time.

Ask yourself, he says, why pro football players play when they’re hurt, even though evidence shows it can shorten their careers. “It’s all this think-tough attitude. That you’re more loyal or dedicated if you forgo vacation.”

“Given how screwed up the American workplace is today, giving up your earned time might get you kudos from some managers," he acknowledges. But it won’t help workers in the long run, he adds.

If your productivity declines, you won’t get raises or promotions, and you could end up losing your job. This becomes even more critical when your job involves creative or critical thought, experts says.

A good rest may even bring career advancement.

“Your vacation just might be the key to identifying the new product or strategy you’ve been struggling with for months,” says Noah Blumenthal, a consultant and author of "You’re Addicted to You: Why It’s So Hard to Change and What You Can Do About It."

For those who do pack their bags, a long weekend won’t really cut it.

"It is important for people to take their vacations — meaning vacations of a week or two long. Taking a day or two doesn't do as much good," explains Wallace Huffman, economics professor at Iowa State University. "Productivity could increase by up to 60 percent for employees in the month or two following a good vacation."

And that doesn’t mean taking along a suitcase full of electronic gadgets that keep you connected to the office or plant. You have to disconnect in order to unwind. Minimize the use of cell phones, laptops and PDAs if you want all the benefits of relaxation, Huffman adds.

“In order to have a successful long-term career, you need to manage your career, plan to take time off regularly to allow your body to regenerate so not to suffer from burnout, exhaustion, depression,” he advises. “This becomes even more important as people live longer.”

Workplace legal expert Robin Bond offered these vacation tips:

Inform others in advance. Let co-workers and clients know of your vacation time as soon as you plan it, and send a reminder of your absence as the dates approach. Advise clients whom they can contact when you are away.
Have a buddy system in place. Get projects to a good stopping place before you leave, and ask a trusted colleague to serve as a backup in case any urgent problems arise in your absence. Be sure to return the favor. Schedule around busy business cycles.

And relax!

We need to start thinking as a nation that leisure time is why we all work in the first place. No?

Maybe you’re one of those poor souls who don’t even get time off. Pfeffer’s advice if you are in this position, or if you are pressured not to take allotted time: “Find another job.” Don’t hang around waiting for your employer to become enlightened about the benefits of time off, he stresses.

If you get tons of time off at your job and are still not taking it, you may have self-esteem issues, he suspects. Some workers believe that their company will fall apart if they’re not there, and managers can play into that. The bottom line, Pfeffer says, is that it’s all just an “ego trip.”

“You have to say to yourself, ‘I can go away for a week or two, and everything will be fine.’ ”

2007-06-05T23:10:00.000-04:00

Seat-belt tickets don't click with Cape May merchants

By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Tuesday, June 5, 2007

CAPE MAY — As tourists streamed into town during Memorial Day weekend, there was more than a day of fun at the beach awaiting them.

There was Cape May's finest waiting on Lafayette Street, the main entrance into town. If visitors didn't have their seat belts fastened, a summons was issued under the city's annual “Click It Or Ticket” campaign.

That brought Robert Steenrod of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May to City Council's meeting on Monday afternoon.

“This town is spending a lot of money to bring these tourists here and to have them pulled over for a $46 ticket doesn't send them the right message,” Steenrod said.

Steenrod reminded council of recent city efforts to be friendlier to tourists, to win business back after some soft tourist seasons. He said one tourist who got a ticket told the chamber it “was sneaky and underhanded.” He said the town was shooting itself in the foot.

“We're reverting back to our old behavior of telling them we don't want them here,” Steenrod said. “We don't need the money that bad, do we?” Steenrod said.

The chamber president got some sympathy from council, and also some comments about how it is the law to wear a seat belt. While the chamber was inundated with calls, Mayor Jerry Inderwies said he also received six or seven at his house. Inderwies said the seat-belt tickets are not a moneymaker and are part of a statewide program.

City Manager Lou Corea said the city received a grant from the state for the effort. He said the state picks the dates and locations for the seat-belt checks.

While Steenrod urged the city to only issue traffic warnings, Corea said that under the grant there is a zero-tolerance policy.

“There are no warnings,” Corea said.

Actually, there were some warnings, well in advance, Corea said. The city posted a sign explaining that Click It Or Ticket was coming and even advertised it on the radio. Some people never got the message.

“It's not something where Cape May said, “Let's spring it on the tourists.' We issued 22 tickets. We were told when, where and how by the state,” Corea said.

Four of Cape May County's 16 municipalities got Click It Or Ticket grants this year. The money is actually from the federal government, but the program is administered N.J. Division of Highway and Traffic Safety. Neighboring Lower Township ran a Click It Or Ticket program from May 21 to June 3.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine's failure to wear a seat belt in a recent car accident was, of course, mentioned at the meeting.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:RDegener@pressofac.com

2007-06-04T22:15:00.000-04:00

Cameras keep Northfield traffic rolling

By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Published: Monday, June 4, 2007

NORTHFIELD — In a parking lot at the new-look intersection of Route 9 and Tilton Road, Amanda Larsen has a perfect view of the new cameras sitting on top of the traffic-light supports. And sure, she knows what those cameras are doing there, she said confidently the other day.

“It’s to catch people who run red lights,” said Larsen, who lives in Northfield and works in a store at one of Atlantic County’s busiest corners. “That’s what it’s there for.”

A few minutes later, Shirley Clark said she hadn’t noticed the new cameras, but she also immediately thought she had figured out what they’re all about.
“They catch people going through the light and teach them not to do it again,” said Clark, another Northfield resident.

But across town at City Hall, Northfield Police Chief Robert James said there’s just one problem with that logical-sounding and popular explanation: It’s wrong.
“It has nothing to do with us,” the chief said after the cameras showed up on the corner. “There are no red-light cameras there at that intersection.”

Tim Greeley of the New Jersey Department of Transportation — which maintains Route 9 and oversaw a $6.9 million rebuilding project that left the crowded crossroads with new lanes and lines, new traffic lights and timing patterns and those new cameras when the job ended last month — confirmed that the cameras “certainly have nothing to do with police activity or anything like that.”

The real answer, he said, is a bit more pedestrian.

“They’re basically used as detectors — they detect when a vehicle is waiting at the crossroads, and they send a signal for the light to turn green within the already designated timing” of the traffic lights, Greeley said.

You’ve probably seen the same technology at work for years, when you pull up to a red light at an otherwise empty intersection and, after a few seconds, your light turns green to send you on your way.

Greeley explains that the old way of keeping traffic moving was to bury the sensors under the stopping line at a traffic light. But the new system improves the sensors by making them easier to deal with, he said.

“They require much less wiring, and you don’t have to dig underground to fix or adjust them,” he said. “With the old style, the wires were all underground. The new cameras are very much more accessible.”

That also means they aren’t connected to the theory that popped up among some locals when they saw the lenses.
The DOT does post and regularly update pictures from busy state-highway crossroads on its Web site, www.njcommuter.com/

A button on that page connects to more than two dozen roads with traffic cameras around New Jersey, although the current southernmost choice seems to be in Camden County. U.S. Route 30 — which starts (or ends) in Atlantic City, and runs through many Atlantic County municipalities — is one of the options, but its farthest camera to the south is in Lindenwold, Camden County.

Erin Phalon, also of the DOT, said the agency is considering adding several traffic-camera locations farther south to the state Web site in the next few years, but has no definite spots set yet. Still, she added that traffic reports are available now when needed in printed form on njcommuter.com from all over New Jersey, including Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties.

“Even where you can’t see the traffic cameras, you can get information from them,” Phalon said.

But again, the new Northfield cameras aren’t those cameras anyway. And no, they aren’t what another Route 9 regular suspected when he stepped out of his music shop the other day to see what was new in his neighborhood.

“I thought it was some kind of terrorist thing,” said Terry Shellock, the owner of the CD Exchange in Center Point Plaza, shielding his eyes for a look at the camera facing south on Route 9. “And it’s not like those tollbooth cameras?”

No, it’s not. And it’s not. It’s just a way to help you make it through the light.

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis at The Press:MDeangelis@pressofac.com

2007-06-01T05:27:00.000-04:00

Affordable-housing options provoke fear, dissent in Upper Twp.

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, June 1, 2007

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The Planning Board's solution to the township's affordable-housing conundrum proved controversial during Thursday's meeting.

Several residents painted a grim picture of beer-swilling, drug-addicted criminals filling the schools with their special-needs children. The influx of low-income residents would lead to crippling property taxes, drained educational resources, higher crime rates and congested roads, they argued.

But not even the Planning Board was pleased with its options. The board was still considering changes to its zoning ordinance at 11 p.m.

The township must find a way to provide about 341 affordable homes or face lawsuits by builders who offer to solve the problem at the expense of local zoning rules. The township successfully defended itself against one builder's lawsuit already, but only because the housing project would have encroached on wetlands in Tuckahoe.

Another proposed development called Shaw Farms would provide about 134 homes, 20 percent of which would be dedicated to low-income residents. The board and Township Committee are considering many other options and at least 12 other locations for low-income homes, assisted-living centers and other ways to meet the obligation under state law.

“I feel for everyone in this room. I wish we didn't have this burden, but we do,” Mayor Richard Palombo said.

Some residents in neighboring Shore Acres balked at the idea of low-income residents moving next door where the board is creating a Mobile Home district. They suggested that low-income families would be more likely to have special-needs children requiring triple the educational resources and costs. And they questioned whether the township would have to create its own police department to address the higher crime rate they anticipated.

Township Engineer Paul Dietrich interjected, “There are good rich people and good poor people, just as there are bad rich people and bad poor people.”

But for some residents, the issue was the possibility of school taxes skyrocketing with an influx of children.

“I'm going to be taxed out of my home. That scares the hell out of me,” resident Linda Jones said.

Palombo acknowledged the residents' concerns about school taxes. Upper Township does not have a local-purpose tax. But educating a single child costs significantly more per year than a typical family pays in property taxes.

Tuckahoe resident Stephen Martinelli suggested rezoning the township's campgrounds to allow for year-round habitation by low-income residents. Palombo said he would keep that option open.

Likewise, he said he would consider paying a poorer town for affordable-housing credits as nearby Ocean City is doing with Salem City.

Palombo noted that this rural township has traffic problems now. The township has been lobbying for more than a decade for a full interchange off Exit 20 of the Garden State Parkway. And one of its busiest highways, Route 9, has become a cul de sac with the closure of the Beesleys Point Bridge.

Not everyone was opposed to providing more affordable homes in this bedroom community. Shore Acres resident John Frame said he would accept more affordable homes as long as the new development had its own street access to take pressure off his narrow roads.

“We're not all doctors and engineers and mayors,” he said. “This is the only place we can afford. We have teachers with $500,000 homes who are knocking us.”

More than 100 people packed Township Hall, parking on the berm of the county road and on the dirt access road behind the building.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-05-25T06:58:00.000-04:00

Dennis continues hearing on concrete-plant proposal

By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, (609) 463-6713
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, May 24, 2007

DENNIS TOWNSHIP — R..E. Pierson Construction site manager Curt Mitchell laid out plans for a concrete plant and recycling facility at a Tuesday night Zoning Board meeting for what has remained a controversial project.

Mitchell outlined the proposed recycling operation, which grinds down chunks of concrete and asphalt, as well as a 65- to 70-foot building where concrete would be made.

But for the second time, the township's Zoning Board ran out of time to hear the rest of the company's application.

After more than 3 ½ hours of testimony and questions, the board continued the hearing to July 25 at 7:30 p.m.

The board asked R.E. Pierson officials to provide noise and traffic studies at the next meeting, as well as an environmental officer.

The Zoning Board meeting was moved to the Dennis Township Primary School on Hagan Road to accommodate the high turnout of residents that flooded a meeting last month in Township Hall.

About 60 people attended Tuesday's meeting, a significantly smaller crowd than last month.
R.E. Pierson Construction withdrew its application Tuesday to build an asphalt plant on the 170-acre sand-and-gravel pit located on Woodbine-Ocean View Road.
The company is still seeking zoning variances for a concrete plant and a Class B recycling facility.
Residents speaking at the meeting remained worried about traffic from heavy dump trucks, dust and noise from concrete grinding as well as environmental and pollution concerns.
Several residents spoke in support of the company's plans.

The Zoning Board asked Mitchell how many jobs the plant would create. Mitchell said about 20, including truck drivers and employees to operate the equipment. That number was less than the 40 the company estimated had the asphalt plant application gone forward, R.E. Pierson officials said.

Mitchell also said the state Department of Environmental Protection will require environmental permits and an extensive review of the facility's operations.

Ocean View resident Vince Piazza said, “What about the truck traffic that has to go past my house? … We have a rural town.”

Last week, Dennis Township Committee introduced an ordinance seeking to ban asphalt plants in the township.

The committee's action came after several packed Zoning Board meetings regarding the company's application for variances.

To e-mail Brian Ianieri at The Press: BIanieri@pressofac.com

2007-05-25T06:50:00.000-04:00

Ocean City strikes deal with Salem for housing
Mayor Gage resents unfairness of system

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, May 24, 2007

OCEAN CITY — The city of Salem has agreed to shoulder some of Ocean City's affordable-housing obligation.

But don't ask the mayor of the Delaware River town to cheer the deal. Salem Mayor Earl Gage said Ocean City and other rich island towns should provide all of their affordable housing within their own borders instead of paying poorer towns such as his.

“Some towns can dodge the bullet. It hurts our school system and our tax revenue. I'd like to see a more even distribution across the board,” Gage said.

Ocean City Council is expected to formalize this Regional Contribution Agreement with Salem today. Under the terms, Ocean City will pay Salem $455,000 or $35,000 for each of 13 affordable homes it provides.

The money comes out of a $1 million fund that Ocean City collected from builders and developers through the years, Business Administrator James Rutala said.

He said the city will provide another 13 affordable homes — the minimum required — on the island but has not yet determined how.

Council President Jack Thomas said Ocean City residents are well served by fulfilling this affordable-housing requirement. Doing otherwise could open the city up to the so-called builder's remedy.

Developers could sidestep local zoning to fulfill the unmet affordable-housing needs of a town such as Ocean City.

“You could have some developer dictate the terms. That's what we want to make sure doesn't happen here,” Thomas said.

Even though Salem is two counties and more than 50 miles from Ocean City, it lies within a geographic region with the resort in which the state Council on Affordable Housing allows such trades.

Thomas said Salem stands to gain from the agreement as well.

“Allegedly, everyone will benefit from it. They want the ability to build 13 or so affordable housing. They're rehabbing units there,” Thomas said.

In Salem (pop. 5,812) one in four families lives below the poverty line, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. By comparison, just 4 percent of families in Ocean City (pop. 15,330) live in poverty.

The average property assessment in Ocean City is more than three times higher than Salem's, and at $8.2 billion, Ocean City has 33 times the property value.

Ocean City is the first town to strike a deal with Salem on affordable housing, Gage said.
Salem is hoping to get a new railroad line to become a bedroom community for Wilmington, Del., the mayor said.

“It's a beautiful area. The potential is there. But people won't commute an hour to work every day,” he said. “Salem has a bright future. It's just a matter of dealing with what we have.”
To that end, Gage said his city would use Ocean City's money to offer loans or grants for residents who want to renovate older homes. But he said philosophically he was opposed to the arrangement. This program contributes to the gentrification of poor residents from wealthy towns, he said.

“You're excluding them and putting an unfair burden on other towns,” he said.

So why is he agreeing to solve Ocean City's affordable-housing problem?

“We have the homes. We're not getting rid of them,” he said. “If we have them, we might as well get some compensation to bring up the housing stock.

“I personally wish there was a better system. But this is the system.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-05-17T08:31:00.000-04:00

Skateboard scofflaws worry Upper Twp.
Press of Atlantic City
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2007

UPPER TOWNSHIP — Township children are full-time users of the skate park at Amanda's Field.

Unfortunately, the park off Route 50 is only open part time.

The attendant locks the gated park when it is closed. So far, the 12-foot fence and the heavy padlocks haven't deterred enterprising skateboarders and bicyclists.

The children scaled the towering fence. They cut the heavy padlock on the front gate. They unscrewed bolts on the fence and peeled back the chain link like the rind of an orange.

They even popped the steel pins on the gate hinges and replaced them when they were finished.
This latest Houdini trick baffled township employees.

“The last time they did the hinge thing, we couldn't figure out how they were getting in,” Recreation Director Brenda Layton said.

The Township Committee is considering ways to keep the park open for children.
After the township's schools dismissed Wednesday, the park remained locked up tight and deserted.

Layton said township employees spend about an hour per week fixing the fence damage caused by the determined interlopers.

“It's not open enough. The kids are breaking in,” Layton said. “I would like to see it used more.”
The township would prefer to have an attendant on duty so children can ride bicycles and skateboards together. But the insurance risk might be too great to allow this dual use without an attendant, Solicitor Dan Young said.

Layton said about one in four children ride bicycles rather than skateboards in the park.
“I'd rather see it used than not just because we can't afford to man it,” Mayor Richard Palombo said.

Unlike many organized sports, skating does not attract the same kind of parental involvement that might allow a loose association of parents to take over the park's supervision. Township resident Stephen Martinelli, who lives near the park, has been its unofficial steward. But he told the Township Committee this week he is only there some of the time because of his job obligations.

Martinelli said a private contractor might be willing to assume responsibility for the park if the township adopts a fee system. No decisions were made this week.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-05-17T08:28:00.000-04:00

Upper Twp. to review zoning law
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712

Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2007

UPPER TOWNSHIP — Affordable housing, big-box retailers and Strathmere swimming pools will be addressed at tonight's Planning Board meeting.

The Planning Board is considering sweeping changes to the township's zoning ordinance. The more contentious topics include:
Restricting retail stores to 75,000 square feet.
Allowing or banning swimming pools in Strathmere.
Creating a mobile-home zone to help the township provide more affordable housing.

“We're fine-tuning the ordinance,” Planning Board Chairwoman Renee Scrocca said. “We get a report from the Zoning Board about what variances they grant. Then we look at the zoning code. Is it really working? Is it doing what we need it to do in terms of the growth of the town and the safety and aesthetics of the town?”

The new mobile-home zone would be composed largely of age-restricted homes with 20 percent designated for low- and moderate-income families. The township's lack of affordable housing opens it up to lawsuits by builders who could sidestep local zoning if they prevailed in court.

The board will also consider placing limits on the size of large retail stores. This could discourage big-box retailers from opening mega stores in the township. The proposed ShopRite in Marmora and the existing Acme in Seaville are smaller than 75,000 square feet, Scrocca said.

She said the township would welcome the tax revenue of a large superstore but probably not at the price of traffic congestion.

“We don't have the infrastructure traffic-wise to support it,” she said. “”There is some sentiment that the big-box stores do not fit in the atmosphere of the town. We're a small town, not a Northfield or a Rio Grande.”

The board also will consider whether to permit or ban swimming pools in Strathmere. Some residents have suggested that swimming pools do not belong on the island because the chlorine in the water can kill microbes in septic systems. Scrocca said the board likely will focus on how pools can fit with the island's lot sizes.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-05-17T08:26:00.000-04:00

Reflective technology to make parkway safer
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2007

LOWER TOWNSHIP — When Garden State Parkway motorists get to the southern terminus of the highway this summer they may have a better indication that the roadway is ending.

If it works, it could make the scene of several fatal crashes over the years much safer. That, at least, is the promise of what state Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew is calling “cutting-edge technology” that has been used in Europe and Canada.

So far, the Federal Highway Administration has only issued interim approval for the “retro-reflective backplate borders” that will be placed on the traffic signals at the end of the highway.
“It's a new technology in the U.S. and we're one of the first to use it in New Jersey,” Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said on Wednesday.

The borders reportedly make the signal stand out so it is easier to locate at night amid background lighting but also in bright sunlight or other confusing backgrounds. Van Drew said studies have shown it reduces crashes by 15 to 24 percent, especially rear-end collisions, and is especially helpful to elderly drivers.

This was just one of several improvements Van Drew announced after meeting with Cape May County, Lower Township and Middle Township officials over the controversial parkway traffic lights at exits 0, 9, 10 and 11. They are the only traffic lights on the parkway.

Van Drew said the New Jersey Highway Authority has agreed to a number of the interim improvements while a long-range plan to eliminate most of the lights is being devised. There have been numerous traffic accidents at the lights over the years, including fatalities.
The authority also has agreed to install markings on the pavement warning that a signal is ahead. This will be done on the southbound side at mile-markers .5 and .25.

Improvements also are planned in Middle Township, where there are three traffic signals. “Signal ahead” markings will be put on the pavement southbound at mile-markers 11.6 and 11.3 and northbound at mile-markers 7.8 and 8.1. The authority will put up two portable message signs, one at 7.7 northbound and the other at 11.9 southbound, to notify motorists of upcoming traffic signals. Van Drew said he made that request on behalf of Eric Meyer, whose son Christopher was killed at the Stone Harbor Boulevard signal a few years ago.

Van Drew was not able to get everything he wanted. He said he pushed for the removal of a utility pole at Exit 0 that was a factor in several fatal accidents. In 2005 Wildwood Crest resident Steven Scholz died after hitting the pole. In 2006 Lower Township resident Wade Dickinson died after hitting the same pole. The pole is just after the parkway ends on Route 109, which is under the state Department of Transportation, and Van Drew said he could not get approval to remove it and a nearby guardrail.

“I wanted to get the rail and the pole done,” Van Drew said.

Those accidents renewed interest in the Exit 0 problem, with Lower Township Police Chief Ed Donohue lobbying heavily for improvements.

Van Drew and his colleague, Assemblyman Nelson Albano, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, also pushed for more warning signs at the end of the parkway. They wanted overhead signage spanning the black asphalt, similar to toll booth approaches.

Though the overhead sign was not approved, Van Drew commended Authority Executive Director Mary Murphy for responding and called it a good beginning.

“If we do not institute some interim improvements while major improvements to these intersections are being designed, we will lose more life and limb,” Van Drew said.

Albano said he hopes the improvements help.

“I dread hearing of another death or major injury at exit 11, 10, 9, or 0. We must do anything and everything to prevent this from happening,” Albano said.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press: RDegener@pressofac.com

2007-05-15T10:13:00.000-04:00

Upper says Strathmere secession bid baffling

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, May 15, 2007

UPPER TOWNSHIP — Township officials on Monday said they were surprised and a little baffled about a move by some Strathmere residents to split from this rural township.

A group formerly known as the Strathmere Taxpayers Association is pursuing de-annexation from the township. Because average property values are much higher in Strathmere than the rest of the 64-square-mile township, island residents pay substantially higher property taxes to the Board of Education and Cape May County than their mainland counterparts.

The township has no local purpose tax.

“Island versus mainland, that's not the attitude I have,” Committeeman Jay Newman said. “Strathmere is part of Upper Township.”

Newman said he vehemently disagreed with Strathmere resident Randy Roash's public assertion that merging with another barrier island would improve public safety and emergency management on the island.

“I was kind of disappointed with that quote,” Newman said. “We've done the best we can with everything.”

To begin the process, at least 60 percent of Strathmere residents would have to sign a petition asking the township to de-annex, according to the state Department of Community Affairs.
Then, Upper Township and the town that Strathmere would join — presumably Sea Isle City, although that has not been determined — would have to give consent.

One aspect of the split would be somewhat easier: how to apportion the township's bonded debt, since Upper Township has none. It pays everything in cash.

Township officials on Monday made it clear they would not part company with Strathmere willingly.

“I was hoping this could be worked out amicably. I still think it can be,” Mayor Richard Palombo said.

All five committee members live on the mainland. Few Strathmere residents run for public office and fewer still win election. Roash, who serves on the Board of Education, is an exception.

Committee members Frank Conrad and Barbara Camp, the former township clerk, said she has not perceived any rift between residents in Strathmere and the rest of the township. Committee members conceded that many Strathmere residents were hugely dissatisfied with the last revaluation that saw assessments on the island more than quadruple in some cases.

Strathmere's efforts to secede face tall odds without support from the governing body. Similar efforts in Cape May County have failed after costly and prolonged court battles. The most recent example is Avalon Manor and its failed bid to split from Middle Township.

This is not the first time residents in the tiny hamlet of Strathmere have given warnings about secession. But it could be the first time they follow through with them.

During the public meeting Monday, Committeeman Curtis Corson Jr. made a Revolutionary War quip about “a tea party in Strathmere.”

But if Strathmere residents have their way, Upper Township could be in for a civil war.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-04-19T23:36:00.000-04:00

Local voters approve most school budgets

By BRIAN IANIERI
Published: Thursday, April 19, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

Maybe it was the school's hot-dog dinner Tuesday, or the Election Day phone calls reminding Dennis Township parents about the school-budget vote.

Or maybe it was more state aid this year — and likewise less of a tax-rate increase — that prompted voters to pass the Dennis Township school budget for the first time in six years.
Tuesday night was a good night for school budgets in Cape May County and the state. Officials said additional state aid this year made school-tax rates more appealing to voters.

Across the state, there was a 26 percent increase in approved budgets from last year.

In Cape May County, voters rejected only two school budgets: in Sea Isle City, where the shrinking school's future is the subject of ongoing discussions, and in West Wildwood, a sending district with no school.

The city of Cape May's school budget passed by two votes, but three provisional ballots need to be counted, according to the county Board of Elections.

One of the most striking budget victories was in Dennis Township, a district that faced five straight years of defeated school budgets, including some by large margins.

But Dennis Township voters approved the budget 278 to 240, according to unofficial election results.

The $15.4 million school budget called for a 2.5-cent tax-rate increase. However, the relatively small increase was no guarantee it would be taken well by voters. In 2005, a budget with a 1.7-cent tax rate increase fell about 50 votes shy of passing.

Dennis Township Superintendent George Papp said the Board of Education, the Dennis Township Education Association and teachers helped bring public awareness to the budget and the election.

The district on Tuesday held “Dinner and a Showcase,…#65533; which featured students' artwork on display and hot dogs to eat. But additional state aid was a major factor, Papp said, providing the district about $230,000 more that helped the tax rate.

“I'm sure in a lot of districts the state aid made a big difference in the presentations the districts were able to make to the public. And that's what we've been looking for for a long time,…#65533; Papp said.

Across the state, 78 percent of budgets passed, said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

Last year, nearly half failed. In Cape May County last year, voters in six municipalities rejected budgets.

“This was the first time in six years school districts received a big increase in state aid,…#65533;
Belluscio said.

When voters defeat a school budget, the budget goes before the municipal governing body, which can cut school taxes at its discretion. The school can appeal any cuts.

“There will be fewer towns that have to go through the whole review process. The boards can go forward and can focus on other issues,…#65533; Belluscio said.
But budget success was not universal.

In Sea Isle City, the school budget sought to raise $3.2 million in taxes and called for about a one-tenth of a cent decrease on the tax rate, said Brian Robinson, interim principal of the school.
Voters rejected it by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

“The voters that got out yesterday certainly made their feelings known about the current budget, which is good,…#65533; Robinson said.

Sea Isle City is also in the middle of discussions about the future of the school and whether its declining enrollment warrants the 93-student school shipping students to another district.
“I think there's a number of things going on that could have an effect on this, and certainly the discussions about the future of the school could play into that. I'm not sure what role that could have played,…#65533; Robinson said.

In Cape May, voters passed the budget 131-129, according to the unofficial results. But three provisional ballots, which will likely be recorded Friday, could change that.

“I'm just trying to not have much of a reaction right now until I get the official news,…#65533; said Victoria Zelenak, Cape May's chief school administrator.

“We're on pins and needles. With these provisional votes outstanding, I don't know what's going to happen. It's not a pleasant place to be right now.…#65533;

In Upper Township, the school budget passed 754 to 712.

However, failing was a public question asking for $208,014 for a part-time health teacher and librarian, two part-time clerks and two full-time behavioral specialists and two security cameras for school buses.

To e-mail Brian Ianieri at The Press: BIanieri@pressofac.com

2007-04-19T00:38:00.000-04:00

Ocean City to make improvements to parks
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, April 18, 2007

OCEAN CITY — The city plans to revamp five parks and playgrounds to give them a more consistent look.

City Council approved a $120,000 professional-services contract with Schoor DePalma, of Manalapan, to design new playgrounds at Eighth, Ninth and 34th streets, a small service building for the Sixth Street tennis courts and a new park at the Tennessee Avenue boat ramp.
“We want both functional and aesthetic improvements,” Community Services Director Michael Dattilo said.

In keeping with the city's pay-to-play ban, Schoor DePalma certified that it did not contribute to local candidates.

The city budgeted $1.2 million, which includes a state grant, to build the two parks and three new playgrounds, the largest of which is Sandcastle Park on 34th Street.

“That really is what some towns call a destination playground. People come from all over town to use it,” Dattilo said. “It's the most heavily used by far.”

The community financed the construction of this fortress-themed playground. The city recognized contributors with engraved fence posts that circle it. Dattilo said these contributors will be recognized again in the design of the new playground.

One incentive for revamping this popular playground is to replace its pressure-treated wood. This type of wood is known to contain the toxin arsenic. The city routinely paints the wooden equipment with a sealant as a preventative measure, he said.

The new playgrounds will provide better access to disabled children, he said. The work should be done by the end of the year, Dattilo said.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-04-17T07:59:00.000-04:00

Bridge report pleases Upper Twp. officials
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007

UPPER TOWNSHIP — Township officials welcomed a report last week that state officials are committed to re-opening the dilapidated Beesleys Point Bridge.

Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said he was privy to a state inspection that concluded the bridge could be reopened for 15 years with an investment of $20 million.

Van Drew said the governor's office and state Department of Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri will endorse the repairs. There has been no official word.

“Beyond the inconvenience, we really have an infrastructure problem when it comes to evacuation or just moving people from one county to another,” Mayor Richard Palombo said. “I'm hoping the DOT commissioner will see the absolute necessity of this.”

For three years, the DOT has resisted lobbying by state lawmakers and local officials to take over the troubled bridge, which is owned by the Beesleys Point Bridge Company. The bridge has been closed since June 2004.

Committeeman Frank Conrad said he was skeptical about the state's sincerity about reopening the span.

“When I see it, I'll believe it,” he said.

Township officials were quick to note that many bridges in Cape May County are in bad shape, including the Route 50 bridge over the Tuckahoe River.

“Route 50 is about to fall in the river. For 10 years they've been talking about fixing that Route 49 bridge,” Committeeman Curtis Corson Jr. said. “Cape May County is not far from being an island.”

The antiquated Beeslesy Point Bridge has narrow lanes and no shoulders. Van Drew said the inspection report concluded the bridge deck needed replacing.

“It's only a matter of time before the Garden State Parkway bridges will have to be replaced. If you're planning 15 years out, it makes sense to do something now,” the mayor said.

Corson said a state bias against southern New Jersey was to blame for the DOT's recalcitrance. Demographics figure prominently in state spending with population-heavy northern New Jersey getting more money.

“If this were up in Rahway, how many millions of dollars would the state spend?” Corson asked. “North Jersey doesn't care about us. We're just lowly little South Jersey. That's the reality.”
Meanwhile, township officials said the Beesleys Point Bridge should serve as a cautionary tale for the state when it comes to privatizing public roads such as the Garden State Parkway or Atlantic City Expressway. The bridge company spent $900,000 in public money on repairs in 1997. Seven years later, the company closed the span saying it had no money to make additional repairs.

“If they want an example, look at that bridge,” Corson said. “It's an absolute embarrassment.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-04-17T07:55:00.000-04:00

O.C. neighbors dish dirt on ditch
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007

OCEAN CITY — The city ripped up a culvert Friday it helped bu ild off Dory Drive after learning the w ork required a federal permit.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the city to remove the drainage pipe and crushed stone bridge that covered the ditch because it infringed on wetlands, spokesman Ed Voigt said.

“They had no permit so we had them remove the culvert. They have basically complied,” Voigt said. “That will be the corrective action. That's it.”

But that is not the end of the dispute over the future of this public property.
City Planning Director George Savastano said the Cape May County Mosquito Commission had heavy equipment nearby for routine drainage work when city and commission staff decided to install the culvert. The crushed stone bridge was solid enough to support vehicles.

This would keep water flowing and discourage people from dumping debris in the ditch as a means of walking to the other side, Savastano said. City workers believed the commission's blanket drainage permit allowed for the culvert, he said.

Neighbors on Monday accused the city of using the mosquito commission's drainage work as an excuse to create an access for a controversial bicycle path. The culvert off Dory Drive would provide a ready entrance to the proposed path.

Some neighbors oppose the bike path for fear the public improvements and the added bicycle traffic will disturb wildlife such as herons, red foxes, terrapins and ospreys.
The city is still drafting specifications. In concept the path would have fishing piers and a gazebo.
“I want them to be stopped from destroying any more wetlands,” summer resident and south-end property owner Irene Lorenzon said. “They have an elaborate plan for landscaping, lighting, a gazebo. I hope they get fined. It's either that or a Ferris wheel goes behind my home.
“I'm afraid it will turn into Boardwalk West.”

The Army Corps did not fine the city, Voigt said.

Savastano said he only learned of the culvert after it was installed. But in retrospect he said the culvert was a good idea because it would have improved drainage and allowed people to cross the ditch. He said the culvert had nothing to do with the city's plans for a bike path.

“There was no scheme to take advantage of the mosquito commission's work to create that crossing,” Savastano said. “It occurred because the folks in the field thought it would be a good solution to people throwing things in the ditch.”

Savastano, who lives in the neighborhood, said the city is sensitive to any environmental impact.
“We don't take anything for granted. What happened there is no more damaging than any other maintenance work the mosquito commission does,” he said.

Supporters of the bicycle path have dismissed the argument that the path would disturb wildlife as a smokescreen by south-end residents who don't want visitors intruding on their bay-front seclusion.

Part-time resident Diane Mayfield said that is not the case.

“We have no problem with people behind my home. We've had photographers back there all summer,” she said. “We wouldn't mind bicyclists back there. But there is such a big infringement on the wetlands.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-04-05T00:05:00.000-04:00

South N.J. hospital changes its name
Posted by the Asbury Park Press
04/4/07

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE: Cape May County's only hospital has changed its name. The facility known for 57 years as Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital was rechristened Cape Regional Medical Center.

Hospital spokesman Tom Piratzky told The Press of Atlantic City that the board of trustees voted to change the name four months ago but did not announce it until Monday.

The hospital opened in 1950 and was named in honor of Tomlin, an Ocean City philanthropist and businessman.

The Associated Press

2007-04-02T08:21:00.000-04:00

New Jersey’s Cape May offers visitors a glimpse of Victorian grandeur

Sunday, April 1, 2007
By Joan Scobey of Copley News Service
Peoria Journal Star - Peoria,IL,USA

I hate the beach. I don't like quaint. And sunbathing is off limits.

So why, oh, why, was I heading to Cape May, on the southern tip of New Jersey, which excels in all of the above?

I could say it was because I needed a break from urban frenzy and the daily headlines, but, mostly, it was a weekend with friends - and the prospect of pigging out on straight-from-the-farm Jersey corn and tomatoes.

Rolling into a sea of pastel blue, pink and yellow Victorian houses, with their fanciful gingerbread porches, turrets and dormers, was ... well, like stumbling onto the MGM set for a seaside remake of "Meet Me in St Louis."

A small triangle of tree-lined streets hugs the beachfront, with its commercial heart around the Washington Street Mall. The mall consists of three pedestrian blocks of cafes, shops, ice cream parlors, fudge shops, open-air tables and the town's information booth.

Within this triangle is an eye-dazzling display of "Stick Style" Victoriana, with steeply pitched gabled roofs, bright contrasting colors, decorative trusses and overhanging eaves. No wonder this whole Cape May Historic District also carries a National Historic Landmark status for its more than 600 Victorian houses.

Anchoring this architectural bonanza is the town's grandest hotel, Congress Hall, our home for the weekend.

Picture it with a sunshine yellow facade and a long colonnaded L-shape porch. Throw in high-back rocking chairs that overlook the lawn, swimming pool and the broad beach beyond.
The fine-sand beach, cleaned and raked every night by a fleet of "beach cats," runs the length of the town, down to the Cape May Lighthouse where the Atlantic Ocean meets Delaware Bay.
"Because of our location at the southern tip of the state," says Congress Hall owner Curtis Bashaw, "we share with places like Key West and Provincetown - other places at the 'end of the line' - a kind of unfettered charm, as well as a sense of welcome to those who seek their own path."

Undeniably, there is a fetching offbeat nostalgia to Cape May. The townspeople love to recall their early days. They celebrate them, in fact, often in period dress.

They celebrate Victorian Week in October, when older women in flouncy lace dresses and broad-brimmed hats rock on oceanfront porches and young boys in knickers and caps line up on the beach for their photographs.

With typical Victorian excess, the week is 10 days of historic house tours, evening ghost tours, vintage dancing, lectures, mystery dinners, brass band concerts, dine-arounds and more.
Sherlock Holmes had no known connection with Cape May, but every spring and fall a mystery weekend honors the Victorian detective. Participants are urged to wear Victorian attire as they prowl the resort's "gas-lit" streets. And every evening from Sunset Beach, where you can see both sunrise and sunset over water, they salute the setting sun with a flag ceremony and a recording of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America."

Cape May is the oldest beach resort in the country, going back to 1816 when the Congress Hall resort first opened its doors as the "Big House." It was renamed when its owner, Thomas H. Hughes, was elected to Congress in 1828.

No surprise that from the first it drew a lively, well-heeled crowd, such as entertainers P.T. Barnum and John Philip Sousa, who composed "Congress Hall March" in its honor.

Presidents James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce and Ulysses S. Grant were guests during their presidencies. President Benjamin Harrison made it the Summer White House while electricity was being installed at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet raced cars on the beach in 1905. Its colorful history even includes a 27-year interlude as part of the Cape May Bible Conference led by fire-and-brimstone radio evangelist, the Rev. Carl McIntire, Curtis Bashaw's grandfather.

In 1878, 30 blocks of the town were destroyed by fire, and, faced with their summer trade moving to other beach resorts (think Atlantic City), the town energetically rebuilt, creating the dazzling Victorians of today, including Congress Hall.

A century later an attentive, seven-year, $21 million restoration preserved the character of the original Congress Hall. It reopened in 2002.

Keeping its Victorian heritage, the resort has a delightful authenticity with welcome 21st-century amenities, such as flat-screen plasma TVs and DVD players in every room.
While my sun-besotted friends at the beach waited for lunchtime crab cakes and gin and tonics to be served at their lounge chairs, I had my date with the 19th century.

I meandered up and down the tree-lined streets, caught in a flurry of stars and stripes. American flags fluttered from flagpoles. They were draped over porches, swagged at windows, sometimes 10 or more from a single house. And it wasn't even a holiday. Charming bed-and-breakfasts were tucked among private homes, where an occasional resident read the morning paper in a wicker rocker. A horse-drawn carriage clip-clopped along. A family on bicycles waved.
From the Washington Street Mall I caught a trolley - it's the preferred mode of transportation, of course - out to the lighthouse. The 199-step trek to the top of the lighthouse rewards one with glorious views, I'm told.

I also stopped by the Emlen Physick Estate, a Victorian museum, to learn about life behind those gingerbread facades. How to throw a Victorian picnic, no laid back affair; the art of keeping cool; how Victorians celebrated the Glorious Fourth and took vacations. A host of rules covered summer behavior and diversions.

Modern Cape May has a reputation for outstanding restaurants, and one night we put it to the test in The Virginia Hotel's Ebbitt Room. It's a lovely romantic room with an ambitious menu.
Our table of eight was big enough to sample a number of starters - yellow fin tuna tartare with Mediterranean flavors, seared foie gras with raisin polenta, peeky toe and blue crab salad and butternut squash bisque. Entrees had a similar sophistication: rack of lamb with lamb sausage, pistachio-dusted scallops with tomato marmalade, glazed Atlantic salmon with chopped macadamias. There was a gorgeous tray of 25 international cheeses, and a menu of "small plates" of the most interesting dishes.

Imaginative cuisine, beautifully presented, and not what I expected at the Jersey Shore.
The following night's lobster feast by the Congress Hall pool was closer to the mark. It was our last meal, and still no corn. The next day, as we packed our car to leave, the general manager came out to say goodbye - and he handed me a dozen ears of corn.

Where to stay:
- Congress Hall, 251 Beach Ave., Cape May, NJ 08204; Phone: (888) 944-1816; www.congresshall.com; 109 rooms, $125 to $465.
- Virginia Hotel, 25 Jackson St., 800-732-4236; www.virginiahotel.com. An elegant 24-room, Victorian-style boutique hotel half a block from the beach with beach amenities (towels, chairs, umbrellas, and food service); rooms from $150 to 350 and $265 to $450 depending on season.
- The Star, 29 Perry St., (800) 297-3779, www.thestarinn.net. Modest property close to the beach: Nine rooms are $95 to $275, midweek; $145 to $275 on weekend; 10 efficiency motel suites are $125 to $425, midweek; $165 to $425 on weekend.
- The Mainstay Inn, 635 Columbia Ave., (609) 884-8690; www.mainstayinn.com. Six rooms in the inn, six in an adjoining cottage, all with period furnishings. Doubles $290 to $345 for weekends, holidays and summer, including breakfast and afternoon tea.
Where to eat:
- Blue Pig Tavern, Congress Hall, (609) 884-8421. Comfort food and homey American favorites such as clam chowder, fish and chips, seafood sizzler, crab cakes, mac and cheese; entrees $10 to $26.
- Ebbitt Room, Virginia Hotel, 25 Jackson St., (800) 732-4236. Award-winning dishes feature fish and seafood; entrees $26 to $34.
- Washington Inn, 801 Washington St.; Phone: (609) 884-5697. American cuisine; entrees $25 to $42.
- Copper Fish, 1246 Route 109 South, (609) 898-0354. Steak and seafood, entrees $18 to $32.
- The Lobster House, Fisherman's Wharf, (609) 884-8296. Famous seafood house, with raw bar, seafood dishes $18 to $40.

What to do:
- Events: For a calendar and listings of all major town activities see Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1048 Washington St., Cape May, NJ 08204, (800) 275-4278, www.capemaymac.org.
- The Cape May Bird Observatory, Cape May Point, (609) 884-2736, www.njaudubon.org, is open all year, 9 am. to 5 p.m. daily, and offers weekend bird-watching courses. The bird refuge and freshwater wetlands is an important stopover for migratory birds, especially March through May and September through November.
- Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., (609) 884-5404, a Victorian house museum with daily guided tours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Cape May Lighthouse, Lighthouse Avenue, is open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends.

2007-02-03T22:48:00.000-05:00

Global warming means big change here, expert says
Floods, droughts, stress on plants and animals, Penn State professor says.

By Ad Crable
Lancaster New Era
Lancaster Online
Published: Feb 03, 2007 12:02 PM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Because of inescapable global warming, Pennsylvanians should brace for springs and summers filled with more flooded basements, and for heat waves and droughts that could make growing farm crops difficult, a Penn State professor and climate expert says.

And count on more winters like this one in Lancaster County, in which doomed flowers bloom in January, and mosquitoes potentially carrying the West Nile virus buzz around.

Michael Mann, director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center, discussed his take on what’s in store for Pennsylvania’s climate in the years to come in an interview Friday as fellow scientists from 113 nations released a sobering report for the United Nations on climate chage.

Mann, a meteorology and geosciences professor, served on that same Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when it released its last assessment five years ago.

This time, the scientists’ prediction of warmer temperatures and stormier weather ahead was more certain.

“There’s overwhelming scientific evidence now” that global warming is happening, is caused by man, and will have some effect on weather for decades, even if the world gets its act together and caps greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, Mann says.

“We will see more droughts and flooding events,” Mann says. “We can never say one particular event is due to climate change. All we can say is the frequency of those type of events is likely to increase over time.

“We’re starting to see the loading of the dice.”

That is due mainly to warming of the sea surface, where most weather events originate.

Mann warns that even subtle changes in weather extremes will play havoc with Pennsylvania flora and fauna that take their cues from the weather.

“We’re changing the march of the seasons,” he says.

Unseasonable weather events could disrupt animals’ hibernation and migration signals, which they depend on to survive.

Flowers in backyards and in the wild could be fooled by abrupt changes in weather into opening prematurely, killing them in some cases.

More sweepingly, native plants, which evolved over eons in specific habitats, could lose their competitive edge with false starts.

Entire forest ecosystems might not be able to migrate fast enough to outrun environmental changes. Mann thinks, for example, sugar maple trees may be doomed in a warming New England.

Agriculture in Pennsylvania is in for a challenge, he predicted, with more frequent periods of dry weather and flooding reducing yields of such crops as corn.

Lancaster countians’ favorite beach retreats will certainly be subjected to more severe storms in the years ahead, Mann says.

Sea-level rises from melting ice sheets at either end of the earth are projected in the

United Nations report to be modest. Seas rising at those rates, Mann says, will mean more frequent storm surges in places like Atlantic City and Ocean City, N.J.

But he and other scientists, including those in a recent article in Science magazine, noted that only very recently has it been determined that the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps are melting at three times the rate they were only five years ago.

If that continues, more dramatic sea rises could cause unthinkable flooding of the U.S. Atlantic coastline, he says.

“Most of southern Florida and New York City would be submerged.”

Even though the Earth is already committed to troubling global change for decades, Mann is optimistic that reason and technology will combine to prevent a catastrophic climate change.

“I have optimism that we will find the technology that, in combination with more energy-conscious practices at corporate and individual levels, we can avert those dangerous thresholds.”

Alternative energy sources such as biofuels, more energy-efficient lightbulbs, hybrid vehicles and research into hydrogen fuel cells are all encouraging, Mann says.

But, he adds, “I think we don’t have time to argue.”

CONTACT US: acrable@LNPnews.com or 481-6029

2007-01-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

Laughable Laws

Bizarre rules often remain part of many states’ regulations
Ocean City, NJ makes the news

By BRANDY S. CHEWNING
Texarkana Gazette
Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:19 AM CST

Wacky laws are still around—those bizarre rules and regulations that either slipped in under the radar or are long overdue for retirement. Many of them are so old that there is no way to validate if they are still active. Several Internet sites dedicated to the endless job of listing goofy stuff suggest they remain in existence.

Because it is nearly impossible to research these laws and their points of origin, the following list may not include them all. Buried deep under decades of dusty papers and signatures, here are the crown jewels of our government’s foibles.

In Texas, a proposed anti-crime law would have required criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.

The Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home.

And everything is bigger in Texas, including the ego. The Lone Star state even created a program attempting to control the weather.

In Texas, you can also be legally married by introducing someone as your spouse.

“Texas recognizes a type of marriage referred to as ‘marriage without formalities,’” said Ross Peavey, an assistant of state Rep. Stephen Frost, D-Atlanta. The requirements for this arrangement are for the couple to have “agreed to be married, have represented to others that you were married, and have lived together in (Texas) as husband and wife.”

A representation of marriage can be as simple as filing joint income tax returns.

Arkansas once had a statute stating the Arkansas River could rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little Rock. There are city ordinances in the state saying dogs cannot bark after 6 p.m., and making it illegal for a person to sound a vehicle horn at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9 p.m.

Arkansas once had a statute stating the Arkansas River could rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little Rock. There are city ordinances in the state saying dogs cannot bark after 6 p.m., and making it illegal for a person to sound a vehicle horn at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9 p.m.

In Arkansas there is also a time limit on voting, stating that ballots must be marked in five minutes. State Rep. Steve Harrelson, D-Texarkana, said the law is intended for efficiency.

“I doubt most voters even realize it to be a state law,” he said.

“I’ve never heard of the five-minute rule being enforced and I highly doubt it would ever be an issue.”

Horse tripping events are not to be promoted in Oklahoma. Tattooing is also banned there, but that law is in the process of being reversed, seeing as how tattoo parlors are a thriving business in that state.

Louisiana is very strict regarding practical jokes. Pranksters can be fined up to $500 for ordering a pizza to be delivered to a friend without them knowing. It’s known as Louisiana RS 14:68.6, governing the “unauthorized ordering of goods or services.”

Also in Louisiana, biting someone is considered simple assault. But biting someone with false teeth is upgraded to aggravated assault.

In Nevada, you can still hang someone for shooting your dog on your property. But if you need extra cash in Las Vegas, don’t try pawning your dentures. It’s a crime.

The wackiness also takes to the highways. This was probably enacted regarding vehicles in tow, but a little clarification would be nice. California has a law stating no vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 mph.

Alabama actually had to make it illegal for the driver of a vehicle to be blindfolded.

In Illinois, you can be arrested for vagrancy if you don’t have at least a dollar bill on your person. Ironically, vagrancy can draw a $201 fine in Mississippi. Panhandlers in Memphis, Tenn., are required to have a license before they can beg and although it’s free now, the permit used to cost $10.

In Oregon, $10 is the fee required to have a burglar alarm. What’s worse, the permit application says: “Without a permit on file, law enforcement may decline to respond to alarm!”

There are various laws prohibiting humans from bothering frogs, rabbits, squirrels and skunks. But that’s OK, because in response, Tennessee is cracking down on the disturbance created by frogs. They can’t croak after 11 p.m.

In Joliet, Ill., roosters wishing to crow must step back 300 feet from any residence. Hens are only required to back up 200 feet to cackle. And in Maryland you can’t take a lion to the movies.

California and Ohio forbid setting a mouse trap without a hunting license, and although it is legal to hunt bears in Alaska, it is illegal to wake one to take its picture.

Don’t try to help out in New Hampshire. Anyone caught picking up trash, building a bench for a park or cleaning up the beach can be fined $150 for “maintaining the national forest without a permit.”

No more than six females may live in a residence in Maricopa County, Arizona. In Ohio the limit is five, and in Missouri it’s down to four. Those laws track from the old days when so many females under one roof was considered a brothel.

In San Diego, homeowners with Christmas lights still on their houses after Feb. 2 may be fined up to $250. In Maine, lights must be down by Jan. 14. What’s odd is the law that states slot machines are prohibited in outhouses in Bexley, Ohio.

Many of these are holdovers from the old blue laws, designed to enforce moral standards. The concern for ethics generally centered around Sunday, and strictly govern the activities of that day. The outlawing of liquor sales on Sunday is a blue law. Several states have repealed blue laws, deeming them unconstitutional. Many others just aren’t enforced, but just as many are still upheld. Here are some examples of laws and ordinances invented over the years:

Many states have made it illelgal to hunt on Sundays, as well as sell cars. New Jersey honors that special day by outlawing pinball. And there’s apparently some tie between sins and hamburger—at least to the belief of the northerners. Ocean City, N.J., made it unlawful to sell raw hamburger on Sundays, and hamburgers can’t be eaten that day in Minnesota.

Many old world laws refer only to and severely limit women. In Maryland, a woman is not allowed to go through her husband’s pockets when he is asleep—she must wait until he wakes up. Montana has made it a felony for a woman to open mail addressed to her husband.

According to a Michigan law, a woman’s hair legally belongs to her husband, and she cannot cut it without his permission. Even an Arkansas law once stated female teachers who cut their hair short would not receive a pay increase.

“During the (legislative) session, there are normally a few dozen bills dealing with repealing outdated and antiquated statutes,” Harrelson said.

But you can also wonder how some of these even came to be in the first place. There are regulations on what can be transported across state lines, but in one state, a person may not cross state lines with a bird atop his head.

Lehigh, Neb., has outlawed doughnut holes, and Nebraska bar owners can only sell beer if they are simultaneously cooking soup. It is illegal in two states to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.

Several legal goofs are clearly misprints, or just poorly worded. For example, In Elko, Nev., every person who walks a city street is required to wear a mask. An Idaho law says if a man gives his sweetheart a box of candy, it must weigh at least 50 pounds. And a city ordinance in Belvedere, Calif., reads: “No dog shall be in a public place without its master on a leash.”

But there are some laws we would probably be grateful to have enforced. In Port Arthur, Texas, obnoxious odors may not be emitted in an elevator. And North Carolina passed a statute making it illegal to sing off key.

Connellsville, Pa., passed a law stating pants could not be worn lower than five inches below the waist. And we’ve all gone to see a movie and gotten stuck behind someone wearing a tall hat, blocking our view. The state of West Virginia punishes that offense with a fine from $2 to $10.

Wacky State Laws

10. You are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows. California
9. It is a crime for barbers to threaten to cut off kids’ ears. Indiana
8. The cut-off age for riding motorcycles is 88. Idaho
7. Women must have written permission from their husband to wear false teeth. Vermont
6. A pickle is not ruled a pickle unless it bounces. Connecticut
5. It is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling. Arizona
4. Residents are required to pay property tax on their dogs. North Carolina
3. It is illegal for cab drivers to reach out and pull potential customers into their cabs. New Mexico
2. Defacing a milk carton is punishable by a $10 fine. Massachusetts
1. Boogers may not be flicked into the wind. Alabama

2007-01-22T15:44:00.000-05:00

Tiny N.J. towns are resisting push for them to merge
By Paul Nussbaum
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Mon, Jan. 22, 2007

In a state known for its small municipalities, the smallest of the small are two Camden County boroughs that don't have enough residents between them to fill a school bus.

Tavistock (population 8) and Pine Valley (population 19) are historic relics, golf clubs posing as towns. Each has a mayor and borough commissioners, a clerk, solicitor, tax assessor, tax collector and school district, though neither has any schools. Pine Valley even has a police force of seven.

New Jersey, home of the nation's highest property taxes, is contemplating consolidating some of its 566 municipalities, 616 school districts and 486 local authorities to try to save money. Gov. Corzine has urged voluntary mergers and service-sharing, while some legislators are calling for mandatory consolidations.

The issue returns to center stage in Trenton today as the Senate is scheduled to consider a bill to establish a commission to recommend which local governments should be consolidated.

Twenty-six municipalities in New Jersey have fewer than 1,000 residents and an additional 49 have fewer than 2,000 residents. (After Tavistock and Pine Valley, the smallest municipality is Walpack Township in Sussex County, with 35 people, followed closely by Teterboro in Bergen County, an industrial community adjacent to Teterboro Airport, with 50 residents.)

In South Jersey, some of the other smallest municipalities are Cape May Point (241 residents) and West Wildwood (448) in Cape May County; Fieldsboro (522), Washington Township (621) and Wrightstown (748) in Burlington County; Hi-Nella (1,029) and Audubon Park (1,102) in Camden County; and Newfield (1,616) in Gloucester County.

The towns are so small they often have trouble finding enough candidates to run for school board or borough council, and most of their school districts exist only to send students to out-of-town schools. But they are as protective of their domains as any metropolis.

Leaders of 14 small towns and school districts rallied in Metuchen earlier this month against the efforts to compel merged services.

"I don't see where we'd save anything" by consolidation, said John Ott Jr., who spent 18 years as mayor of Pine Valley and is now one of three borough commissioners. "What would we lose? Our independence. And name me one place where big government is efficient."

The state's tiniest two towns are early 20th century creations, both focused on the golf courses that are their raisons d'etre. But in other ways, they're very different.

Pine Valley Borough, created in 1929, is home to Pine Valley Golf Club, whose course is often rated the best in the world. In fact, Pine Valley Borough is Pine Valley Golf Club. Only the 1,000-plus golf club members are allowed to own one of the 22 homes in town, and the only way to get to be a member is to be invited. The only road into town is unmarked.

Tavistock Borough, by contrast, is a bustling place, because its country club is a favorite venue for banquets, weddings and meetings for neighboring communities. Much of Tavistock's appeal is that it serves liquor, while nearby Haddonfield, Collingswood and Haddon Heights don't. The borough was created in 1921, carved out of Haddonfield by golfers who wanted to dodge the borough's ban on Sunday golfing.

New Jersey had a boom in new towns in the early 20th century, as growing townships were sliced into smaller fiefdoms, with their own governments and schools. At least 97 of New Jersey's municipalities were incorporated between 1900 and 1930.

"We do need to start looking at some of our smaller communities... because services could be provided in a more efficient manner," said Camden County freeholder director Louis Cappelli Jr. But he noted that "once they're established, it's hard to get them to go away."

Assemblyman Robert Gordon, a Democrat from Fair Lawn who was a member of the joint legislative committee on consolidation, said little towns such as Pine Valley and Tavistock had to be willing to consolidate or share services or property tax relief is a pipe dream.

"If we continue on the course we're on, New Jersey will become unaffordable for a lot of people," Gordon said. He said he remained "cautiously optimistic" the Legislature would pass measures to give towns incentives to consolidate. But he said he recognized there were "major impediments."

"Which police chief gives up his job? Which fire chief? Which mayor?"

Cappelli said Tavistock and Pine Valley were not typical examples of small municipalities because of their golf course connections. He said, though, he saw "no reason for Pine Valley to have its own police force... that makes no sense."

Efforts at consolidation are a tough sell, because local communities of any size, are loath to lose their control, independence or identity. The last successful merger of two municipalities in New Jersey was in 1952. Cappelli said, "New Jersey residents want to maintain their local identity while reducing government spending. And without sharing services, it's hard to achieve property tax relief."

Pine Valley, with property valued at $34 million, collected $552,680 in taxes last year, about 80 percent of that from the golf club. It spent $411,907, with its biggest expense a police force of four full-time and three part-time officers. Its school district is responsible for five students, who attend nearby parochial and public schools. The deputy borough clerk - a former manager of the golf club - doubles as the school board secretary and the special-education coordinator. The borough received $94,470 in state aid, according to the state Department of Community Affairs.

The police force is necessary, Ott said, to protect the golf course from vandalism and to look after homes that sit empty when residents winter in Florida.

Tavistock, whose property is valued at $16.5 million, collected $255,044 in taxes last year. It had a municipal budget of $107,800, and received $44,153 in state aid, according to the state Department of Community Affairs. Its school district has one student, who attends Haddonfield schools. Tavistock paid Haddonfield $16,195 for police, fire and other services.

Tavistock's longtime mayor is George Buff 3d, scion of the founding family of Penny Plate Inc., a pie-plate manufacturer in Cherry Hill. His fellow commissioners are fellow country club member John Aglialoro and club greenskeeper Thomas Grimac. Buff did not return phone calls.

"They're a part of our community, even though they maintain their own identity," Haddonfield Mayor Letitia Colombi said. "They pay us a stipend for police and fire, their sewage goes through our sewer lines."

George Wolf, the general manager of the country club and a former Tavistock resident and borough commissioner, said that "if other boroughs were able to do what we do, combine and share services, it would be more efficient. If they all have to have their own police and fire forces, it becomes expensive. Why can't they consolidate forces to eliminate layers of service?"

Cappelli said some other small municipalities were also sharing services; he cited the merger of police forces by Collingswood and Woodlynne and by Audubon and Audubon Park. In Ocean County, Long Beach Township provides police dispatching services for Beach Haven borough.

But most New Jersey municipalities, of all sizes, have shown little interest in consolidating. Pine Valley's Ott said small towns weren't likely to go away: "We like it this way."

Even as he defended the little borough's independence, though, Ott complained of the cost of state-mandated requirements.

"There's too much government in New Jersey," he said.

2007-01-21T09:40:00.001-05:00

Shore rentals heat up as home sales cool off
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Sunday, January 21, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

OCEAN CITY — Fewer people may be buying a piece of the shore, but more are renting part of it.
Real estate businesses are reporting a surge in rentals even as home sales decline along the coast. An increase in rentals as high as 40 percent has been recorded by some real estate companies. Most are seeing a jump in the 10 to 15 percent range.

“We're up about 10 percent from this time last year and up another 10 percent from the year before that,” said Frank Shoemaker, of Berger Realty on Asbury Avenue.

Shoemaker said the company did about 9,500 rentals last year and has a full-time rental department manned seven days a week.

It used to be that the same agents who sell homes did all the rentals. But now many firms are establishing separate rental departments in which the agents do only rentals and are extremely responsive to their clients' needs.

Many firms are finding the rental business keeps them afloat as home sales lag. Rentals are up 15 percent for Farina & Boeshe Real Estate Co. in Sea Isle City, and David Farina said it has been a blessing.
“The strength of our rental business is an oasis any time you get a down market with sales,” Farina said.

One of the larger increases is at the Homestead Real Estate Co., a West Cape May firm aggressively seeking rental clients.

It wasn't always this way. Owner Dagmer Chew didn't branch out into the rental business until four years ago.

“I resisted the rental business. I was forced to do it by economics,” Chew said.

Chew said she was expecting a 10 percent surge in rentals between September and January, and rentals rose 40 percent from the same time period a year ago.

“If we didn't have this rental department, we'd be hurting,” Chew said.

The business of shore rentals is changing. In the past, potential vacationers would drive to the shore during the coldest time of the year to begin scouting for a home to rent. Plenty of this still goes on, but vacationers can also take advantage of the Internet.

“We have an online virtual tour of every property. Family members across the country can take the virtual tour and pick out a house,” Chew said.

She remembers starting in real estate more than a dozen years ago when long weekends, such as Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, were a time to haul renters around to look at properties.

“I'd take a beach bucket of keys, get in the car and schlep a bunch of people around. It's all automated now,” Chew said.

The automation also helps getting all the paperwork done. The renter can drive to the real estate office when they arrive in town and pick up the key. Homestead offers linen service, a property manager to respond to any problems, maps of the area, quick credit card payments and other amenities. Like many firms, they now have a rental department with agents who do only rentals.

“We don't call them tenants anymore. We call them guests,” Chew said.

Better rental properties and improved services could be part of the upswing. There could also simply be more vacationers renting as shore hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts and other accommodations get replaced with condominiums. Some say the most recent upswing may be as simple as warm weather at the start of this winter.

Ron Giordano, of Atlantic Beach Realty in Stone Harbor, said more people are checking out properties on the Internet and visiting the shore to look at properties.

“For the rentals, the people have been showing up. Usually January can be a slow month, especially when the Philadelphia Eagles are in the playoffs,” Giordano said.

There is another upside to rentals, noted Greg Giancola, of Caldwell Banker Sol Needles Real Estate in Cape May.

“It's part of our salary and also part of the people maybe buying in the future,” Giancola said.

Rentals are up at Caldwell Banker 10 to 15 percent, and each new renter is a potential buyer as the market for home sales thaws. In fact, many real estate agents say the market over the past several weeks is showing signs of life. It's too early to tell, but maybe a surge in rentals is a good sign for the future

2007-01-21T09:40:00.000-05:00

2007-01-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

High-speed chase starts in Longport, ends on O.C. beach
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Sunday, January 21, 2007

OCEAN CITY — Colleen Weiler was down at the shore early Saturday morning hanging out with some friends at her father's Wesley Avenue home when the last thing she ever expected to happen suddenly did happen.

A speeding SUV — Weiler guesses it was going about 85 mph — flew down the narrow boardwalk with a slew of police cars behind it. The Chevrolet Suburban, running with no rubber on a front tire and leaving a cloud of smoke as the steel wheel hub chewed into the boardwalk, blew right through the metal railing where the walkway ends, she said. The Chevy flew through the air before landing on the beach several hundred yards away, she said.

Weiler said the whole thing took about two seconds.

“It was a lot of action, really fast. We couldn't believe what we saw. We were like, ‘You've got to be kidding.' This doesn't happen in Ocean City in January,” Weiler said.

Weiler witnessed the very end of a high-speed police chase that began in Longport at 3:08 a.m. and ended abruptly at 3:14 a.m. It had been only six minutes since Longport Patrolman Frank Culmone first saw the car, now identified as stolen from Somers Point, driven by construction worker Gerald E. Bell, 35, of 638 Wesley Avenue, police said. Culmone saw the car speed by him and blow through a stop sign, and suspecting a drunken driver, he followed, police said. Patrolman Jason Parratt in another cruiser joined the pursuit.

Longport Police Sgt. Bill Hewitt said once the officers put on their flashing lights, Bell really hit the gas. He blew right through a closed toll booth at the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, running right over the orange cones, police said.
“They shattered because it was cold. When he went through, there were orange pieces of cones flying everywhere,” Hewitt said.

The Longport patrolmen said they followed Bell into Ocean City, where they saw him hit a curb and a tree, blowing out the front passenger side tire; Ocean City responded but was still catching up to the chase as Bell entered the Boardwalk at Fifth Street, police said. The Longport offices had to make a decision.

“On a summer night, we wouldn't have gone on the boards. If you know Ocean City at 3 o'clock in the morning, there isn't anybody out there,” Longport police Sgt. Stephen Cianci said.

Weiler said there had been joggers on the boardwalk as late as 2 a.m. but by 3 a.m. all was quiet. Weiler, who lives in Bucks County, Pa., and her friends were still awake.

“It's a weekend down at the shore with friends,” Weiler said.

The Suburban went from 5th Street to 23rd Street, to where the boardwalk gives way to a drop of several feet and then the beach.

“He got airborne,” Cianci said.

Police said Bell, who was not hurt, fled on foot but was arrested a short time later hiding near a bulkhead. He's now locked up at a cell at the Longport station facing charges of drunken driving, eluding police, reckless driving, hindering apprehension, being an unlicensed driver and numerous other motor vehicle violations. Charges for the car, which was reported stolen, and receiving stolen property, for some items found in the car, are also expected. Bell also could be held responsible for damage to the car and the Boardwalk, police said.

“There's a groove that goes down the entire boardwalk,” said Mark Miedama, who was outside with his wife, Dana, right after the accident.

“The sirens woke us up. I thought it might be a fire,” Dana Miedama said.

With three children in the house, she quickly locked the doors in the Wesley Avenue home because she didn't know whether the driver had been caught yet.

“Of course, at 3 in the morning you panic,” Dana said.

While Dana Miedama was locking the doors, Weiler and her friends were on their deck buzzing about what just happened.

“It was just too fast. It was like the speed of lightning. It was nuts,” she said.

The Miedamas say the police did a great job.

“Everybody says nothing ever happens here, but when we get something, we get something big,” Hewitt said.

Cianci said it was the type of chase you see on television, although there is no aerial footage of the event.

“It was over before a helicopter could start an engine,” Hewitt joked.

Bail for Bell had not been set as of Saturday evening. Once that is done, he is slated to be transferred to the Atlantic County jail.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:RDegener@pressofac.com

2007-01-13T00:44:00.000-05:00

Somers Point tells planners to end redevelopment activity near hospital
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

SOMERS POINT — City Council voted Thursday to stop the city's formal redevelopment activity in the neighborhood around Shore Memorial Hospital.
In an unusually short meeting in front of a small crowd, the council agreed to tell the city's Planning Board to stop a redevelopment study that a different council ordered the board to start in August 2005.

That study was born at a raucous meeting in front of an overflow crowd after a state judge ruled that the city's previous redevelopment planning had been tainted by potential conflicts of interest on the part of three city officials — Mayor Dan Reilly, Carmen Marotta, a former councilman, and Robert McVeigh, the then-Planning Board chairman.

Superior Court Judge Steven P. Perskie said the problem was that the three had taken part in votes or discussions on redevelopment plans that could have affected the value of property that they or close family members owned. He ordered the city to throw out more than a year and a half of formal work on the process and start it over.

The Planning Board has held a long series of hearings on redevelopment since then, but the council has gone through almost a complete transformation in the same period, with six of the seven members either being voted out of office, resigning their seats or not running for re-election.

The city has also spent much of the time since then in court proceedings and/or lawsuit-settlement negotiations with Shore Memorial and its chosen development partner, Bay Avenue Redevelopers. Residents have protested the legal and planning fees the city has run up in the effort to put together a redevelopment project along Bay Avenue, in the hospital's neighborhood.
The current council's vote Thursday night tells the Planning Board to “cease immediately their process” that was started by the August 2005 redevelopment-restarting resolution.

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis at The Press:MDeangelis@pressofac.com

2007-01-13T00:42:00.000-05:00

O.C. Council approves parking lot land swap
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

OCEAN CITY — City Council approved a land swap Thursday with a downtown property owner so it can expand a parking lot.
Council agreed to swap neighboring city property with Suzanne Mathes, whom the city had threatened last year with eminent domain. Mathes and her husband, Jan, planned to rebuild their home in the 700 block of Central Avenue when they got a letter from the city threatening to seize their land if they refused to sell.

The couple will get a city lot about 12 percent larger than theirs along with as much as $20,000 for expenses they incurred in the swap.

Initially, council planned to pay the Matheses about $13,000 for legal expenses, a water connection fee and storage costs related to the months-long postponement of construction. But the Matheses asked for additional compensation for architectural and attorney fees and a title search.

“Any fees we have asked for are for retracing our steps because of the situation we were put in,” Suzanne Mathes said.

“On Oct. 15, we were ready to build. We got the letter Oct. 16 about eminent domain,” her husband added. “We didn't have lawyer fees and a title search.”
Council agreed to the $13,000 and will pay as much as $7,000 more in fees yet to be determined. The city also will remove the asphalt on the city lot and pay to install a new vinyl fence.

Some members of the public criticized the city last year for threatening to use eminent domain over a parking lot.

“I think they're owed an apology,” Councilman Jody Alessandrine said.

He and Councilman Roy Wagner urged their peers unsuccessfully to discuss the matter behind closed doors.

“This is a very unorthodox way of negotiating,” Wagner said.

Councilmen Gregory Johnson and Keith Hartzell thanked the Matheses for their cooperation in helping the city expand much-needed downtown parking.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2007-01-09T15:52:00.000-05:00

Upper wants to disperse affordable-housing units
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Press of Atlantic Citgy

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The township wants to keep developers from building affordable housing where it is not wanted.
The Township Committee introduced an ordinance Monday to amend a measure it passed a month ago. The plan would require that developers meet their affordable-housing obligation within the new developments they build rather than singling out properties elsewhere in the township.

The township acted with speed last year to ensure all future construction applications will include this new affordable-housing requirement. The Township Committee adopted its fair-share plan in December while acknowledging likely changes such as the one it considered Monday.

At last month's hearing, neighbors complained that the plan could heap unwanted low-cost housing on particular neighborhoods while letting builders reap riches in their new developments.

Township resident Ruth Wolforth on Monday reiterated those concerns.

“We should spread these units out across the entire township,” she said. “One area should not have to suffer the entire brunt of this.”
The township's Planning Board formed a committee to examine the specifics of how the township will meet its legal obligation to provide affordable housing.

The township is under state mandate to provide 340 new affordable homes. The township can meet as much as half of that number by paying another town to meet the obligation. The township also has public land it can use to provide affordable homes.

The township is prioritizing age-restricted development to keep the financial burden off its school system.

Last month's ordinance put the onus of responsibility for future affordable housing on developers of new residential or commercial properties. Developers would have to provide one unit for every 25 new jobs created by commercial development. Likewise, they would have to provide one affordable unit for every eight new homes.

The township has created a new trust fund for affordable housing. Developers in some cases can pay the township to meet the developer's housing obligation. Developers who build less than eight units or whose properties create fewer than 25 jobs will have to contribute financially toward affordable housing.

A public hearing on the changes is scheduled for Feb. 13.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:Miller@pressofac.com

2007-01-05T19:23:00.000-05:00

N.J. plans to spray for gypsy moths
Bacteria, chemical part of proposal to control infestation
By MEGGAN CLARK Health/Science Writer, (609) 272-7209
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, January 4, 2007

TRENTON — Ravenous caterpillars will be a costly burden to municipalities throughout southern New Jersey in 2007, as the state tries to combat a mushrooming gypsy moth population.

The gypsy moth caterpillar infested more than 125,000 acres of New Jersey forest last year, compared with just 5,141 in 2003. State officials blamed two consecutive dry springs, which stunted growth of a fungus that kills the caterpillars.

On Wednesday, the state Department of Agriculture announced a plan to spray 78,000 infested acres with Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria that causes caterpillars to become paralyzed, stop feeding and die of starvation or disease. The department also has proposed using Dimilin, a synthetic pesticide that has been criticized by environmentalists, on some of the land.

Municipalities can opt out of the state spraying program, but if they want in, they have to pick up the tab — about $40 per acre in 2006.

One of the hardest-hit municipalities, Upper Township in Cape May County, has 2,335 acres on the DEP's list and will have to pay $112,000, or $48 per acre, Township Engineer Paul Dietrich said. A federal grant could cover half the cost, but it's unclear whether that money will be available.

“We haven't had this much acreage required in a long time,” Dietrich said. “Over the past five or six years, we've had 400 or 500 acres in different locations, but never that much.”
Typically, he said, gypsy moth caterpillars confine themselves to forested tracts, but last year they made their way into well-populated areas. As the caterpillars inundated residents with droppings, residents inundated township offices with complaints.

“We had a lot of people complaining about the gypsy moths. ... They're eating their trees, they're leaving a lot of droppings, and they're a nuisance,” Dietrich said.

Folks also were complaining in Absecon, where 440 acres are targeted for spraying.

“The first thing (residents) saw was the leaves being eaten away and then they saw residue on the ground, and I was told at that point that by the time you see that kind of defoliation, it's too late to spray,” City Administrator Terry Dolan said. “The mayor and the City Council instructed me to contact the state to see if we could become eligible for spraying in 2007.”

He said Absecon will find the money to pay for it “one way or another.”

“From what I know about this whole thing, it gets progressively worse year by year, if you don't address it,” he said. “It is our hope that by spraying in 2007, we can limit the damage in the years to come.”

In Commercial Township, where 509 acres are on the state's spray list, Deputy Clerk/Administrator Jud Moore said complaints were minimal in 2006.

“As far as I know we did not receive any,” he said. “We'll probably talk about it (spraying). ... Usually, when we sprayed in the past, residents were grateful to see us spray, and we want to control our gypsy moth population, so that's what we'll be doing. If there's an outcry from the public, the governing body will look into it.”

There has been some outcry already from environmental groups, including New Jersey Environmental Federation, New Jersey Audubon Society, Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and the New Jersey Sierra Club. About 20 groups recently signed a letter expressing concern about the use of Dimilin.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dimilin is a “restricted use” pesticide that kills caterpillars by interfering with their normal molting process. It also can affect aquatic crustaceans and immature insects that molt. To apply Dimilin, the Department of Agriculture would need both state Department of Environmental Protection and local approvals.

Lynne Richmond, a spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture, said Wednesday that the use of Dimilin has not been approved by the DEP, and “even if we get approval to use Dimilin, towns make the ultimate determination of what will be used in their town, if anything.”

In order to legally spray, municipal governing bodies must advertise the plan, hold a public hearing and declare the gypsy moth a “public nuisance,” Richmond said.

The gypsy moth is native to Asia, Europe and Africa, but it was imported to Medford, Mass., in 1869 by French scientist Etienne Leopold Trouvelot, who hoped to breed a more hardy silkworm.

The experiment was a failure, but Trouvelot did succeed in letting the ravenous critters escape from his home, and by 1889 they had eaten nearly every leaf in Medford. They have made their way steadily across the United States ever since, reaching New Jersey in the 1920s. In 1981, according to the USDA, they defoliated a record 12.9 million acres — an area larger than Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.

The caterpillars stripped about 800,000 acres in New Jersey in 1981, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Gypsy moths' most deadly natural enemy is a fungus, Entomophraga maimaiga, a Japanese import that penetrates the caterpillars' bodies, multiplies and releases new spores to attack other caterpillars, killing its host in the process. But the fungus needs abundant moisture to propagate. Scientists believe dry weather in 2005 and 2006 sent the gypsy moth population spiraling up.

Two years of successive defoliation can kill a healthy tree, but many residents are as worried about the “yuck factor” as they are about defoliation. After all, picnicking, hiking and other outdoor activities are no fun when the forest is literally crawling with caterpillars.

“Aside from the eating of their trees ... when they call in to us, I think (people) were more upset that there were so many of them and they were disgusting,” Richmond said.

To e-mail Meggan Clark at The Press:Meggan.Clark@pressofac.com

2006-12-18T21:15:00.000-05:00

Court battle may decide fate of O.C. downtown
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Saturday, December 16, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Several downtown businessmen are suing the city for thwarting plans to rebuild the way they intended.
The city plans to change the zoning downtown to slow the creep of residential construction into the commercial business zone. The proposed changes affected several pending applications before the city's Zoning and Planning boards.

During Mayor Sal Perillo's first Planning Board meeting in July, the board tabled all five applications on the agenda.

“He has a different vision for the downtown,” said Dorothy McCrosson, the lawyer for several applicants. “He wanted time to put into place the new rules. That's what he did. … He essentially stopped them dead in their tracks.”

McCrosson represents Donald Johnson and Samuel Johnson, owners of property on the 900 block of Asbury Avenue. They both applied to the Planning Board to build three-story mixed-use buildings.

McCrosson said the Planning Board failed to act in 120 days, which should mean automatic approval for her clients.
“My clients don't want to sue the city,” McCrosson said. “They just want to develop the buildings they've been planning for years. The city pulled the rug out.”

Likewise, Ralph and Rachelle DiClemente are suing the Zoning Board for failing to act on their application for 1159 Asbury Ave. within the 120-day deadline.

A special committee composed of City Council and Planning Board members is examining the Central Business zone, which stretches from Sixth to 11th streets on Asbury Avenue.

Council reinstated a parking requirement in this zone this year. But Perillo and council have different ideas about how to encourage a thriving downtown.

“Both the mayor and council are trying to revive the downtown,” Council President Jack Thomas said. “We disagree about the approach. Council believes we should have more residency downtown. We know from studies the more people who live downtown, the more people shop downtown. That's across the whole country. We believe baby boomers will want to live downtown.”

The mayor prefers less residential space squeezed into small downtown lots.

“They were shrinking the commercial space and increasing residential units,” Perillo said. “City Council, the Planning Board and I are united in feeling that these applications are not what we want to see happen.”

Perillo, who has experience as a land-use lawyer, said the city had the right to interrupt development, albeit temporarily, to craft the changes.

“Courts in my experience have been very reluctant to award default approvals,” he said. “If you let people proceed, the buildings they construct will be there for decades. These mistakes will be there for a long time.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-11-15T12:44:00.000-05:00

Ocean City taxpayers group to appeal ruling
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, November 15, 2006

OCEAN CITY — A group of taxpayers who want to tie city spending to the federal cost of living is appealing a judge's ruling that the proposal is unlawful.
Ocean City sued residents behind the Taxpayer Protection Initiative, a move to tie the city's budget to the federal Cost of Living Adjustment. This was 4.1 percent for 2006.

Superior Court Judge Joseph C. Visalli in October ruled in the city's favor, saying the proposed measure would lead to financial chaos.

The group is taking the issue to the state Appellate Court.

“No one ever said it would be easy,” resident James Tweed said in a statement. “What we do not have yet is a thorough analysis of applicable New Jersey statutes. … The proponents of unrestricted government spending won the first skirmish.”

The group collected enough signatures on a petition to get the issue on a referendum. The judge's ruling puts that referendum on hold indefinitely.
In its lawsuit, the city argued that it could not pay pensions, employee benefits or debt service under the spending cap. In his ruling, Visalli said the appropriate time for voters to exercise their discretion over city spending is on Election Day.

But north-end resident Fred Hoffman, one of the named defendants, said this is less effective in practice, especially if incumbents have the backing of the city's political financiers.

“We have an oligarchy in Ocean City. We really do,” he said. “We have a group of tycoons and real estate developers who say, ‘I know what's best for you.'”

The city's $52 million budget is 24 percent higher than it was just five years ago. Hoffman said city spending will put more pressure on officials to encourage high-rise development for an infusion of tax money. Wildwood is banking on high-rise development to offset taxes in that resort.

“How do we fund this? What I see is we'll just go higher and higher. We'll put more buildings down by the beach,” Hoffman said.

The group also wants a more elaborate judicial ruling on the concept of tying city spending to the cost of living. Bergen County's Bogota adheres to this measure.

“The ‘chaos' which the judge predicted would occur in Ocean City did not happen in Bogota,” Tweed said in a statement. “If his decision is allowed to stand unchallenged, then the taxpayers in Ocean City and across the state will never get the opportunity to test the validity of that fear.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-11-15T12:40:00.000-05:00

Upper opposes merger proposal
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, November 15, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The township's leaders are convinced merging local services in the name of slashing property taxes would do more harm than good.
Township Committee this week said it plans to oppose a state proposal to turn municipal tax collection and assessment, animal control and public health services over to the state's 21 counties.

State Sen. Robert Smith, D-Middlesex, Somerset, introduced a bill Oct. 23 that would require each county to hold a referendum in which voters would decide whether they would prefer their counties to absorb the above mentioned municipal services. Smith said turning those services over to the county would save taxpayers considerable money, though the cost to do so and exact amount of savings would still need to be figured out by the state.

The all-Republican Upper Township Committee is expected to vote on a resolution later this month opposing the bill. Among the reasons for the opposition, Deputy Mayor Curtis Corson Jr. said residents would miss the convenience of paying their tax bills in person at Township Hall.

“My mother is one example. She doesn't want to mail it,” Corson said. “She personally goes in and pays it. We'd lose the personal touch.”

Likewise, Committeeman Robert Conrad said Upper residents have a ready local contact for animal-control problems.
“Our animal-control officer is a phone call away,” Conrad said.

Perhaps the biggest downside, according to Upper Township's leaders, is the potential loss of interest on collected taxes.

“If the county was to collect taxes, we'd lose our tax collector and tax assessor. We would save some money there on personnel,” Corson said. “But we earn more in interest than we spend in collecting it.”

“I'm not against consolidating services. But this isn't costing us a bunch of money,” he added.

Under the proposed bill, the state Department of the Treasury would determine how much this merger would cost and what long-term savings would be achieved. Then the proposal would go to New Jersey voters through a referendum.

If voters approved the referendum, towns would phase out property-tax assessment and collection, animal control and public health services over two years.

Smith, the bill's sponsor, said he expected resistance.

“Tax collectors came to all three public hearings we had and said the planet Earth would stop rotating on its axis without local tax collection,” he said.

Smith said towns such as Upper could retain the interest they derive from collected taxes. And he said some counties already offer consolidated animal-control services.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in America.

“We citizens are part of the problem. Every time you say we want local, local, local, you're increasing your property taxes,” Smith said. “The problem is the intransigence where people won't even consider change.”

Smith's bill was referred to the state Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-11-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

County removes weight limit on toll bridge to Strathmere
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Wednesday, November 15, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — Cape May County lifted weight restrictions this week on the toll bridge leading to Strathmere.
The county's Bridge Commission in May closed the span to all vehicles heavier than 3 tons after engineers found structural weakness in bridge piers during a biannual inspection.

The commission installed temporary traffic signals at either end of the span so that ambulances could cross safely and alone during an emergency. This limited the total weight on the bridge at any one time.

The commission spent $1.2 million to reinforce 25 support piers, including 13 that were especially weakened on the Ocean City side.

“They had to raise the piles and repair the flanges underneath,” Bridge Commission spokesman Stephen O'Connor said. “It's supposed to be shaped like an I. It was shaped like a J. The bottom was bent.”

The bridge has resumed its 15-ton weight limit. That will allow delivery trucks and smaller fire trucks to cross, he said.
The bridge will be closed for a week in March to repair the span's drawbridge. The $250,000 project will fix a broken counterbalance that interferes with the proper closing of the bridge, O'Connor said.

The exact dates of the closure have not been set. O'Connor said the commission wants to repair the bridge in time for the start of boating season.

Few boaters use Corsons Inlet because of its unpredictable navigation channels. The inlet is home to shifting sandbars that change with the weather.

O'Connor said most boaters instead use Townsends Inlet on the southern end of Sea Isle City.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-11-15T12:26:00.000-05:00

Upper opposes merger proposal
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Wednesday, November 15, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The township's leaders are convinced merging local services in the name of slashing property taxes would do more harm than good.
Township Committee this week said it plans to oppose a state proposal to turn municipal tax collection and assessment, animal control and public health services over to the state's 21 counties.

State Sen. Robert Smith, D-Middlesex, Somerset, introduced a bill Oct. 23 that would require each county to hold a referendum in which voters would decide whether they would prefer their counties to absorb the above mentioned municipal services. Smith said turning those services over to the county would save taxpayers considerable money, though the cost to do so and exact amount of savings would still need to be figured out by the state.

The all-Republican Upper Township Committee is expected to vote on a resolution later this month opposing the bill. Among the reasons for the opposition, Deputy Mayor Curtis Corson Jr. said residents would miss the convenience of paying their tax bills in person at Township Hall.

“My mother is one example. She doesn't want to mail it,” Corson said. “She personally goes in and pays it. We'd lose the personal touch.”

Likewise, Committeeman Robert Conrad said Upper residents have a ready local contact for animal-control problems.
“Our animal-control officer is a phone call away,” Conrad said.

Perhaps the biggest downside, according to Upper Township's leaders, is the potential loss of interest on collected taxes.

“If the county was to collect taxes, we'd lose our tax collector and tax assessor. We would save some money there on personnel,” Corson said. “But we earn more in interest than we spend in collecting it.”

“I'm not against consolidating services. But this isn't costing us a bunch of money,” he added.

Under the proposed bill, the state Department of the Treasury would determine how much this merger would cost and what long-term savings would be achieved. Then the proposal would go to New Jersey voters through a referendum.

If voters approved the referendum, towns would phase out property-tax assessment and collection, animal control and public health services over two years.

Smith, the bill's sponsor, said he expected resistance.

“Tax collectors came to all three public hearings we had and said the planet Earth would stop rotating on its axis without local tax collection,” he said.

Smith said towns such as Upper could retain the interest they derive from collected taxes. And he said some counties already offer consolidated animal-control services.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in America.

“We citizens are part of the problem. Every time you say we want local, local, local, you're increasing your property taxes,” Smith said. “The problem is the intransigence where people won't even consider change.”

Smith's bill was referred to the state Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-10-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

Work begins on new bridge linking N.J. resorts
Associated Press
Posted Thursday, October 26, 2006 at 7:05 pm

TRENTON — State officials kicked off construction today of the new Causeway Bridge which will replace a string of four aging bridges linking Ocean City and Somers Point.

Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said the causeway is one of the largest bridge projects ever undertaken by the department.

The $400 million bridge on N.J. 52 will have four 12-foot travel lanes, eight-foot shoulders and a concrete median barrier. A new visitor's center, new sidewalks for bicyclists and pedestrians, and several fishing piers also are part of the project.

Two lanes will remain open to traffic in each direction during the summer tourist season, so no detours will be needed during construction, transportation officials said.

Meanwhile, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission approved a nearly $87.2 million contract to rehabilitate the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge.

The work, expected to start by the end of the year, includes replacing and widening the bridge deck, altering intersections and an exit ramp near the bridge and installing noise walls along U.S. 1 in Morrisville.

New traffic signals will be installed, South Pennsylvania Avenue in Morrisville will be resurfaced, a new toll plaza will be built and the bridge will be painted during the construction, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.

The bridge will remain open during the project, though traffic may be limited to a single lane during off-peak periods. The commission awarded the construction contract to Conti Enterprises Inc., of South Plainfield, N.J.

2006-10-26T05:52:00.000-04:00

Ocean City draws on local talent
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, October 25, 2006

OCEAN CITY — A civic group dedicated to bringing public art to the resort picked a local artist for its latest mural.
Stephen Stuart-Gibson, 30, grew up on the north end and graduated from Ocean City High School in 1994. He now lives in the Beesleys Point section of Upper Township.

The Community Art Project selected him and his design for its third public art installment on the west wall of Frank Theatres Moorlyn Stadium. The group sponsored twin sculptures at the Aquatic and Fitness Center and another mural on Ninth Street.

Stuart-Gibson couldn't ask for a better spot. His canvas is a giant wall off Moorlyn Terrace, one of the busiest entrances to the entire Ocean City Boardwalk. Here, hundreds of thousands of people will see his art.

“It really is the best part of it,” said his stepfather, Jeff Stuart. “This will show off his talent in his hometown.”

The civic group unveiled the design Tuesday during a blustery ceremony with Mayor Sal Perillo and local business leaders.

Stuart-Gibson has finished drawing most of the outline for the mural, which features a surfing theme. The design features two arches contrasting the early years of surfing with long boards, 1960s swimwear and the landmark Music Pier with the present day of short boards, surfing competitions and the new First Street Beach Patrol station.

His tool of choice for this delicate work: a No. 2 pencil.

“A hurricane won't take it off,” he said.

Despite the windy, cold weather, Stuart-Gibson said, he expects to finish the mural by mid-December.

His mother, Rosemary Stuart, snapped photos for posterity. They sent copies of his rendering to distant family members and friends.

“I've been bragging on him,” she said.

She noticed his drawing talent when he was 2. He used to build elaborate houses with Lego blocks. At 11, he was the youngest artist admitted to the city's Boardwalk Art Show, she said. Now he runs his own business, Faux-Ever Painting.

“This is what he always wanted to do,” she said.

In conjunction with the mural, the city plans to spruce up the street end on Moorlyn Terrace, the mayor said. This will be the first of several street ends on the Boardwalk to see aesthetic improvements, Perillo promised.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-10-21T08:36:00.000-04:00

The following events and parades are planned in celebration of Halloween

All events are open to the public
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, October 20, 2006

Oct. 21

Cape May — The Ghosts of Cape May Trolley Tour will offer a guided 40-minute ride through the streets through Oct. 31 to see historic hotels, inns and homes thought to host ghosts and hear the stories of the spirits, starting the Washing Street Mall Information Booth. Call (609) 884-5508 for information.

Cape May Court House — The Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders will present Boo at the Zoo from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Cape May County Park and Zoo. Wear a costume and participate in games and a scavenger hunt. Call (609) 465-5271 for information or visit www.capemaycountygov.net.

Ocean City — Take a candlelight Ghost Tour at 8 p.m. on Oct. 21 and 28. The tour lasts more than one hour. Tickets cost $13 and $7 for ages 4 to 12. Call (609) 814-0199 for information or visit www.ghosttour.com.

Oct. 22

Cape May — The city will host its annual Halloween Parade at 3 p.m. Oct. 22 from Lyle Lane and the Rotary Park and ending at Emlen Physick Estate for refreshments and awards for the best costumes. Registration is from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Victorian Bandstand in Rotary Park. Call the Cape May Civic Affairs (609) 884-9565 for information.

Oct. 25

Ocean City — The Cape May County Division of Culture and Heritage will present a “History of the Ocean City Halloween Parade” following its annual meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Ocean City Historical Museum, 1735 Simpson Ave. Admission is free. Call (609) 463-6370 or visit www.capemaycountyculture-heritage.org.

Oct. 26

Ocean City — The Ocean City Exchange Club will sponsor the annual Halloween Parade at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 26 on Asbury Avenue from 6th to 11th streets. Late entries for marching divisions will be taken the night of the parade beginning at 6:30 p.m. at 6th and Asbury Avenue. Call the parade hotline at (800) 813-5580 for information.

Oct. 27

Cape May — The Star of the Sea will host its Halloween Party from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 27 at Ocean and Lafayette Streets. Wear a costume. Prizes will be presented for the cutest, funniest, most original and scariest costumes. The event also features music, dancing and a walk through Dr. Frankenstein's Lab. Admission is $3. Call (609) 884-4437 for information.

Cape May — The Historic Haunts Combination Tour will be offered Oct. 27 and 28 and features a Ghosts of Cape May Trolley Tour with a visit to the 1879 Emlen Physick Estate and a presentation on the Victorian fascination with spiritualism. Call (609) 884-5508 for information.

Cape May Court House — The Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders will present its annual haunted hayride from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Cape May County Park Central, Route 9 and Crest Haven Road. All proceeds benefit the Cape May County Zoo. Tickets will go on sale starting at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and teens and $4 for children ages 12 and younger. Parking is available on the east side of the main park on Crest Haven Road. Call (609) 465-5271 for information.

Ocean City — A Halloween Family Night, sponsored by the Ocean City Free Public Library, is planned from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Music Pier, Boardwalk and Moorlyn Terrace. The event will feature scary stories with Jim Albertson, magician Chad Juros, music by Ted Prior's Early Morning Reign Folk Band and a book swap for children. Admission is $5 with a maximum of $15 per family. Call (609) 525-9300 for information.

Stone Harbor — James McCloy, author of several books about New Jersey's famous Jersey Devil, will be the speaker at the Halloween covered dish dinner at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 at the the Wetlands Institute, 1075 Stone Harbor Blvd. Bring an entr饬 salad or dessert to share with at least 10 people. Admission is $5 for members; $10 for non-members. Call (609) 368-1211 by Oct. 26 for reservations.

Oct. 28

Cape May — The Spooky Sampler Tour will be offered on Oct. 28 and includes a Historic District Trolley Tour and an interior tour of two of Cape May's Victorian bed and breakfast inns. Learn about local paranormal phenomena, hear the innkeepers' restoration stories, and see unique antiques collections. The tour will conclude with afternoon tea at the Carriage House Tearoom & Caf鮠Call (609) 884-5508 for information.

Ocean City — Trick or Treat will be held in the downtown Asbury Avenue shopping district from noon till 3 p.m. on Oct. 28.

Ocean City — A Haunted House, sponsored by Ocean City High School Art Club, is planned from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 28 in City Hall, 9th and Asbury Ave. Admission is $5. Call (609) 525-9300 for information.

Ocean City — Arlo Guthrie, in a tribute to his legendary father, Woody Guthrie, will perform at 8 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Music Pier, Boardwalk and Moorlyn Terrace. Tickets cost $25 and are available from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday at the City Hall Annex, 901 Asbury Ave. Call (609)525-9300 for information.

Oct. 29

Ocean City — The Ocean City Dog Park Committee will present Howl for Halloween starting at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 29 at the Port O' Call, 15th and the Boardwalk. The Dog of the Year will be crowned at noon and at 12:30 p.m. a Halloween costume contest will be held followed by a Doggie Dip or Pooch Plunge in the Port O' Call swimming pool. Call (609) 525-9300 for information.

Oct. 31

Ocean City — Trick or Treat will be held throughout Ocean City from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 31. Parents are asked to accompany their youngsters. Call (609) 525-9300 for information

2006-10-15T21:52:00.000-04:00

N.J.'s rising tide of insurance costs
By TIMOTHY PUKO Staff Writer, (609) 272-7275
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Sunday, October 15, 2006

Dave and Jackie Keubler used to own a vacation house in Florida. In just three years, their homeowners-insurance premium doubled to $4,000, forcing them to sell last year.

One year later, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hammered the Gulf Coast and the foundations of the insurance industry, the Keublers are finding the same price hikes in New Jersey. Premiums have more than doubled this past year for properties in Ocean County that Dave Keubler and his business partner, Darren Bucemi, own.

“That gets you, actually, crap coverage,” Keubler said, leaning back from the dinner table in his Ship Bottom home.

The Keublers and others around the country are suffering through the insurance industry's attempt to survive after being rocked by the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Insurance costs are on the rise in coastal areas in the South and East, including the coastal areas of New Jersey. Some of the traditional insurers are backing out of those storm-vulnerable areas.

The trend is having a mixed effect on southern New Jersey residents, with some holding fast to policies they have had for years and others using a competitive market to try to find cheaper rates. But even for the fortunate ones, there is still an undercurrent of fear.

More companies are refusing to write new policies for shore neighborhoods, as State Farm, New Jersey's largest homeowners policy provider, did starting last month. As a result, consumers know they may end up paying twice as much for half the coverage.
“If (my insurer) cancels on me for some reason, I'm going to have a tough time getting insurance,” said Curtis McDaniel, who has owned a bayside home in Upper Township's Strathmere Beach section for 31 years. “I've called the local agents around and they don't even talk to you.”

McDaniel is like many Strathmere Beach residents who said last week that their premiums have been steady or forced to rise only in accordance with a property revaluation. McDaniel paid about $900 this year to Farmer's Mutual Insurance Company, an increase of just $50. But none of the residents has filed a claim recently, either.

Local insurance agents said Keubler's case is more of a worst-case scenario, with most of the highest premium increases coming between 10 percent and 12 percent. AllState's homeowners premiums jumped almost 7 percent in New Jersey, spokesman Walter Tomasheski said. Comparatively, it has made only 2 percent average yearly increases statewide since 2001.

McDaniel's fear of losing coverage is a larger problem facing area residents. Many home insurers refuse to write new policies in zip codes within 10 miles of the coast, said Michelle Orme, the officer manager at Shore Agency in Absecon.

“Since Hurricane Andrew (in 1992) there haven't been many companies writing along the Eastern Seaboard,” she said. “Then Katrina really blew a lot of companies out of the area, in the way of homeowners policies.”

Potential for disaster, reconstruction costs and higher rates from reinsurers have made the business of insuring shore properties unappealing.

As traditional homeowners-policy providers have pulled out of the market, consumers are forced to seek out surplus lines from Lloyd's of London and similar companies that will insure riskier ventures for the right price.

“Lloyd's of London is more expensive, their coverage isn't as good, and, at claim time, they play hardball,” said Andrew Anderson, an owner of Anderson Insurance Agency and president of the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey.

When Tony Pullella wanted to insure his oceanfront home in Brigantine a decade ago, Lloyd's of London was his only option. He was told he lived in a “V zone,” V standing for high wind velocity, and the quote it gave him was $10,000 per year.

Until this year, Pullella used the state's basic insurance plan. Recently, he was able to buy a surplus line for about $3,500, which he called affordable.

The value of Pullella's property, assessed at about $800,000 in 2005, puts him in a high-value market that some insurers have seen as an appealing niche in recent years, said Barbara Lee of Glenn Insurance in Absecon.

As this market has become competitive, the state's basic plan has become more expensive. In the past year, about 11 percent of the homeowners who had resorted to the state plan dropped it. Many of those residents have found standard homeowners policies that were not much more expensive than the state's backup plan, Lee said.

Many owners of homes that insurers shy away from can afford to deal with the higher costs of surplus lines, both lenders and insurers said. The higher policy prices sometimes prove to be only a fraction of a percent of a multi-million-dollar investment.

Higher premiums and the difficulty of obtaining insurance in certain areas only add to residents' worries about a growing property-tax problem. If they have to continually pay higher premiums to cover the higher values of their reassessed homes, many residents interviewed last week said it will only be harder for middle class families to pay to maintain a home in shore communities.

“It's like they're pushing the middle class out and bringing the rich in,” Jackie Keubler said.

“Yeah,” Dave Keubler said. “Who can afford it?”

To e-mail Timothy Puko at The Press:tpuko@pressofac.com

2006-10-11T08:38:00.000-04:00

Parking shortage hampers Ocean City zoning
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, October 11, 2006

OCEAN CITY — City Council's efforts Tuesday to make downtown zoning more business-friendly were repeatedly foiled by a parking shortage.
Council is revising its zoning rules for the Commercial Business zone, which includes most of the downtown. In a workshop meeting Tuesday, parking was a recurring theme.

The city's consultant, Taylor Design Group, said the downtown will face increasing parking problems under existing zoning unless the city intervenes.

Council wants to preserve downtown businesses, which have been under increasing residential development pressure. The downtown requires ground-floor commercial space, typically a mix of restaurants and retail stores.

“The only reason someone would put a store underneath (now) is because they have to do it,” Council President Jack Thomas said.

In a letter to council Monday, Mayor Sal Perillo said residential development was incompatible with the downtown's small retail lots.

“The core problem with excessive residential development in the downtown is that it is competing with commercial uses for valuable ground floor space and … scarce parking,” Perillo wrote.

“In Ocean City we are trying to squeeze a supersized duplex … on a 30-foot lot with a retail store on the first floor. It just does not fit.”

Consultant Michelle Taylor said the city would need to find as many as 873 parking spaces if the downtown were rebuilt to at highest density. The numbers were the subject of some dispute.

Councilman Keith Hartzell, who lives and owns several properties downtown, disputed the worst-case scenario, noting that many of the properties were untouched during the island's latest building boom. He noted the unlikelihood of all of the affected properties being rebuilt immediately.

“This document makes it look like all three blocks (between Seventh and 9th streets) are coming down and we have a 500-space deficiency,” Hartzell said.

But council is looking at changes to zoning in the top floors and what impact those changes will have on parking.

One solution proposed Tuesday was to force city employees to park at the Transportation Center or at Fifth Street instead of the busy lot behind City Hall.

Council also considered banning all new commercial offices from the downtown for fear employees in them would take up valuable public parking.

Hartzell, president of Main Street Ocean City, said studies have shown that seasonal residents who live downtown spend far more in just six months than employees who work downtown spend in a year.

He said parking is only a major problem for customers and businesses alike two months of the year.

Besides, he said, the downtown has several vacant offices.

“We don't see the benefit of professional offices in a retail area. It's not appropriate for those three blocks,” Hartzell said.

Taylor strongly disagreed. She said imposing any limits on property use would hamstring the downtown.

“You need to open your mind. Open more and restrict less,” she said.

Councilman Scott Ping said the current real-estate market favors residential construction over commercial space. He suggested council let the market dictate the use.

The draft ordinance is available online at www.ocean-city.nj.us/

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-10-08T11:51:00.000-04:00

Somers Point submits affordable-housing plan

By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Published: Saturday, October 7, 2006

SOMERS POINT — The city submitted a 190-page answer Friday to a judge's request for a plan on how it will comply with his ruling that Somers Point doesn't offer enough affordable housing.

The City Council and the town's Planning Board both voted unanimously late Thursday to send the compliance plan to Superior Court Judge Steven P. Perskie. He decided after a trial in August that under state rules, the city comes up short on supplying its share of low- and moderate-income housing and gave the city a Friday deadline to turn in its plan for addressing that shortage.

Key points in the city's complex, excruciatingly detailed plan include a proposal to rezone a 3-acre tract known as Bass Harbor — at Maryland and Bay avenues — to allow either 15 or 18 condominium units per acre. The current zoning for the area calls for a maximum of six units to the acre.

At 18 units per acre with 15 percent set aside as affordable, a developer could build 8 affordable units at Bass Harbor and 46 to sell at the normal market rate. Building 15 units to the acre and keeping 20 percent of them affordable would create 36 market-rate homes and 9 affordable ones, the plan adds.

The city also calls for rezoning Bay Avenue land owned by Shore Memorial Hospital to allow 18 units to the acre, which would allow for a maximum of 149 condos on the 8.3 acres. Keeping 15 percent of them affordable would create 22 more low- and moderate-income units and 127 market-rate homes, the plan says.

The current zoning would allow for just 49 units total on the hospital land, according to the document.

The third main component of the city's plan calls for building 375 condos on 25 of the 150 acres owned by Greate Bay Country Club. Making 15 percent qualify as affordable rentals creates 56 more units the city would get credit for, the city's plan says.

State Council on Affordable Housing, or COAH, rules say Somers Point should have 105 new affordable units to meet its past needs and 66 more low- and moderate-income units to meet projected future obligations, according to the city's planners, Heyer, Gruel & Associates.

Greate Bay's owners have proposed building 550 condo units and setting aside 20 percent of them, or 110, as affordable. That figure would more than satisfy all the past COAH obligations.

But some neighbors of the golf course have sued to block development there, arguing that a deed restriction bars the owners from using the land for anything but a golf course. The owners say that restriction can't be enforced because it has been breached repeatedly since the course was built in 1923.

The developers who sued the city in the first affordable housing case, a company owned by the Scarborough family, submitted their own plans to the judge calling for higher densities than the city does on land it owns.

Scarborough proposed a project with 23 units to the acre along Bay Avenue or an average of 26 units to the acre on Bay Avenue and another site on Route 9.

Scarborough, which also built the popular Harbour Cove condos on Bay Avenue, notes for comparison that Harbour Cove's density is about 22 units to the acre.

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis at The Press: MDeangelis@pressofac.com

2006-09-22T20:55:00.000-04:00

Foreclosure trend not catching on in southern N.J.
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, September 22, 2006

The U.S. real estate market is showing another sign of heading south, while this region remains reluctant to follow.
As home prices skyrocketed the past couple of years, economists worried that buyers might not be able to keep up with their big mortgage payments if the economy slowed.

They repeatedly warned that buyers using adjustable rate mortgages, often sold with artificially low initial "teaser" rates, might find themselves in the hole if (or when) interest rates went up.

Now that house prices have started dropping in many areas of the nation and rates have risen a little, the watch is on for signs of distress among homebuyers. Nothing impairs one's ability to consume, and keep the economy growing, like taking a bath on one's biggest purchase.

The first alarm bells have sounded.

Last week, the Mortgage Bankers of America reported that foreclosures on adjustable-rate mortgages rose 29 percent to a four-year high in the second quarter of this year from the previous quarter.

Foreclosures are recorded when a lender tries to seize property for nonpayment of the loan or the overloaded borrower simply walks away from it.

RealtyTrac, which maintains a national database on foreclosure properties, reported the same day that they increased 24 percent for all loans just from July to August.

How far this trend goes will depend on a confluence of factors, including stagnating household incomes and rising expenditures on energy, property taxes and insurance. If energy prices and interest rates moderate, we probably won't see a lot of people losing their homes.

In southern New Jersey, an increase in distressed homeowners is even less likely.

RealtyTrac's figures for the region show that foreclosures in Atlantic County actually fell 19 percent from the first to second quarters of this year. In Cape May County, the drop was 18 percent, in Cumberland County 48 percent, and in Ocean County the decline was 37 percent.

Economist Richard Perniciaro, director of the Center for Regional and Business Research at Atlantic Cape Community College, said strong demand for housing in the region is keeping the market in better shape than most.

"The people who are buying are people who have been coming here all their lives and they didn't look anywhere else," he said. "So we have a pretty sure flow of demand, and that will only get bigger as the boomers retire. New Jersey might have the most Baby Boomers of any state."

Home prices in the region were up 15 percent in the second quarter, a smaller increase but still an increase, he said.

"What really would cause our market to falter would be if people wait six or eight months to buy," Perniciaro said.

But even that would be temporary.

"People just want to be here," he said. "They've planned for 10 years to buy into here."

2006-09-21T21:18:00.000-04:00

Five-year job to cost $400 million
Heavy construction to start next month
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, September 21, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Work finally began this month on the new Route 52 causeway, the most expensive road or bridge project ever undertaken in southern New Jersey, after years of delays and much anticipation.

Construction crews began clearing a staging area and set up an on-site office on Garrets Island near the Ocean City side of the causeway. Several heavy trucks and a mammoth crane bearing an American flag were poised at the water's edge Wednesday.

The 2.5-mile-long causeway project is expected to cost $400 million when both phases are complete.

The new causeway will have four wide lanes, an emergency shoulder and a separate walking and bicycle path. It will have a boat ramp, fishing piers and places to fish from the bridge.

“It's good to see the project begin. The sooner it begins, the sooner it will end,” Ocean City Mayor Sal Perillo said. “It's not just the amount of money but the amenities the state is building into the project.”

“Heavy construction will start in early to mid-October,” said Erin Phalon, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

The first half of construction calls for rebuilding the 1.2-mile-long interior portion of the new causeway from Garret's Island across Rainbow Island to Elbow Island. The second half of construction will replace the two exterior drawbridges with fixed spans, rebuild the Ocean City Welcome Center and eliminate the Somers Point traffic circle.

The completion date is Memorial Day 2011.

The Route 52 causeway is a major link between Somers Point and Ocean City, and Atlantic and Cape May counties.

“There's no question over the next four years there will be disruptions and inconvenience,” Perillo said. “We'll work through it.”

The old causeway is scheduled to remain open throughout construction. On Wednesday, one of the two northbound lanes was closed. Phalon said that lane closure was temporary.

Meanwhile, Perillo said the city was advised that the causeway will see more lane closures later this year to repair the southern drawbridge that tends to expand in hot weather.

“It's a good feeling to see that crane,” said Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic. “The important issue is to ensure that as construction takes place, we deal with other hazardous traffic conditions in southern New Jersey.”

Van Drew said he would push for new ramps at Exit 20 and the reopening of the Beesleys Point Bridge.

Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster said he is most concerned about keeping the old causeway open through the five-year construction schedule. Any prolonged causeway closure could stress the 34th Street Bridge to Ocean City.

Vibrations from pile-driving on the new Ocean City-Longport Bridge forced the closure of the old Ocean City-Longport Bridge more than a year earlier than planned and created miserable traffic jams on the island.

For this project, the state moved the new causeway farther from the old spans to prevent a similar problem. But Foster said that might not be enough.

“The existing bridges are still in poor shape. They still have to survive a few more years. Something could happen to them that is not construction related. Like old age,” he said.

The city plans to take advantage of the construction to dump dredge spoils.

NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said construction might affect which lanes buses may take on Route 52 but will not interrupt passenger schedules or require detours.

“The level of coordination that has taken place between NJ Transit and the DOT has been very robust,” he said.

A public meeting on the project is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Dawes Avenue School in Somers Point.

The official ground-breaking will take place next month, Phalon said.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-09-07T09:40:00.000-04:00

Slower housing market means fewer demolitions

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Thursday, September 7, 2006
Press of Atlantic City

OCEAN CITY — As tourists stow their beach bags for another year, Ocean City is getting ready for the launch of its second industry: teardowns.

Builders say they are seeing a dramatic slowdown in home construction on the island, reflecting a national trend. That could spell fewer demolitions, new homes and jobs on the island this fall.

“Our busy season usually starts in the fall. I hate to say it, but it's not going to be half as busy as past falls,” said Mark Tietjen, manager of Peter Lumber in Ocean City.

The New Jersey Builders Association said the number of home starts is down 15 percent statewide over last year.

“The slowdown is gaining momentum,” trade group spokesman Patrick O'Keefe said. “The watchword in new home construction is inventory management. Builders are not starting units unless they have firm commitments of sale.”

Tourism still fuels Ocean City's economy. Everything from local politics to demolition is geared to the vacation season. But the building trades are a crucial part of the city's job base, particularly in the fall and winter.

“It's very important. I go into Wawa at 7 a.m. in the winter, and if 30 people are in line, 25 are in the building trades,” Tietjen said. “It's a big part of Ocean City.”

Ocean City builder Halliday Leonard has seen its workload drop off considerably. The company had 80 jobs lined up last fall. It has fewer than 20 planned for this fall.

“I haven't seen this kind of slowing in 16 years,” builder Scott Halliday said. “We're seeing a steep decline in the number of homes under contract or demolished.”

“They're doing 30 percent of the volume of a year ago. I think that's consistent with the information we're getting with building permits,” Mayor Sal Perillo said.

“In the housing market, you have people … betting that by the time the property is completed, it will be worth significantly more than when they started construction,” he said.

But these speculators no longer make up a substantial part of the new construction market.

“They're all owner contracts, not speculator contracts,” Halliday said.

As a result of the slowdown, his building company plans to give fewer jobs to subcontractors.

“We're going to do a lot of the work ourselves, keeping the work in-house,” Halliday said.

And with more investment homes lingering longer on the real-estate market, the city likely will see fewer demolitions, O'Keefe said.

“I think all of that will act as a depressant on the demolition and construction of new units on the island,” he said.

The city lifts its yearly summer ban on demolition Monday. Ocean City was second only to Camden in the number of property demolitions in 2005, according to state figures.

Meanwhile, city officials are watching the construction business as well. Booming property values collectively slowed the city's annual tax-rate increase. The city now has more than $7 billion in property value.

Traditionally, about 25 percent of the city's properties are demolished every 10 years, Council President Jack Thomas said.

“If we're behind on construction starts for 2006, the buildings may not become new ratables until 2008,” Council President Jack Thomas said. “I'm concerned about 2007, but I'm really concerned about 2008.”

But it's not all bad news. Companies such as Peter Lumber expect to get a boost from home remodeling this winter.

“When new construction slows down, remodeling business picks up,” Tietjen said. “The new construction guys go to work in home remodeling. That will keep us going.”

And a buyer's market might encourage more year-round residents to move to Ocean City, said Joann DelVescio, director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“We want to make it enticing for people to come and vacation here. But we want to continue to make it a place where they want to raise their families, too,” she said.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-09-04T05:56:00.000-04:00

Gas co. sues Ocean City over street-opening fees
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic city
Published: Saturday, September 2, 2006

OCEAN CITY — South Jersey Gas balked at new fees the city charges utilities that open freshly paved streets.

The company is suing Ocean City to kill the fees, as high as $2,000 per road opening.

Utilities are responsible for patching any holes they dig in roads. But residents complain the patches have a tendency to leave potholes and uneven surfaces that can be punishing on cars.

And with 90 miles of roads and 30 miles of alleys, Ocean City never has a shortage of repairs.

Except in emergencies, utility companies must first apply for a city permit for each road opening. They pay an application fee and a restoration fee that can vary from $1,000 to $2,000 for roads and $300 to $700 for alleys.

The gas company said the city never explained the fee structure and how it relates to road repairs.

“Enactment of the (fees) is therefore simply a revenue-raising device,” the company said in court papers.

Not so, City Councilman Roy Wagner said.

“The philosophy behind it is, with all the street cuts we have, it helps to accelerate the deterioration of the roads. After so many cuts, the roads have to be resurfaced sooner than if there were no cuts,” he said.

The gas company paid the first $2,000 in new restoration fees to the city July 25, but did so under protest. The company is asking a judge to throw out the ordinance and order Ocean City to reimburse all restoration fees.

“They are charging us to do work we are entitled to do,” company spokeswoman Marissa Brooks said.

Brooks said the city never considered other alternatives. Initially, the city wanted to charge as much as $10,000 per road opening, she said. Ocean City is the first of 112 towns in New Jersey that has tried to levy “impact” fees on the company, Brooks said.

In court papers, the gas company said it was being penalized even when it responds to emergencies such as gas leaks. And it warned the fees would be passed on to customers.

“You know for sure they'll raise their rates. It just keeps going round and round. The person who gets beaten is the taxpayer,” said Fred Hoffman, president of the North End Civic Association.

Hoffman said he agrees with the principle behind the road ordinance, especially if it encourages utilities to schedule more road openings before major repaving projects. The ordinance requires the city's Public Works Department to give utility companies a paving schedule a year in advance of island road construction.

“It's incumbent upon the utility company to seal the opening so it doesn't become a pothole. They're doing it with fill that doesn't stand up to the substantial beating it takes,” he said.

The case was transferred in August from state Superior Court in Atlantic County to Cape May County.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-08-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

Sale generates optimism
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, August 18, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — Employees at B.L. England on Thursday were “cautiously optimistic” about an energy company's offer to buy their power plant.

They feared land speculators would be first in line.

“We're very happy it was a generating company instead of a land developer,” said Charlie Hill, spokesman for Local 210, the plant's union.

The power plant with the familiar lighthouse-like smokestack sits on 298 acres along the Great Egg Harbor Bay. While some of the land no doubt is contaminated, its prime bayfront real estate interested both the state and Township Committee. Atlantic City Electric initially planned to close the plant in December 2007 when stricter pollution regulations go into effect.

“We would have been out of a job,” Hill said.

Instead, company officials met with plant employees early Thursday to announce the tentative sale to Rockland Capital Energy Investments. Their reaction was positive but subdued, Hill said.
Employees have seen similar deals dissolve in the past. NRG Energy backed out of a proposal to buy the plant in 2002.

“It wasn't a real big event (Thursday) because they'd been living in turmoil there since 1998, when the company was going left or right in terms of what they wanted to do,” Hill said. “Employees have been living with the ups and downs. But we're cautiously optimistic.”

The sale includes a fishing pier and a private nine-hole golf course. Bob Williams, who works in the pro shop, said he hopes the new owners will keep the golf course intact.

“It's very popular. A lot of people golf here. I've got a nice job here. Plus, I live in the township, so I benefit in two ways,” he said.

The New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club lobbied the state to close the plant. On Thursday, chapter President Jeff Tittel bemoaned news of the plant's extended lifespan.

“I think the people living in the area should buy gas masks,” Tittel said. “There is no such thing as clean coal. It's an oxymoron. It's like saying Ben & Jerry's is for dieters.”

The plant has been one of the state's biggest polluters year after year, according to federal records. Tittel said the plant's emissions are only half the story. He criticized coal mining as equally destructive to the environment.

The plant's pollution has never raised much public concern in Upper Township. The township benefits from more than $6 million per year in state Energy Receipts Taxes for hosting the plant. Local residents pay no municipal property taxes.

Atlantic City Electric, formerly Conectiv Power Delivery, has always been a good corporate neighbor, Township Committeeman Jay Newman said.

“Everyone wants clean air and clean water,” Newman said. “With the sale, the company obviously knows they have an environmental issue. Everyone realizes the benefit. The tax benefits are tremendous.”

Board of Education President Michele Barbieri said she was happy the plant will remain open.

“I think it's wonderful to keep the plant open. The township residents will realize the benefits of having it there,” she said.

Joe Innocente, who owns Beesleys Point Sea-Doo, said he never had any problems with his industrial neighbor.

“I'd rather see it go away, just because it would increase the value of our property. But it doesn't bother us,” he said.

Atlantic City Electric tried twice before to sell the plant to no avail. But coal is becoming a more enticing commodity, said Jason Hayes, spokesman for the American Coal Council, an industry association.

“The price is very stable. The supply is rock solid,” he said. “North America has over 200 years of coal reserves at current (consumption) levels.”

Hayes said coal is far less dependent on socio-political factors than oil. And the price is less erratic than natural gas, he said.

“You don't have to worry about what's going on in the Middle East. Montana is a lot more secure than, say, Baghdad,” he said.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-08-19T08:20:00.000-04:00

Upper approves ShopRite planned for Marmora site
From Pressof Atlantic City staff reports
Published: Saturday, August 19, 2006

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The Planning Board on Thursday granted site-plan approval to ShopRite for a new supermarket in Marmora.

This will give township residents two local supermarkets from which to choose. Acme is in Seaville.

As a condition of the approval, the board asked ShopRite to commission a mural on its exterior similar to the one featured by Genuardi's in Egg Harbor Township.

Mayor Richard Palombo, who serves on the board, said the supermarket would boost tax revenues in the township and attract more retail businesses to Marmora.

“It's a cascading effect. You bring in a big anchor store like that, and you have an opportunity to bring in other retail businesses,” he said.
Beside a new supermarket, Marmora could see a new fast-food restaurant, a new pharmacy and smaller retail stores, the mayor said.

2006-08-12T22:22:00.000-04:00

Long summer rentals decline, but weekly deals soar in area
By LYNDA COHEN Staff Writer, (609) 272-7257
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 12, 2006

While real estate may be all about location, time seems to play a major role when it comes to summer rentals.

Downbeach towns that generally rent monthly or seasonally are lagging behind cities that rent by the week, according to local real estate agencies.

“We're having the best summer rental season we've ever had, by far,” said Steve Libro, rental manager for Berger Realty in Ocean City, where properties rent by the week. “We probably have 1,000 more leases than last year, and last year was a record for us.”

Libro even received two calls from owners thankful they had no open weeks.

But business is down in Margate, Longport and Ventnor, where longer rentals are the norm because a certificate of occupancy is needed every time someone new moves in.

“We are getting calls from people who want a week or two, but, unfortunately, we can't get owners to accommodate them,” said Cloey Rodriguez, broker manager for Century 21 O'Donnell in Ventnor.
“Anyone can do $2,000 for a week,” she said. “But $20,000 for the whole summer? That's not happening.”

Libro said gas prices don't seem to be hurting his business either, because most visitors are less than a gas tank away. But for Rodriguez, it's once again a matter of time.

Weekly renters typically make just one round trip. But those who rent by the month or for the season still are likely making trips back and forth to work — filling up their tanks each time.

Joe Kelly, Realtor associate at Atlantic Properties in Brigantine thinks gas may be a problem as well. Brigantine does do weekly rentals, but business is still off. Kelly estimated a 25 percent drop from last year.

Doreen Kraemer, who opened a Weichert Realtors in Margate this year, had no comparison for her first summer as an agency owner.

She said things were slow in the spring, but picked up in the middle of summer.

“When it got hot, suddenly people started calling,” Kraemer said. “It was like people waited until the last minute and then were scurrying.”

She did see many requests for weekly rentals toward the end of July. Some owners did oblige. Others lowered their prices. Most of the 30 to 40 properties she deals with had been rented, Kraemer said.

Prudential Fox & Roach in Wildwood also saw a second-half surge.

“What we're seeing is a lot of last-minute calls for the following weeks,” sales associate Lisa Palmer said. “It's definitely a bit of an increase from last year.”

Her owners wait it out rather than lower prices, she said. “With Avalon and Stone Harbor you tend to see owners would rather use the place themselves rather than drop the price.”

In Ocean City, prices are far from dropping, Libro said.

In fact, when someone tried to call for a last-minute deal, they wound up paying more than the asking price because someone else was also interested, he said. “This year, negotiating is not happening.”

With her clients avoiding the hassle of weekly rentals, Rodriguez's Ventnor agency is going the other way.

“What we're trying to do is get some of our summer rental owners to just agree to do a yearly rental,” she said. The demand is there, according to Rodriguez, who said the economy is making year-long leases more attainable than down payments on a home.

To e-mail Lynda Cohen at The Press:LCohen@pressofac.com

2006-08-12T08:49:00.000-04:00

Atlantic City Electric agrees to keep two substations in Ocean City
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 12, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Atlantic City Electric promised to keep two substations on the island to ensure reliable transmission of electricity.

The company asked City Council this week for an easement after the company learned it inadvertently built a mammoth metal utility pole at 34th Street and Bay Avenue on city property in 2004.

The larger, and some say unsightly, metal poles caught many city officials off guard when they were erected in conjunction with a new substation at 35th Street. The city had little discretion because the 34th Street pole was believed to be on a county right of way.

But the city has since learned it was placed on city property, Business Administrator Richard Deaney said.

In exchange for the easement, Atlantic City Electric said it would:

n Pay the city $25,000 for lighting in the historic district.
n Provide an inventory of street lights by the end of this year.

n List alternatives to meet the city's power requirements for the next 20 years.

Substations do not generate any electricity of their own, Atlantic City Electric spokeswoman Betty Kennedy said. Instead, they serve as buffers to “step up” power leaving a plant or “step down” power before it reaches customers through transformers and smaller distribution lines.

The company originally intended to close the 10th Street substation when the one at 35th Street was built. The new substation was designed with redundancies in mind in the event of accidents or mechanical failures.

But many residents and business owners objected to the substation closure, fearing that a summer blackout would cause an economic catastrophe.

“The company agrees to maintain two separate substations in Ocean City,” Atlantic City Electric lawyer William Serber said Thursday.

Serber said these stations might not always be at their present locations, but the company is committed to keeping two on different parts of the island.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-08-12T08:48:00.000-04:00

Picture This
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 12, 2006

OCEAN CITY — The city is using some of its Cape May County grant money to build a new park on Ninth Street in the shadow of its year-old mural.

The tiny “Gateway Park” will feature benches and a fountain, an improvement from the dirt lot that hundreds of visitors see every day now, Community Art Project spokeswoman Leslie Skibo said.

“It's going to be a beautiful place. People at City Hall or downtown can come there to have lunch,” she said.

The park will be designed around a fountain that should help drown out some of the traffic noise passing Ninth Street, Skibo said.

It will be the first of several improvements slated for Ninth Street in conjunction with the new Route 52 causeway. Construction of the causeway will raise Ninth Street to prevent road closures from coastal flooding, Council President Jack Thomas said.

The city is spending about $200,000 of the $928,920 the city received from the new recreation grant program Cape May County freeholders launched this year. The city is spending the rest of its county grant money on improvements at the Tennessee Avenue soccer fields and a portable hockey rink.
“One of the things that hasn't been firmed up is what the fountain will look like. If we're going to have a fountain, we should have a drinking fountain there, too,” Thomas said.

The project has some urgency given that the city must spend its grant money in this calendar year, Thomas said.

The city will open construction bids on the project Sept. 5 with an award likely Sept. 14.

The empty lot is used for parking now. The new Gateway Park will retain nine parking spaces. It will have grass and landscaping, Skibo said.

“It will be a little green space which we need,” she said.

The park sits at the foot of the Route 52 causeway, the busiest of four bridges onto the island. As a result, the park has one of the most prominent locations on the island.

“Gateway Park. The name says it all. It will be a huge improvement,” Skibo said.

She has already gotten countless compliments on artist Victor Grasso's mural, which was commissioned by the Community Art Project.

“Plus, we'll have a fountain there. I think it will be the prettiest park in Ocean City.”

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-08-09T16:52:00.000-04:00

Real Estate Update: Homeowners Scramble for Replacement Insurance
By C.M. Mattessich
8-9-2006
Cape May County Herald

In late July, Shelby Casualty Insurance Company, which wrote thousands of policies covering properties in Cape May and Atlantic counties, was placed in Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Texas and ordered to begin the liquidation process.
On Aug. 3, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance pronounced that all Shelby policies in New Jersey will be terminated effective Aug. 24. According to the state agency, if you are a policyholder of this company, you must immediately seek replacement coverage.

Michelle Clark, manager of personal lines sales at the NIA Group in Cape May, told the Herald that while NIA did not place its own customers with Shelby, it already has received a "flurry" of calls from homeowners who previously used other agencies and now are frantic to get replacement coverage.

Homeowners apparently are in for sticker shock on replacement policies.
Clark told the Herald that the yearly premium for homeowners insurance on an owner-occupied, newly-constructed home will average somewhere around $3,000, whereas the average paid by Shelby policyholders last year was in the neighborhood of $1,200.
The difference, in part, is attributable to last year's Hurricane Katrina, since premiums of all carriers have risen sharply as a result of huge payouts they made to storm victims.

It's also a function of insurers opting out of New Jersey shoreline settings altogether.

"Most open market carriers are not writing coastal risk," Clark said.
Those that do still write the risk are both demanding and costly. Among other things, a carrier can legitimately require that insured structures be constructed pursuant to BOCA code; while new construction may meet that standard, Clark explained, many older homes do not.

A double whammy for current Shelby policyholders is that they must shell out cash immediately for replacement coverage but will have to await refunds of whatever they've already paid to Shelby - if they're successful at all in obtaining unearned premiums.

The New Jersey Insurance Department reported late last week that, as of Dec. 31 of last year, Shelby wrote approximately 11,000 homeowners' policies, 1,200 renters' policies, 3,000 fire policies and 3,000 condominium policies statewide.
Shelby Casualty Insurance Company is a member of Vesta Insurance Group, Inc.
In March, when Vesta's property casualty subsidiaries received a downgrade from industry ratings giant A.M. Best Company (declining from "fair" to "marginal"), Vesta issued a statement that its relative performance was affected by the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons and other declines "attributable to changes in accounting estimates."

According to Jack McMahon, Jr., of Ocean City's McMahon Agency, that agency placed approximately 2,700 current policies with Shelby, including some after the rating downgrade.

When the company's rating dropped, McMahon said, mortgage companies initially balked at the prospect of Shelby policies insuring purchases they were financing. (The typical mortgage lender requires its borrower to carry homeowners insurance coverage, in order to protect its financial stake in the home being purchased with its loan.)

According to McMahon, Vesta then provided "cut through" insurance which, at least temporarily, satisfied the mortgage companies.

"We didn't have another market to put it [coverage] into," McMahon said.
McMahan also said that his agency was directly in touch with Vesta officers, "who told us the company was being sold and that the executive staff was staying put."
Based on the mortgage companies' agreement to go forward, as well as its own interviews with Vesta, said McMahon, his agency continued to place customers with Shelby.

McMahon said his agency is scrambling to find replacement coverage for customers but it's not an easy task.

"Other companies don't want to write in any of the coastal zipcodes," he said.
The New Jersey Insurance Department is posting the names of insurers that write homeowners policies in New Jersey on its website, www.state.nj.us/dobi/shelby, as well as providing instructions for policyholders with claims under Shelby policies.
According to the state agency, claims by and against Shelby policyholders will be paid to a maximum of $300,000 by the New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (PLIGA).

Unearned premium claims also must be processed through PLIGA.

Late last week, however, an Alert issued to member agencies by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New Jersey (IIABNJ) indicated that considerable confusion exists in these early stages for the submission of claims by Shelby policyholders.

2006-08-01T22:06:00.000-04:00

Sands of Time

Labor Day's still weeks away. Savor summer while it's still here.

by Daniel McQuade - PhiladelphiaWeekly.com

When you hit the circle, you know you’re almost at Ocean City.
The circle is MacArthur Circle in Somers Point, N.J., home to a couple cheap motels and the Wal-Mart-sized Circle Liquors. Ocean City is dry, so there are plenty of liquor stores just over the bridge. They’re all packed just before closing.

Originally known as Peck’s Beach, Ocean City was founded by four Methodist ministers in 1879, who built a Christian retreat on the island. It’s a town rooted in simple, restrictive Christian tradition.

Ocean City businesses couldn’t open on Sundays until the ’80s. Men used to have to swim with their shirts on. Games of chance are still banned on the beach—which requires tags.

Ocean City’s reliance on tradition has made it the most family-friendly resort in South Jersey, a place that combines the boardwalk of Wildwood with the upscale beach houses of Avalon. Last year the Travel Channel named it the best family beach in the country.

The crowd in Ocean City is young, wholesome and largely Philadelphian. The shirts for sale on the boardwalk bear the names of familiar high schools: North Penn, Council Rock, Neshaminy and the Prep.

Jersey shore resorts have a familiar sameness to them that makes them feel like variations on the same repeated themes: the nicer one, the family one, the trashy one, the one for twentysomethings.

But Ocean City makes you feel like you’re 5 years old, like you should be excited about seeing a guy dressed up in a Mr. Peanut costume or about riding in the bumper boats.

You pass bronzed fathers carrying their daughters past the arcade, sunburned 16-year-olds trying to make sure their parents aren’t embarrassing them, families walking back from the beach, all of them struggling to hold towels and plastic buckets.

You see pairs of teens walking by, wearing “God Needed a Driver” Dale Earnhardt shirts. You see 15-year-olds running in the center lane of the boardwalk—reserved for runners during the day—wearing shirts comparing “terrorists” to “abortionists.”

All this, for some reason, makes you smile and shake your head. And you remember your own times at the shore as a kid, digging holes in the wet sand until you hit the water, getting into arguments over Frisbee games, spending all your dimes playing skee-ball, making out under the boardwalk.

Every trip down the shore is a mix of old memories and new ones, as you miss the people you spent other trips down the shore with, while figuring out how to make this time just as exciting as the other ones.

But the best times down the shore are the ones you don’t overanalyze, the ones when your whole mind and body are consumed with the task at hand—playing on the beach, swimming in the ocean, bullshitting with your friends in a pizza parlor, nervously waiting in line for a roller coaster, trying to convince a girl to go home with you.

2006-07-30T09:52:00.000-04:00

Ocean City offers information by e-mail service
From Press staff reports -
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, July 29, 2006
Updated: Saturday, July 29, 2006

OCEAN CITY — The city on Friday launched a mass e-mail service in keeping with Mayor Sal Perillo's campaign pledge to make city government more accessible.

But this is hardly spam, unless you consider meeting agendas, calendar items and volunteer opportunities comparable to the “refinance now” notices most people get in their virtual inbox.

The city printed registration cards that will be available at City Hall, the library and other public places, and anyone can go to

www.ocean-city.nj.us

to sign up online. It is free.

The registration cards let people choose what city information they would like, including information about city events, news from the mayor's office and releases from the city's public relations office.

2006-07-30T09:46:00.000-04:00

O.C.'s frontyard proposal seeks to lay down the lawn
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, July 29, 2006
Updated: Saturday, July 29, 2006

OCEAN CITY — City Council wants to restrict property owners on East Surf or Seabright roads from building new homes closer to the street.

The council has introduced an ordinance establishing a building setback of at least 20 feet on these roads to preserve a rarity in Ocean City: front lawns.

While most homes here already are 22 to 25 feet from the road, a handful of neighbors planned to take advantage of the actual zoning on the books at the city's Planning Office that allowed 11-foot setbacks.

“There is nothing wrong with a 12-foot setback,” said Michael Fazzio, who is building a home on East Surf Road.

Michael McPartland, of Seabright Road, spoke in favor of his neighbors who want to build closer to the road.

“These are good people, the kind you want living in Ocean City,” he said.

Marshall Schmeizer said he, too, wants to build a new home on East Surf Road using the smaller setbacks allowed now. He said the change was spot zoning because it affects only one side of both streets.

“This ordinance isn't being done with the appropriate intentions. My neighbor doesn't want me to build a house,” he said.

City Solicitor Gerald Corcoran said the zoning change does not constitute spot zoning. Zoning is designed to create more uniformity, which this ordinance does, he said. Corcoran noted publicly Thursday that he lives in the neighborhood.

“The attempt here tonight is to address a mistake,” Mayor Sal Perillo said.

Supporters of the wider setbacks said they enjoy being able to watch their children play from their front porches.

On these tree-lined streets, neighbors know each other, East Surf Road resident Carol Allen said.

She said homes such as hers were built with two purposes in mind: to keep living space above bothersome flies near the ground and to allow the cooling ocean breezes through the many large windows.

“We have trees. We have lawns. We have space around our houses,” she said. “People have air conditioning now and they build to the limits. But where's your neighborhood? You might as well live in an apartment in New York City.”

The council agreed, approving the first reading of the ordinance.

“The character of that neighborhood should remain,” Councilman Keith Hartzell said. “When you preserve things like that, it has a positive effect (on property values) in the long term.”

The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at City Hall.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-07-27T11:51:00.000-04:00

Bay Avenue, Greate Bay on agenda in Somers Point

City Council expects a full house for talks on controversial developments
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, July 27, 2006
Updated: Thursday, July 27, 2006

SOMERS POINT — The City Council has a full agenda for its meeting tonight, and it may well have a full house in its meeting room.

Jack Franco, a member of the citizens group Save The Charm, said members have passed out 200 leaflets to homes around Bay Avenue urging people to attend the 7 p.m. session. The fliers warn that plans call for “hundreds of condos in our beautiful, historic bayfront neighborhoods, and one of those neighborhoods may be yours.”

The city has been in negotiations and in litigation with Bay Avenue Redevelopers, a company owned by the Scarborough family, about the company's plans to build a project on vacant land owned by Shore Memorial Hospital.

The plans call for a new nursing home to replace the aging Ocean Point facility on Bay Avenue, a parking garage and condominiums. Exactly how many housing units would be built has been one of the subjects of the negotiations, which have dragged on for months.

City officials have reported progress in the talks in recent weeks and attempts to wrap up details on agreements that would settle the Scarborough suit before its scheduled trial date of Aug. 14.

It wasn't clear Wednesday where those talks stood, but Councilman Gregg Clayton said the city's redevelopment lawyer, Joseph Maraziti, is scheduled to meet privately with members of the governing body after tonight's public session to bring them up to date on the case.

That could make for a late night, because along with the crowd that Save The Charm hopes to draw to talk to the Council about condos, the agenda is also expected to include:

n A presentation by representatives of the Greate Bay Country Club, which has controversial plans for its own development project — also featuring hundreds of condos.

n Discussions of redevelopment plans for both the Atlantis Apartments and the Brandywine Apartments.

n A plan for a Clayton-backed referendum on exploring sharing services — including schools — with nearby Linwood and Northfield. Somers Point already shares a high school, Mainland Regional, with the two cities to its north, but talk about the referendum caused a heated political battle last week in a Northfield City Council meeting.

Clayton said Greate Bay officials have approached him about addressing the Council and the public tonight, and the redevelopment and regional school plans are both on the prepared agenda for the meeting at City Hall.

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis at The Press:MDeAngelis@pressofac.com

2006-07-25T22:02:00.000-04:00

Surfer Only Beach Sparks Controversy in Ocean City
By Cathy Gandolfo - Channel 6 ABC

OCEAN CITY, NJ - July 25, 2006 - Ocean City has three surfing beaches, but one called Waverly Beach in the north end has sparked controversy. This is the first year that is has been designated for surfers only, much to the dismay of property owners who live across the street.

"It means that only people who chose to surf can be here," said resident Barbara Harris. "Prior to this summer, this beach was shared by everybody - surfers before 10 and after 5, and in between that time if you wanted to swim, jump waves with your kids, bogey board, wade, whatever, you were able to do that."

Surfers say Waverly Beach is a good place to catch the waves, but residents who live across East Atlantic Avenue from the surfing only beach are upset. Summer resident Lauren Asher says not only can't they use the beach, but traffic is terrible and so is the behavior of some of the surfers.

"There's public changing all day long on our property. They sit on our walls. They use our hoses. They use our showers. It's complete invasion of privacy," said Asher.

Charles Bowman, deputy chief of the fire department and beach patrol, was on the board that designated Waverly as the surfer beach on this end. In part, he says, it comes down to numbers.

"We picked it because of the waves, because of the lack of people being impacted. Once again, we realize the six families are across the street. However, the good of the many outweigh the given few," said Bowman.

Most surfers with whom we spoke are unaware of the controversy. They just want a place to catch a wave

(Copyright 2006 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

2006-07-25T08:54:00.000-04:00

Market Conditions - (Ocean City, NJ)
by Carla L. Davis
Realty Times

Lexington, Kentucky, located near about an hour east of Louisville, is a city known as the "Horse Capital of the World."

They have seen a housing market strengthen steadily (4 to 6 percent appreciation rates) over the last half of a decade, but not at the same booming rate as the rest of the country. An ample inventory has kept supply and demand in check, leaving the average days on market anywhere from 6 to 8 months, depending on the price range. Experts are reporting the city to be a moderate buyers market with slightly rising prices.

Onto the eastern coast, we look next to Ocean City, New Jersey. This city is famous for being a family resort city, with plenty of beach and condos to go around. The TravelChannel.com even voted it the "Best Family Beach."

But as the inventory of homes for sale increases -- there are 42 percent more condos on the market than in 2005 -- the market is coming into hard times. Average condo prices dropped 9 percent this year to $626,595. Pushing this even harder is the lack of buyers on the market. Fifty-seven percent fewer condos sold this year so far.

This means that the market is in the buyers favor. As sellers experience a harder time making a sale, they become more willing to negotiate on prices and terms.

But don't wait too long. One expert reports to Realty Times, "Ultimately the market is reacting well to the little pause in the market. We have more inventory than last year this time, but properties are moving. This market is not doom and gloom and ultimately prices are on a upward trend. The time to purchase is now."

2006-07-25T01:18:00.000-04:00

Higher flood insurance rates could swamp vacation homes

Federal legislation targets artificially low premiums for policies
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/23/06
BY TODD B. BATES
ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER

If you own a second home at the Jersey Shore or in other flood-prone areas, the cost of flood insurance may eventually rise dramatically.

"I think that's really bad," said Mary L. O'Brien, who has flood insurance for a second home in Point Pleasant Beach, 1 1/2 blocks from the beach.

A nor'easter in the late 1990s flooded her basement, and "we're sealing up the house and . . . taking a little more care in keeping the house water-tight," said O'Brien, 49, who also lives in New York City.

Last month, the House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 4973) that would end artificially low rates for flood insurance for some property owners to help pay off the National Flood Insurance Program's debt of more than $20 billion. The Senate is considering a similar bill (S-3589).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency program was forced to borrow from the federal treasury after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma and other events last year led to a record number of flood insurance claims and payments, said Butch Kinerney, a FEMA spokesman.

The House-passed Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2006 would make major changes to the flood insurance program.

About 450,000 vacation homes, second homes and commercial properties are subsidized and not paying sound rates for flood insurance, according to the bill.

In New Jersey, rates could increase for more than 40,000 homes, Kinerney said.

It now costs about $500 a year for a $100,000 flood insurance policy, according to FEMA's Web site. People who live in low- to moderate-risk areas and are eligible for a Preferred Risk Policy may pay as low as $112 a year, including coverage of their property's contents.

Under the House bill, subsidies for affected properties would be phased out, and premiums would increase 15 percent a year compared with the current 10 percent limit annually, the Library of Congress Web site says.

Under the Senate bill, rates would rise 25 percent a year, and subsidies would end for secondary residences and "severe repetitive loss" properties, or those with at least four losses in 10 years, among other provisions, according to the Web site and Kinerney.

Premiums would eventually cost up to 81 percent more if the subsidy ends for secondary properties, according to figures provided by Kinerney.

Under the House bill, the maximum flood insurance coverage for a residential property would increase from $250,000 to $335,000 for a single-family dwelling; from $100,000 to $135,000 for contents; and from $500,000 to $670,000 for the structure and related contents of a nonresidential property, including churches, according to the Library of Congress Web site.

The Bush administration supports many of the provisions in the bill, according to a statement by the White House Office of Management and Budget posted on the Web last month.

But the administration opposes provisions that would increase the scope of coverage offered by the flood insurance program, the statement says.

"Total exposure for the flood insurance program is quickly approaching $1 trillion, and the program is currently facing a potential debt burden of $22 billion or more," it says.

Increasing coverage amounts "could encourage expensive development in high-risk areas," it says.

However, higher premiums would cause some property owners to drop flood insurance or reduce the amount of coverage, according to a letter from the Congressional Budget Office on the Web.

As a result, Congress might face greater pressure to approve money for disaster relief if a major flood occurs, the letter says.

FEMA subsidizes policies for structures built before flood maps were introduced, which took place mostly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kinerney said. Those properties generally were grandfathered in at a much lower premium rate.

Normally, the flood insurance program might get 8,000 to 10,000 claims a year, Kinerney said.

But it received about 250,000 claims last year, the most ever by far, he said.

Todd B. Bates: (732) 643-4237 or tbates@app.com

2006-07-24T10:06:00.000-04:00

Taking Sides on Beach Tags

The Philadelphia Inquirer; 7/24/2006 - John Grogan Column

At least I'm not the only one grumpy about those dastardly beach tags.

After I teed off Friday on what I consider to be a most un-American and undemocratic tradition -- charging people to walk on a public strand of sand -- I heard from many just as annoyed as me. They basically had this to say: Just because we pay it doesn't mean we like it.

With a few exceptions, such as Wildwood and Atlantic City, beach fees are simply part of the Jersey Shore experience.

As you might expect, my mail largely has been split into two equally cantankerous camps, separated by zip code. Those who pay taxes in beach communities tended to feel that outsiders should chip in to use the beach. Visitors tended to feel they already pump enough money into the local economy -- by patronizing hotels, restaurants, arcades and stores.

Take it away, sand-and-surf lovers:

"I become incensed when I have to pay to use the beach," wrote Kathleen A. Diem of Warminster, who has spent decades doing just that. "To add insult to injury, after paying to sit on the beach at Ocean City or Sea Isle City, you can only go into the ocean at certain places... [and] are forced to swim in a corral with a million of your closest friends and their boogie boards."

Who'll lead the charge?

Wrote Sue Salmon of Ambler, whose family has owned a home in Ocean City for nearly four decades: "When I sit on the beach and look up at the homes and think of the taxes paid just in one city block, I am floored. I simply do not understand why a city that collects so much in taxes still needs to charge everyone to sit on its beaches."

Added Anthony Preziosi of Mantua, Gloucester County, "What will they tax us on next?"

Dave Meade of Media suggested I lead the civil-disobedience charge: "Why don't you go on the beach and refuse to pay? Now that could lead to an interesting article." I'm behind you every step of the way, Dave.

Bob Horbach of North Wales was one of many I heard from who votes with his flip-flops. "Never in my lifetime have I paid for a beach tag," he wrote. "I avoid those towns like a swarm of locusts. I've found that other beach towns love my money just as much as those with the tag fees. Because of the New Jersey Shore's insistence that they 'own' the ocean and the beaches, my local beach time is mostly spent in Ocean City, Md."

"Much better beaches, and they're free," agreed Michael Gottsch of Havertown, who similarly favors Maryland.

Others suspected the real purpose of tag fees is to discourage low-income hordes in front of multimillion-dollar homes. As David J. Salerno of Annapolis, Md., put it: "They want to create their own little oasis on public land so they don't have to look at others enjoying themselves."

Share the burden

Not everyone loathes the lowly tag.

Cheryl Lyman, who owns rental property in Ocean City, defended the beach tag as a fair way of "sharing the burden" of upkeep. Besides, she said, the fee could be less if renters were not "piglets who leave their trash" on the beach.

"This is one of the 'fair' taxes, a true user fee," wrote Brian Young Jr., who owns a home in Avalon. "Believe me when I say the property owners pay more than enough. How about I buy your beach tags and you pay my property taxes?"

How about you give me your beach house, Brian, and I'll give you my metered parking space?

Erin McNamara Horvat, an urban-studies professor at Temple University, was on my side, writing: "The beach is a public good and ought to be treated as such. One of the fundamental ideas undergirding our society is that we pool resources, in the form of taxes, to support things that we all need and use."

Finally, Chris Lloyd of Willow Grove, calling me The Inquirer's "whiner emeritus" (at your service!), wrote: "If you do not like the policy, go somewhere else. It is a pretty easy fix and will save us all the complaining."

Good advice, Chris. In a few weeks, I'll be sipping a cold beer on the white-sand beaches of Lake Michigan. No fees, no rules, no chest-puffing enforcers.

Oh, and no jellyfish.

Post a question or comment for John Grogan at http://go.philly.com/askgrogan. Or by e-mail: jgrogan@phillynews.com.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer

2006-07-22T08:25:00.000-04:00

Be bold in beach homes
Posted on Fri, Jul. 21
Philadelphia Inquirer
Philly.com

Shells, wicker and pale colors are the all-too-familiar strategies for decorating a beach house. But it doesn't have to be that way, according to Ventnor interior designer Scott Eccard.

"People think you have to do pastels at the Shore, and you don't," says Eccard, whose sophisticated take on beach style is on view through Aug. 13 at the RNS Show House at the Shore in Ventnor.

For a striking home office/den at the show house, which features the work of 20 designers, Eccard did the walls and a slipcovered sofa a deep slate gray. He turned a vivid red bamboo side table into a bar and set a painted white rattan chair with white cushions in front of a brushed-metal Parsons desk. On one wall, he hung a giant framed chalkboard, on another a set of bold black-and-white prints whose abstract patterns, on closer examination, are revealed to be the masts and rigging of sailing ships.

"Strong colors can work great in a beach house," Eccard says. But use no more than one or two in a room and balance them with neutrals, such as white.

As for furniture styles, second homes are a great place to employ the eclectic look, says the designer: "An eclectic mix makes for a more inviting, livable room. Also, when you are furnishing a second home, you probably don't want to go out and spend thousands on furniture."

Flea-market finds and useful stuff from your basement or grandma's house can work just fine at a beach house, he says.

"There are no rules anymore. You can take a dining-room buffet and put it in the living room and put a TV on it. Or take a dresser out of the kids' room and put it in a hallway."

Paint is always a great way to perk up those motley pieces and get them to hang together, Eccard says. He transformed the secondhand-store rattan chair he featured in the show house with white paint and gave that bamboo table its coat of lacquer red. Paint can turn an old chest into a focal point, or transform a group of mismatched dining chairs into a set, he says.

Unite a mix of upholstered pieces with coordinating slipcovers, which are eminently practical at the Shore, Eccard says.

"You can get them made in a washable fabric or in indoor/outdoor fabrics. Those are really beautiful these days, and you don't have to worry when people sit on them in wet bathing suits or the kids spill Kool-Aid."

Easy care should be the rule for floors at the Shore, too. Tile and laminate floors stand up against sandy feet. Warm them up with an area rug in cotton or woven grass that can be picked up and shaken out.

Short on art to dress up those bare walls? You don't need to resort to cheap and cheesy posters of lighthouses. At last year's RNS show house, Eccard adorned the walls of a guest room with a grouping of empty flea-market frames, all spray-painted white. His den at this year's event includes an arrangement of inexpensive, patterned vintage plates on one wall.

When it comes to windows, think spare, Eccard says: "You don't want fussy window treatments at the beach." Bamboo shades are a great option. So are gauzy white drapes.

"I think people sometimes overdo it because they want to make a statement. But there is beauty in simplicity."

Eils Lotozo

2006-07-19T08:58:00.000-04:00

Plan for downtown fee alarms O.C. merchants
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

OCEAN CITY — The mayor's proposal to improve the downtown through zoning changes is stirring controversy among some merchants.

In a 20-page ordinance, Mayor Sal Perillo proposed ways to protect downtown shops from the tremendous pressure of rental condo construction the island is seeing.

“The downtown is out of balance,” Perillo said. “The existing zoning in my judgment promotes residential development at the expense of commercial development.”

More than two dozen business owners attended a public meeting Tuesday to make their own recommendations.

Perhaps the biggest change is a parking requirement, the first in the city's Central Business Zone since 1996. Developers would have to provide two parking spaces per new residential unit. But only one parking space per unit would be permitted on site. The others would be provided through a city fee of $25,000 per space. Ultimately, this money would pay for a new public parking lot or garage downtown.

Business owners balked at the steep figure.

Councilman Keith Hartzell owns three mixed-use buildings on Asbury Avenue, including the one in which he lives. Hartzell said the parking fee seemed exorbitant to him.

“It will benefit everyone, but the burden is on us,” he said.

“I think $3,000 to $5,000 is more reasonable,” said Paul Schaeffer, owner of Denovum. “Merchants already pay a Special Improvement District fee. That money is going into a fund, and not one dime of parking revenue has come downtown. All of the (public) lots are on the Boardwalk.”

Schaeffer is one of several Asbury Avenue property owners who plan to rebuild soon. He hired a Washington, D.C., architect to replace his familiar purple store with a three-story steel, glass and copper building. This would include two retail stores on the ground floor and eight condos on the second and third stories.

Schaeffer said both he and his parents eventually plan to live in his new building. Under the ordinance, he would have to pay $200,000 in parking fees alone.

Schaeffer also questioned whether some of the design rules imposed by the ordinance were too restrictive.

Much of the ordinance addresses display windows, store signs and canopies geared to making Asbury Avenue a welcoming place for pedestrians, said planner Michelle M. Taylor of the Taylor Design Group.

The ordinance also would outlaw the use of vinyl siding on building facades in the Central Business District.

“As you walk, there's a feeling of continuity, like on the Boardwalk,” she said.

Former Councilman Ron Denney and Donald Johnson of Johnson's Electric also plan to build on Asbury Avenue. Their applications before the Planning Board are on hold until the mayor's proposed zoning changes are approved by City Council.

“I like the fact that the mayor is thinking about the future of our downtown. He wants to make it attractive and improve it,” said Cheryl Huber, who leases space to Hoy's Five and Dime on Asbury Avenue.

Huber said she has no immediate plans to rebuild. But the parking fee is a concern, she said.

Tuesday was the first public meeting on the proposal. Perillo is hosting six such meetings to solicit comments from the public, City Council and professionals such as architects and planners.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-07-17T23:29:00.000-04:00

New O.C. mayor offers truce to opponents at inauguration
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Sunday, July 2, 2006
Updated: Sunday, July 2, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Sal Perillo was sworn into office Saturday to become the first new mayor in this resort in 14 years.

Superior Court Judge Kyran Connor administered the oath of office to Perillo in front of Perillo's wife, Mary Ellen, and a nearly packed house at the Music Pier.

Perillo easily won election in May over three competitors. In doing so, he spent a city-record $120,301, much of which went to defending political attacks and engaging in a few of his own.

Perillo offered an olive branch of sorts to his opponents' supporters.

“To those of you who did not know me well enough to vote for me, I promise to work diligently to earn your respect and confidence,” he said.

He said he would put the campaign behind him with City Council, including the three at-large councilmen sworn in Saturday: Keith Hartzell, Scott Ping and Michael Allegretto.

“They recognize, as do I, the deep desire to bring the divisiveness and contentiousness to an end,” he said.

Perillo, who has a private law practice, said the death of his father, Gennaro, last November made him take stock of his own life.

“I decided to devote some balance of the rest of my life to public service,” Perillo said.

As mayor, he said he will make better use of the city's Web site and public-access television channel. He said he will create a task force composed of local residents to improve city operations. And he vowed to support development “compatible with the city's residential neighborhoods.”

The reorganization was a nonpartisan civic celebration unlike anything else in Ocean City. Family and friends of competing candidates attended along with local lawmakers and former mayors Roy Gillian and Bud Knight, who has been a former mayor for just a day.

Many City Hall regulars also attended, including a group of residents whom the city is suing. They have a court date next week over the group's efforts to tie city spending to the federal cost-of-living adjustment. But on Saturday, the group applauded the plaintiffs.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-06-26T17:13:00.000-04:00

Forecast Turns Bit Cloudier

The Philadelphia Inquirer; 6/26/2006

Jun. 26--Without a doubt, the Jersey Shore real estate market has had a fantastic run for the last eight years. Up and down the coastline, from the top of Ocean County to the tip of Cape May, construction boomed, sales exploded and prices skyrocketed.

Stories abound of overnight fortunes made by investors, like the one who flipped an Ocean City property in one day last year and made a $540,000 profit on a $4.1 million house.

An Inquirer analysis of 27,709 home sales last year in Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean Counties showed that about 1,000 houses sold for $1 million or more.

And five towns -- Stone Harbor and Avalon in Cape May County and Bay Head, Harvey Cedars and Mantoloking in Ocean County -- had median home prices of $1 million or more, the analysis showed. (The median is the middle value; half the houses sold for more, half sold for less. In any town, a drop in median price does not mean prices fell for all houses there.)

But this picture of sunny times is turning partly cloudy, observers of the Shore market say, as higher interest rates are beginning to dampen sales, and condo construction, mostly involving investors, adds to a growing surplus of properties.

"Whenever interest rates rise, the second-home market is the first one to take the hit," said Fred Glick, president of US Loans Mortgage L.L.C. in Philadelphia.

Long-term rates climbed to 6.71 percent Thursday, Freddie Mac reported, the highest since May 31, 2002. Adjustable-rate mortgages are at 6.4 percent.

"It's the condo and lower end of the Shore market that's taking a hit," said Paul Leiser, a broker at Avalon Real Estate. "These are the buyers who depend on lower interest rates to balance two mortgages, and with rising interest rates, they can't do it.

"We've sold fewer units, but our dollar volume in the first quarter was higher than it was in the first quarter of 2005, which was a record year," Leiser said. "It's the million-dollar-house purchases that push up the medians, and those are usually cash. And when you are talking about million-dollar houses, consider that an older rancher three blocks from the beach in Stone Harbor is $1.4 million."

The Inquirer's analysis showed the median price of homes in the three counties grew at a slower pace in 2005, to $274,000, a 16 percent increase over 2004 compared to a 21 percent jump the year before.

Only Atlantic County was able to maintain the same rate of growth from 2004 to 2005; its median home price rose 24 percent, to $223,357.

In Cape May County, the year-over-year median gain was less than half the increase experienced a year earlier. The median was up 11 percent in 2005, to $391,000, compared to a 26 percent gain in 2004.

Ocean County's median grew 15 percent in 2005 compared to 20 percent in 2004.

Fewer than 200 more houses were sold in 2005 than in 2004, an indication of declining demand. Another sign: Thirty-one municipalities had median increases of more than 20 percent in 2005, compared with 44 in 2004.

Although sales comparisons for the first quarters of 2006 and 2005 from the New Jersey Division of Taxation were incomplete, indications are that the market appears to be slowing further this year.

Sales in Cape May and Ocean Counties in the first quarter of 2006 were lower by a couple hundred sales each than in the first quarter of 2005. Atlantic County sales were a bit higher.

Market observers said Atlantic County, which for the last several years has been evolving into a bedroom community for Atlantic City, also is fast becoming a suburb of Philadelphia.

Major developers such as D.R. Horton, K. Hovnanian, and Ryan Homes have been building single-family developments and active-adult communities -- not necessarily with ocean views.

"We call them 'off-shore vs. on-shore,' " said Jerome DiPentino, broker at Premier Properties Real Estate in Longport. "More and more people are choosing to live here year-round, and that is stabilizing the market, although high-end sales in Margate and Longport also have been skewing the median upward."

Things don't seem as rosy in Ocean City, the scene of numerous teardowns and massive development since the mid-1990s. As of mid-June, there were more than 1,700 listings on the Ocean City Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

"They're saying that Ocean City is overbuilt by two years," DiPentino said. "That may be conservative."

Jay Lamont, the host of "All About Real Estate" on WPEN-AM (950), who has studied and owned real estate in Ocean City for about 40 years, said, "I have never seen anything even close to this debacle. Many legitimate and qualified buyers are waiting for fall, for the lender REO [real-estate-owned] listings and foreclosure sales on failed developer loans."

Weekly sales reported to the Ocean City MLS are 80 percent to 90 percent lower than they were in spring 2005, with seven or eight sales a week, he said.

What's going on?

"The short-term investors at the Shore were in the condo market primarily, and they're the ones pulling out," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester. "They don't buy multimillion-dollar homes."

(In Ocean City, condos made up a little more than half the 1,314 sales in 2005, The Inquirer analysis showed. The median condo price: $529,950, up 14 percent from 2004.)

Oversupply also seems to be a problem elsewhere in Cape May County.

Paul Schlimme, vice president of MLS Realty in Cherry Hill, said that between Jan. 1 and May 31 there were 189 listings on the Avalon MLS, with about nine houses selling per month.

"That means there is a 21-month supply in Avalon, and it is getting worse," Schlimme said. By mid-June, 29 new single-family houses were listed, and just 13 sold, "which means there are 16 more properties competing..."

Over the course of the 1998-2005 Shore boom, Wildwood, West Wildwood, and North Wildwood registered a more than 250 percent increase in median prices, The Inquirer analysis showed. (So did Stone Harbor, Longport, Avalon and Harvey Cedars.)

The Wildwoods, too, were a draw for investors, who razed motels and filled empty tracts with condos. But with for-sale signs sprouting and interest apparently tailing off, that boom could be over, local market experts say.

With summer here, the Shore market could get even slower.

In Ocean City, Lamont said, "open houses are held each weekend, sometimes as many as eight per block on Asbury Avenue, with almost no legitimate buyer traffic showing up even to use the bathrooms."

How This Analysis Was Conducted

The Inquirer's home-price analysis was based on nearly 250,000 residential sales in 2004 and 2005. Home-sale information was obtained from the five Pennsylvania counties and the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

Only sales at fair-market prices of $10,000 or greater were included in the analysis of single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses, and twins, or duplexes.

The median home price is the amount at which half the sale prices are more and half are less. The percentage change reflects the difference in the median price from 2004 to 2005.

A town with fewer than 10 sales is marked "N.C." because the median and percentage change were not calculated. Towns with no sales are marked "N.S."

All numbers are rounded to the closest whole number.

Contact real estate writer Alan J. Heavens at 215-854-2472 or aheavens@phillynews.com.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer

2006-06-25T09:21:00.000-04:00

O.C. lifeguards to extend hours on three beaches
Press of Atlantic City
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Saturday, June 24, 2006
Updated: Saturday, June 24, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Lifeguards on three downtown beaches will be on duty later in the day starting this weekend.

The Beach Patrol will guard beaches at Eighth, Ninth and 12th streets until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays this summer.

The extended-hours program usually begins over the busy July 4 holiday weekend. But the city decided to launch its after-hours lifeguard program a week early this year because of unusually strong rip currents, Business Administrator Richard Deaney said.

A 7-year-old boy from Philadelphia drowned Sunday while swimming on an unguarded Seventh Street beach about an hour after lifeguards left for the day. Police said the child and his younger brother were caught in a rip current. The younger boy was pulled to safety.

On Tuesday, police and firefighters rescued a swimmer in distress on an unguarded 10th Street beach after lifeguards left for the day.

“The ocean has been rough this week. We decided to start them a week early,” Deaney said.

Beach Patrol Lt. John McShane said the department always planned to extend beach hours this weekend. He said the after-hours rescues this week had nothing to do with the extended hours.

“We always wanted to do the weekend before the Fourth of July as a dry run to make sure our procedures and policies are in place,” he said.

Meanwhile, police on all-terrain vehicles will patrol downtown beaches in the evenings this summer, in part to watch for swimmers in distress.

“We'll notify the police if there has been a troublesome area during the day so they can keep their eye on it,” McShane said.

Deaney stressed that the police officers are not lifeguards. The Beach Patrol warned that swimmers should swim only off guarded beaches.

Lifeguards are counting visitors several times a day this year to monitor beach activity. The city is trying to see if beachgoers are staying later in the day as some people suspect. The city plans to use this information to modify lifeguard hours next year.

The city has options, Deaney said. It could guard a few downtown beaches later in the evening or have lifeguards start and finish an hour later to cover all beaches into the late afternoon.

The city's after-hours program on Fridays and Saturdays and post Labor Day will cost between $15,000 and $20,000 this year, he said.

McShane said the extended hours will give late-arriving visitors a chance to enjoy the ocean safely on their first day of vacation.

“The check-in time is 4 p.m. They can run down and get wet before nightfall,” he said.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-06-22T15:25:00.000-04:00

OCEAN CITY CAMPAIGNS
Curb the cost
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Ocean City has a refreshing and exciting idea — to be the first town in the state to adopt its own public-finance law for local political campaigns.

The town is ripe for such a law. Mayoral elections in Ocean City have become increasingly expensive, reaching a record $250,000 in spending this spring. There is momentum in the city for public financing, which is aimed at lowering the cost of elections and cutting the ties between politicians and wealthy special interests.

Under the plan, the city would set up a public-financing fund; candidates who qualify by collecting enough signatures and enough small contributions of $5 could opt for public financing. They would then be restricted as to how much they could spend and would not be able to raise any additional money.

It's a worthy, welcome concept that's being tried as well on the state level.

The only problem is that city Solicitor Gerald Corcoran says it's illegal on a municipal level. State law does not allow municipalities to dedicate money in their budgets for that purpose, he said.

Well, lawyers can and do disagree. Two lawyers at an Ocean City Council meeting last week — a local attorney and an out-of-state lawyer who helped draw up the ordinance — maintained that such a law is, indeed, legal.

The ordinance failed by a 3-3 vote during a sometimes-testy meeting.

Corcoran's opinion may be right. But the city could find out. Surely it would not cost much, if anything, to seek an opinion from the courts or from the state attorney general's office.

Even better, state lawmakers should simply change the law now to specifically allow towns to dedicate funds to public financing of local elections, clearing up any ambiguity on the issue. Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, is hardly shy about introducing legislation to solve problems in his district. We're sure he or another lawmaker could put this bill together pretty easily.

Public financing is a great idea — but it's important the city do it correctly, so it isn't open to a court challenge. State lawmakers should support the idea of offering this option to towns. After all, they're already trying it themselves.

2006-06-22T15:20:00.000-04:00

Two after-hours rescues prompt police to close Ocean City beach
From Press of Atlantic City staff reports
Published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, June 21, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Police and fire crews rescued a swimmer in distress at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, about an hour after being called to another emergency at the same beach.

Emergency crews were called to the 10th Street beach at about 5:30 p.m., just 30 minutes after Ocean City Beach Patrol left the beach for the day. But when they got there, family members had already pulled the swimmer safely from the water.

The adult, who was not identified, was caught in a rip current and swept into deeper water around 10th Street.

About an hour later, police and fire crews were called to the same beach for another report of an adult swimmer in distress.

This time, police officers and firefighters entered the water to rescue the stranded swimmer who was caught in a similar rip current. The swimmer, who was not identified, was pulled to safety and did not require medical attention, police said.

Police officers remained at the 10th Street beach until dusk to keep swimmers out of the water there.

On Sunday, a 7-year-old boy from Philadelphia drowned off an unguarded beach at Seventh Street.

2006-06-09T18:20:00.000-04:00

Beach access in N.J. is extensive, but obstacles remain
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/9/06
BY LEANN FOSTER
With another summer upon us, residents across the Garden State are preparing for the annual pilgrimage to the Jersey Shore. But before you settle into that beach chair, you ought to reflect on how lucky you are to access the beach.

In New Jersey, you don't have to be a member of a private beach club or a full-time resident of a quaint Shore town to be able to get to the beach in the summer, to park, to walk through dunes or cross a boardwalk in order to get to this year's favorite spot for fishing, surfing or just plain relaxing.

No, the public has a protected right to enjoy the best the summer has to offer. You'll pay a badge fee, and sometimes you might have to walk a little farther than you'd like in order to get to the restroom or to find those cheese fries. But in general, New Jersey's beaches are available to you for your use and enjoyment.

It's been a year since the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in the Atlantis Beach Club case, where the Public Trust Doctrine was employed to order public access to a private beach from which the public was being forcibly excluded. The decision also recognizes that beach access consists not just of access points — places along the shoreline where you and your family can get to and from the beach — but something of a package of opportunities that includes meaningful use and enjoyment of the water, the wet sand and a reasonable amount of the dry sand area.

Similarly reinforced is the necessary relationship between your badge fee and the costs of maintaining the beach for public access and use. You'll still think the price increase for this year's badge is outrageous, but it must by law be justified by the municipality and related back to the cost of lifeguards, trash pickup, beach security, badge checkers and other people whose job it is to make your summer at the Shore pleasant and safe.

Of course, public access in New Jersey isn't perfect.

There remain beaches from Monmouth County to Cape May that are not as public-friendly as they should be. Here, private clubs or private residences dominate waterfront property, and "Keep Out" signs signal the message that the public is not at all welcome. In these communities, the public must search, sometimes to no avail, for select and often overcrowded spots where a family can settle in for a day.

With New Jersey's rapidly privatizing shoreline, this exclusivity is not only a current problem, from a legal and a sheer convenience perspective, but something that, unless the public is vigilant, is likely to get worse. Many of these exclusive communities are located on beaches that have been built up with public taxpayer dollars to secure the homes of the very residents whose "No Trespassing" signs make a simple trip to the beach a challenge for out-of-towners and inland residents alike.

Limitations on parking and the availability of restroom and concession services also continue to make life difficult for the public in some beach towns. And let's not forget the "redeveloping" towns where many longtime residents are finding themselves denied physical and even visual access to beaches they grew up on.

Also problematic are our bayside beaches and waterfront areas, where access is very limited, signage to indicate public access areas is scarce and public marinas are every year becoming fewer and farther between as they give way to private, once again exclusive, condominium developments.

Despite these shortcomings, the future is bright in New Jersey for public access and the public trust. This year, we find the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection refusing beach nourishment dollars for towns that deny adequate public access, holding to a standard that's not only fair but consistent with the DEP's historic practices and the guidelines of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the nourishment program.

With news of shorefront communities from northern Ocean County to Long Beach Island losing beaches to erosion, and related stories raising concerns about the safety of people and property during this year's hurricane season, the DEP's efforts to prioritize access sets an important precedent for the implementation of a program that will no doubt play a significant role in New Jersey's coastal future.

The DEP is also working to improve outreach tools so the public can more readily know where access points are located and where support facilities like restrooms and parking are available. They may not be able to guarantee you water temperature in the 70s, but the state is working to secure our public trust legacy. Coastal grass-roots groups are also doing their part to pry open the doors to the public in communities where access, parking and other necessary support services are difficult, uncomfortable or impossible to come by.

So whether you choose Belmar, Lavallette, Island Beach State Park, Surf City or Wildwood, get out there and enjoy. Make it a point this summer to make the most of your right to access the beaches and waterfront areas across New Jersey.

Leann Foster is policy director of the American Littoral Society, a coastal conservation organization headquartered on Sandy Hook.

2006-06-09T15:56:00.000-04:00

People come out to support Greate Bay development
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, June 9, 2006
Updated: Friday, June 9, 2006

SOMERS POINT — A parade of people spoke up Thursday in favor of Greate Bay Country Club's plans for a condo development on part of its property, but opponents questioned where that show of support came from.

The backers praised everything from the golf course's environmental commitment to its support for Boy Scouts to its bolstering of its neighbors' property values. And most got a loud round of applause after they addressed City Council, just a few days after Greate Bay's owners got back into the news by applying to join an affordable-housing suit another developer filed against the city.

Still, a few opponents argued that many of the people in the show of support make their livings at Greate Bay. Two of the supporters agreed they are country-club workers but said they also live in the neighborhood.

Ruth Natello, who said she got signatures from 250 neighbors last year opposing development on the 83-year-old course, said after the meeting that owners “packed” the room with supporters to argue their cause.

But owner Gary Massey dismissed that accusation.

“There were a few who were employees, and they acknowledged they were employees,” Massey said. “Our employees are coming forward and our members are starting to come forward and people who live in the golf course area are going to come forward, and that's what you saw tonight.”

The owners have scheduled a June 27 public meeting at the country club to show off their plans for building as many as 550 housing units on 30 acres of the 150 they own. They say their plan would let them keep an 18-hole course by rerouting some and reclaiming a waste area, and they would raze their current clubhouse and build a new one. The closest neighbor to any new building would be 500 feet away, Massey says.

But Natello, the only person to publicly speak against Greate Bay's plans, charged that Massey and his partner, Mark Benevento, were opportunists when they jumped into the ongoing suit against Somers Point last week.

“Every single taxpayer in the city is going to have to bear the burden of them trying to enrich themselves,” Natello said.

Golf-course supporters warned, though, that if the owners can't make a profit on their investments, they could sell the course to developers who would want to build far more homes. They also argued that a deed restriction on the course often cited by opponents is invalid because other housing developments were built on the property despite that clause.

Bob Viola, of Greate Bay Villas, which borders on the course, said most people look at a golf course and see “grass, trees and open space. But a developer sees hundreds, perhaps thousands of homes.”

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis:
MDeangelis@pressofac.com

2006-06-07T22:58:00.000-04:00

Beach property owners should pay a bigger share for insurance
The News Journal - Wilmington,DE,USA

Payouts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were overwhelming. The only thing that will save the program is congressional authorization to impose large premium increases, bigger deductibles and other limitations. Unless, of course, Congress can be talked into pushing the country further into debt to save some exclusive beachfront property.

Congress should take a hint from private insurers. The price of insurance is going up near Delaware's beaches -- as it is up and down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

For private insurers, last year's hurricane damage was a costly lesson. Premiums to protect coastal homes from hurricane-force winds are rising, as are deductibles. In many cases, insurers are canceling policies. They don't want to subsidize risk.

However, some people want the federal government to help pay for a relative handful to live near the beach.

But that is getting too expensive. According to a Brookings Institution report, seven of the 12 most costly natural disasters in American history happened in the last two hurricane seasons.

Global warming or not, the region is in another decades-long cycle of powerful hurricanes. Unlike the last such cycle more than 25 years ago, the beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are thoroughly built up. A hurricane that might have just kicked up sand decades ago now means widespread death and destruction.

The only sensible thing for Congress to do is to raise those rates.

Congress is also considering limiting subsidized flood insurance to owner-occupied housing in the affected areas. Vacation homes and rental properties would not be subsidized.

Congress should recognize reality and increase the payments.

2006-06-07T22:49:00.000-04:00

N.J. shore a scary place, preparedness official warns
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, June 7, 2006

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — He came to learn, and he came to warn.

And Richard Canas, the new state director of Homeland Security and Prepar-edness, learned on a fly-over tour of the shore Tuesday that from the air, the view of life on New Jersey's coastline is “very impressive, and probably scary.”

The frightening part for someone new to New Jersey included “the congestion, the narrowness of the strip (of land) and the fact that there's only one way in and one way out,” Canas said, after he and a dozen or so other state officials stepped off a National Guard helicopter at the Tony Canale Training Center, on Egg Harbor Township's mainland.

And that difficulty of getting away from the crowded coast led to the most ominous warning of the visit, which Canas and his colleagues tied to the start of this year's hurricane season: If a major hurricane is headed for New Jersey, and emergency officials order evacuations of the coast, “We're looking at a lot of deaths if people don't leave those areas,” Canas said.

The good news is that there will be warnings for days in advance. And those warnings will come in several different forms, including possibly some very personal ones.

“If we have to personally go out and knock on every one of those doors, we will do that,” Canas said. “And we will not be crying wolf. ... You have to go. That's not an option.”

Vince Jones, Atlantic County's emergency management director, said later that police in Atlantic City and Ventnor have made door-to-door checks on residents in past evacuations. And Freeholder Frank Sutton, a former Egg Harbor Township committeeman, added that police in his hometown will do the same if needed.

But evacuations cause their own sets of problems, officials acknowledged.

Mariana Leckner of the State Police emergency management section said a traffic consultant is working on new estimates of how long it would take to clear out specific areas of New Jersey. But the current figure is that an evacuation of Cape May County would take 30 to 34 hours, she said. Atlantic County would take another 24 hours.

Emergency officials know they can speed up that process if they have to, for example by shutting down all eastbound traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway and opening those lanes to a westbound exodus. But Leckner added that's not a decision anyone wants to make lightly, because an all-westbound expressway slows emergency responders and supply trucks from getting to the sites of the expected worst disasters, along the coastline.

Another way state officials try to facilitate fast getaways will be by announcing them as early in the day as possible — ideally at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning — to give people as much daylight as possible to leave in, Leckner said.

State Police Major John Hunt, who visited New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina devastated that area, talked about another evacuation-produced problem — gasoline shortages for all those people trying to drive away at once.

Hunt said state officials have plans for making sure people have enough gas to follow orders and get far enough inland to get out of danger, but he noted he has a personal rule for not getting caught short on fuel:

“I tell my wife and my daughter to always have at least a quarter-tank of gas,” in case the order comes to evacuate, said Hunt, the commander of the special-operations section in the State Police homeland security branch.

He also made a pitch for residents to consider joining or starting Community Emergency Response Teams in their towns. CERT volunteers are trained in basic first aid, disaster preparedness and other skills that help them help police and firefighters and other officials deal with emergencies.

But several officials stressed that no matter how many concerned volunteers and trained professionals there are, residents have to take responsibility for their own safety and preparations for storms.

“All emergencies, like politics, are local,” Canas said. “So it's really up to you to prepare locally for this.”

He warned that state, county and local officials have to be prepared for their areas to survive for at least three days before the federal government can start getting help to New Jersey.

And individual residents have to get ready the same way: Officials advised that that if a hurricane or other major emergency strikes New Jersey, you should have at least three days worth of water and food on hand — because that's how long you should expect to be on your own before help can get there.

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis at The Press:MDeangelis@pressofac.com

2006-05-21T22:30:00.000-04:00

Rt. 52 Causeway gets more lanes for summer traffic

Thursday, May 18, 2006
BY RUDOLPH LARINI
Star-Ledger Staff

Motorists headed to Ocean City this summer will find improved access with less congestion now that the state Department of Transportation has widened the Route 52 Causeway to four lanes.

The bridge, which connects Ocean City and Somers Point and is an important evacuation route for the region, previously was restricted to one lane of traffic in each direction because of safety concerns related to the bridge's railings.

"NJDOT recognizes that tourism is the driving force behind the local economy, and our bridge rehabilitation project will enable Ocean City to support additional tourism this summer," said state Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri in a statement announcing the new lanes.

The Route 52 Causeway will remain open to four lanes of traffic through Labor Day.
The NJDOT provided the additional lanes in each direction by repainting and reconfiguring the lane dividers, rehabilitating guide rails and bolting temporary barrier curbs to support the sides of the bridge.

The causeway now consists of two 10-foot center lanes and two 9-foot outer lanes. The transportation department also installed a rumble strip in the center of the bridge to separate the four travel lanes. The $1 million safety repair project was completed before the Memorial Day holiday weekend in order to support peak summer tourism traffic that is expected in Ocean City.

In order to ensure safety, nonconstruction vehicles weighing more than four tons will be prohibited from the bridge. Construction vehicles and NJ Transit buses will be restricted from the outer lanes of the bridge. The current speed limit of 35 mph will remain in effect.

Late this summer NJDOT will begin the replacement of the existing Route 52 Causeway with a 55-foot clearance fixed bridge.

NJDOT will accept bids on the first phase of this project, which will also eliminate the Somers Point Circle on June 1. The new northbound section of Route 52 is scheduled for completion by Memorial Day 2008.

At that time, traffic will be shifted from the existing causeway, which will be demolished so that the new southbound roadway can be constructed. The project is scheduled for substantial completion by the fall of 2009

2006-05-21T09:09:00.000-04:00

Jersey Shore Event Highlights
Philly.com
May 19, 2006

May

Cape May Music Festival More than a dozen concerts: orchestral & chamber, world, Latin, Irish, jazz, klezmer at various locations in Cape May; 800-275-4278. www.capemaymac.org. Per show: $15-22; $10-$18 seniors; $5-$10 students. Sat through 6/18.

Spring Arts and Crafts Festival Home & garden decorations, crafts & floral arrangements, more. Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Hall, Ocean St, Cape May; 800-275-4278. www.capemaymac.org. $1; children under 12 free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.

*FREE* Pirates Day with Captain Kidd Parade on the Boardwalk from 26th to 16th Aves, N Wildwood, followed by treasure hunt on the beach at 16th Ave, N Wildwood; 609-522-2955 or www.northwildwood.com. 11 a.m. Sat. Register.

*FREE* Mayfest at Historic Smithville More than 100 craft & food vendors, entertainment in the gazebos, kids train rides around the village, rent paddle boats on the lake. Historic Smithville, Rte 9, Galloway Twp; 609-652-7777. www.smithvillenj.com. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat-Sun.

*FREE* Wildwoods International Kite Festival America's largest kite festival, with kite builders & competitors, kite-making workshops, exhibits, indoor competition, children's activities. On the Beach at Rio Grande Ave & inside Wildwoods Convention Center; Wildwood; 609-729-9000. www.wildwoodsnj.com. Entrance fee for participants. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 5/26-5/29. Illuminated night kite fly 9 p.m. 5/26.

Crafts at Memorial Day Country crafts, folk art, custom jewelry, Victorian items. Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Dr at Stockton Pl, Cape May; 800-275-4278. www.capemaymac.org. $1; children under 12 free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 5/27.

*FREE* Boardwalk Craft Show All handmade products. Boardwalk, S of Convention Center, Wildwood; 609-522-0378 or 609-522-0198. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 5/27-5/28.

*FREE* Memorial Day Fireworks On the beach at Pine Ave, Wildwood; 609-523-1602. 10:30 p.m. 5/28.

Antiques at Memorial Day Antique & collectible dealers from Mid-Atlantic region, silver, crystal, jewelry, more. Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Dr at Stockton Pl; 800-275-4278. www.capemaymac.org. $1; children under 12 free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 5/28.

ShopRite LPGA Classic With Annika Sorenstam, Julie Inkster, Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Karrie Webb. Seaview Resort & Spa, a Marriott Resort, Galloway Twp; 609-383-8330. www.shopritelpga.org. Per day: $18 & $20; $15 & $18 advance; children under 16 free with adult. 5/29-6/4.

Wildwoods Restaurant Showcase Sample dishes, desserts from local eateries, plus entertainment, silent auction; benefits local high school scholarships. Neil's Steak & Chowder House, Schellenger Ave, Wildwood; 609-729-4000 or www.wildwoods.com. $25. 5:30-8:30 p.m. 5/31.

June

*FREE* NJ State Elks Convention & Concert Wildwoods Convention Center, Wildwood; 732-229-2978. www.njelks.org. Concert ($20 gen admission) 9 p.m 6/1. Parade down Atlantic Ave at 25th St, noon 6/3. 6/1-6/4.

*FREE* Fireworks on the Beach On the beach at Pine Ave, Wildwood; 609-523-1602. www.wildwoodsnj.com. 10:30 p.m. Fris 6/30-8/25.

*FREE* Spring Thunder on the Sand Motocross Race AMA-sanctioned pro-am races. On the beach btwn Schellenger & Spencer Aves, Wildwood; 609-523-8051. www.njhra.com. Noon 6/3, 10 a.m. 6/4.

*FREE* Spring Family Funfest Face painters, clowns, live characters, pony rides (11th Street Beach), craft show, more. Along Boardwalk, 6th-14th Sts, Ocean City; 609-398-4662. www.njoceancity.com. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 6/3-6/4.

*FREE* Victorian Fair Traditional fair with live music, crafts, refreshments, more. Grounds of Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St, Cape May; 800-275-4278. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 6/10.

*FREE* Phillies Home Run Derby Batting contest for boys & girls ages 8-15; winners advance to regional finals. Aster & Ocean Aves, Wildwood Crest; 609-522-2955. www.northwildwood.com. 9 a.m. 6/10.

NJ Fresh Seafood Festival Crafts, food, music, exhibits, rides, more. Gardiner's Basin, New Hampshire Ave & the Bay, Atlantic City; 609-347-4386. www.njfreshseafoodfest.com. Call for prices. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. 6/10-6/11.

*FREE* National Marbles Tournament Official natl competition for boys & girls ages 8-14. Ringer Stadium, Wildwood Ave & the Beach, Wildwood; 609-729-9000. www.nationalmarblestournament.org. 8 a.m.-noon 6/19-6/22.

Millville Air Show With the Trojan Horsemen, wingwalking, aerobatic teams, classic car show, more. Millville Airport, Cedarville Rd, Millville; 856-327-2347. www.millvilleairshow.com. $15; $10 children; $10; $5 children until 6/16. Gates open 8 a.m. 6/24-6/25.

Skydiving Extravaganza Free Fall Adventures & Splash Zone Waterpark present continuous skydiving & skydiving exhibits hourly. Beach in front of Splash Zone Water Park, Schellenger Ave, Wildwood; 856-629-7553 or www.wildwoodsnj.com. 9 a.m.-8 p.m. 6/30-7/4.

July

Cape May Kids Playhouse Jugglers, magicians, puppeteers, clowns, more perform throughout the summer. Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Dr at Stockton Pl, Cape May; 800-275-4278 or www.capemaymac.org. $5; $2 children 3-12. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mons & Thus 7/3-8/14.

76ers Summer Shore Tour Basketball demonstrations for boys & girls grades K-2 by Sixers representatives. North Wildwood Recreation Center, N Wildwood; 609-522-2955. $20 registration. Call for more details. 7/12.

*FREE* NJ State Barbeque Championship & Blues Festival Barbeque, live blues music, family fun. 2d & Olde New Jersey Ave, N Wildwood; 609-523-6565 or www.njbbq.com. 5-11 p.m. 7/14, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. 7/15, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 7/16.

Lucy the Elephant's 125th Birthday Celebration with cake, balloons, music, Evelyn Johnson book signing; T-shirt giveaway for tour takers ($5; $3 ages under 12). Atlantic Ave at Decatur Ave, Margate; 609-823-6473. www.lucytheelephant.org. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. 7/20.

*FREE* Merchant in Venice Seafood Festival Seafood, rides, crafts, more. Along Asbury Ave, 6th to 8th Sts, Ocean City 609-525-9300. www.njoceancity.com. 5-9 p.m. 7/21.

*FREE* Night in Venice Annual boat parade. Bayside, Longport Bridge to Tennessee Ave; Ocean City. 609-525-9300. www.njoceancity.com. 6:30 p.m. 7/22.

*FREE* Christmas in July Boat Parade Boaters & homeowners decorate their boats, homes, docks in Christmas theme; prizes awarded. Back bays throughout the Wildwoods; 609-729-5501. Lineup at 8 p.m. 7/22.

NJ Festival of Ballooning Hot air balloons, entertainment, more. Solberg Airport, Readington; 800-468-2479. www.balloonfestival.com. Call for prices. 6 a.m.-9 p.m. 7/28-7/30.

*FREE* Co-Ed Beach Ultimate Frisbee Tournament 4-on-4 team competition for players of all levels 18 & over. On the Beach btwn Oak & Poplar Aves, Wildwood; 856-696-9705. www.wildwoodultimate.com. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 7/29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 7/30.

August

*FREE* Antique & Modified Car Show SJ Studebaker Club sponsors; all make cars welcome. On the Boardwalk from 16th to 26th Aves, N Wildwood; 609-522-2201. $8 participants. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 8/6.

*FREE* Atlantic City Arts Alive Fine art & craft, music festival. Boardwalk at Kennedy Plaza outside Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City; 609-287-8655. Noon-6 p.m. 8/11, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. 8/12, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. 8/13.

*FREE* Philadelphia Soul Summer Slam Q107 presents Phila Soul Arena Football League players, live music, beer garden, performances by Soulmates, rides, more. On the beach at Schellenger Ave, Wildwood; 609-729-9000. Call for times. 8/12.

*FREE* Rubber Ducky Regatta More than 10,000 rubber ducks race to finish line; United Way of Cape May Co presents. Raging Waters Water Park, Morey's Piers, Schellenger Ave & the Boardwalk, Wildwood; 609-729-2002. 7:30 p.m. 8/13.

*FREE* Atlantic City Air Show US Army Thunderbirds & the Blue Angels. Over Atlantic City Boardwalk, Atlantic City; 888-228-4748. www.atlanticcityairshow.com. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 8/23.

*FREE* Sports Card Comic Book & Toy Expo Sports cards, comic books, non-sports cards, magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, Beanie Babies, autographed memorabilia, posters, more. Wildwoods Convention Center, 4501 Boardwalk, Wildwood; 732-422-9365. www.njsportspromotions.com. 3-9 p.m. 8/25, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 3/26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 8/27.

*FREE* Wildwood Block Party & Festival Family fun & entertainment, clowns, face painting, kids' karaoke, rides, concert. Pacific Ave from Burk to Rio Grande Aves, Wildwood; 856-665-3123. www.wildwoodsnj.com. 1 p.m. 8/27.

2006-05-18T19:45:00.000-04:00

Ocean City kills deal for lifesaving station
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, May 18, 2006
Updated: Thursday, May 18, 2006

OCEAN CITY — The city scuttled a plan to accept a former lifesaving station that the owner offered to move to the Sixth Street beach.

The city learned it would be more difficult and costly than expected to obtain coastal permits for the new location, Mayor Bud Knight said.

City Council struck a deal with developer Pansini Custom Design to accept as a gift the Fourth Street lifesaving station. Pansini offered to move the building at his expense and pay the city $300,000 for the building's restoration.

The deal was contingent upon getting coastal permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection and approval from the city's Historic Preservation Commission.

Pansini wants to move the building to make room for three new duplex condominiums.

The state's objections came as a surprise, Knight said.

“It's my opinion that pressure was placed on various state agencies through political connections to make the city's application more complicated and convoluted and throw obstacles into the city's path,” he said. “There was interference by people locally to stonewall our application. I don't think politics should be involved in historic preservation.”

The Saving Our Station Coalition lobbied the state to reject the city's application. The nonprofit group would prefer to keep the building on Atlantic Avenue.

“Their application was not going to stand up. Rather than get denied, they pulled it,” group President Charlie London said.

Meanwhile, the developer was expected to appear before the commission today at a special meeting to seal the deal. Instead, the developer asked that the item be removed from the agenda and the meeting was canceled.

On Wednesday, Knight said the city withdrew its coastal application from the DEP.

“We're back to stage one,” the mayor said. “We have some options. The city can reapply at some future time, or we can do nothing, or we can sit down and negotiate a lower price and buy it that way.”

Under the city's preservation rules, Pansini could ask the commission for permission to demolish this converted four-bedroom home. If the commission refuses, he must try to sell the home for fair-market value. If he gets no takers after six months, he could demolish the building.

For now, the next move belongs to the developer, Knight said.

Council this year voted 4-3 to accept Pansini's offer to move the station. Some residents said the building would lose its historic value if it were moved from Atlantic Avenue.

“My fear is we'd lose the lifesaving station totally,” said Councilman Larry Carnuccio, who cast the deciding vote.

Carnuccio said he doubts there will be public will to spend tax money to buy the station.

2006-05-17T21:10:00.000-04:00

Ocean City's Route 52 closed nightly for repairs
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, May 16, 2006

OCEAN CITY — The state closed Route 52 on Monday night to make nightly repairs so all four lanes of the busy highway can reopen by week's end.

The road will be closed nightly through Friday, weather permitting.

The state closed two of the four lanes in January when routine bridge inspections determined the railings were unsafe. The agency installed concrete barriers, but in doing so, took up two lanes of traffic.

Local officials complained that lane closures on Ocean City's busiest entrance were unacceptable and persuaded the state Department of Transportation to repair the railings and reopen all four lanes.

The state will spend about $1 million to make repairs and repaint the lines on this road between Ocean City and Somers Point. The speed limit will be reduced to 25 mph the length of the 2.5-mile causeway.

The narrow lanes will get a little narrower. The two center lanes will span 10 feet in width. The outer lanes will lose a foot apiece.

The DOT began work Monday night and will continue repairs from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. through Friday morning. This road, also called the Ninth Street causeway, should reopen Friday in time for weekend traffic.

“The fastest way to complete the project with the least disruption to local traffic is by doing this work at night,” DOT spokeswoman Erin Phalon said.

With intermittent causeway closings, most local residents have grown accustomed to taking alternate routes into Ocean City.

The DOT set up detour signs between Ocean City and Somers Point. The simplest route is to get off the Garden State Parkway at Exit 25 and enter the city from the 34th Street Bridge. But visitors can get off the parkway at Exit 30 in Somers Point and take Route 152 to the Ocean City-Longport Bridge on the resort's extreme north end.

“There will be some minor inconvenience. But to get it back to four lanes, it's well worth it,” Ocean City Council President Jack Thomas said.

The state could have saved aggravation and money by soliciting recommendations from the towns before closing two lanes in January, he said.

“I think we could have ended up with the same solution and it would have been a lot easier on everyone,” he said. “Instead, they caught everyone in the area by surprise.”

Meanwhile, the state plans to go back out to bid on the new causeway in June, Phalon said. The state rejected the first bids after they came in $93 million higher than the $150 million budgeted for the first half of construction.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press: MMiller@pressofac.com

2006-05-03T21:59:00.000-04:00

Realtors: Shore bargains abound
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, May 3, 2006

OCEAN CITY — In a resort where for-sale signs are as common as beach umbrellas, Ocean City home buyers are finding something new this year.

“Reduced” signs are sprouting up in odd lots around the island. Realtors said this is a reflection of a cooling real-estate market and rising interest rates.

Economists are predicting that national resorts that saw the largest jumps in real estate prices in the past three years soon will see the largest declines. But not everyone is so pessimistic.

Ocean City Realtor Mark Grimes said a 10 percent return per year is still pretty good.

“Speculators who were buying and flipping properties, they're not in the market anymore. Developers have a lot of inventory. They're not buying properties right now,” he said.

That leaves investors. While there might be fewer people buying, those who do take the plunge are finding bargains, said Nicholas Marotta, president of the Ocean City Board of Realtors. He is a broker for Academy Real Estate.

“It's still a damn good time to buy. The market has made an adjustment of 10 (percent) to 15 percent,” he said. “The real estate community has hit a bump in the road. But prices had to get more realistic.”

At its peak in recent years, Cape May County's shore towns were seeing property values climb by 3 percent per month. Investment properties were jumping in price by 36 percent to 38 percent per year.

“You had demand and no supply. You had three, four and five bids on a property. Now you have supply and no demand,” Marotta said.

Resort areas naturally are the first affected by the vagaries of the economy, he said. But places such as Ocean City are hardly alone.

“The potential for an actual decline is greater where the homes are not owner occupied,” said Michael Carliner, an economist with the National Association of Home Builders.

This includes virtually the entire southern New Jersey shoreline. But Carliner said the softest real estate markets are not resorts such as Miami, Orlando or even Ocean City, but cities in the Midwest.

“It's really places where the underlying economy has taken a shot,” he said. “Look at Detroit. Ocean City doesn't make automobiles.”

Home prices in states such as Washington and North Carolina, where the job market is flourishing, are holding strong, he said.

Buyers have more homes from which to choose as investment properties linger on the market. Sellers are being creative to attract interest, Grimes said.

“You're seeing people offering furniture packages in properties. Sellers offering discounts on the asking price,” he said.

Realtors are working harder to sell properties. But Grimes said they are getting their full 6 percent commissions now. Eager sellers want to give their agents every incentive to move homes, he said.

Just how long this “correction” will last is anyone's guess. Grimes said he is confident the market will pick up heat soon.

“There's so much baby-boomer money that hasn't come into the market. The average age of buyers is 40 to 50 years old, maybe a touch above. You'll have a lot of people retiring to Ocean City,” he said.

Interest rates are 6.5 percent or about a ¾ point higher than this time last year. Marotta said this is still reasonable.

Maureen Glanzmann of Lafayette Hill, Pa., and her husband bought a home on First Street in March for $1.2 million. If she got a bargain, it didn't feel like one, she said.

“I think the prices are nuts,” she said.

She sold her family's longtime home on Third Street, but only after new construction made her a little claustrophobic.

“They built two giant triplexes next to me on either side. I had no more sun and we had a little house in the middle,” she said. “I saw a house that I always admired was up for sale.”

If investors are nervous about Ocean City real estate, Glanzmann is not one of them. She bought her home for the long term.

“You buy a house to enjoy it, not to make money,” she said. “There's only so much coastline. Prices will never go down.”

2006-04-30T16:09:00.000-04:00

Gas cost doesn't fly for plane owners
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, (609) 463-6713
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Sunday, April 30, 2006
Updated: Sunday, April 30, 2006

A banner airplane can burn 10 gallons of gas each hour delivering messages of cheap beer, restaurant specials — even marriage proposals — to throngs of bathing-suit-clad beachgoers.

In one week, a 10-airplane company can use enough gasoline to fill the tanks of 100 Humvees.

But as gasoline prices make travel by asphalt more expensive, they also can affect these open-air commercials.

Owners of several banner-plane companies said they are waiting to see how gas prices rise or fall for the season, which starts Memorial Day weekend, before judging possible effects on business.

“It certainly will affect us because it's one of our largest expenses for the season,” said Barbara Tomalino, president of Paramount Air Services in Middle Township, Cape May County.

Her planes cover beaches from Cape May to Asbury Park.

“You figure, these airplanes — each one flies with just one message on it … for each client,” Tomalino said.

During peak times in July and August, her company can go through 2,500 gallons of fuel a week or more, she said.

A $1 per gallon increase in fuel could increase expenses $2,500 per week.

Both nationally and in New Jersey, the average price of gallon of regular, no-frills gasoline is nearing $3.

The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report on Wednesday reported that Cape May and Atlantic counties were averaging about $2.89 per gallon of regular gasoline, an increase of almost 40 percent from one year ago.

After fuel costs increased last year, Tomalino did have to raise her rates, she said.

While some banner airplane companies insert fuel or energy clauses into contracts with advertisers, Tomalino said her business doesn't use them.

The banner airplane season kicks into high gear during Memorial Day weekend and continues through Labor Day.

“We're just hoping for a good season. If it's nice and hot and sunny like it was last year, we'll all do fine,” she said.

David Dempsey, owner of High Exposure banner plane advertising, said his company raised rates slightly last year, and if gas prices remain high, it may consider cutting some volume-based discounts to compensate.

“What we're tying to do is not make any changes to our rates. The beach season hasn't officially started … we're hoping things will come down a little so at the beginning of the season we won't have to do anything,” Dempsey said.

While banner planes can burn between eight to 14 gallons per hour, most flights last longer than one hour, he said. There's also an increased cost of oil to consider, he said.

Dempsey said he checks on fuel prices every week to notice the trends.

“Nobody has a crystal ball,” he said.

To e-mail Brian Ianieri at The Press:BIanieri@pressofac.com

2006-04-21T07:51:00.000-04:00

Nautical touch popular in homes this season
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Melissa Kossler Dutton
Special to The Plain Dealer - Cleveland.com
Following the look of spring fashions, home decor is going nautical this season.

Maritime accents paired with Americana colors lend a summer feel to any home. The trend runs the gamut from inexpensive wall art and picture frames intended for seasonal use to high-quality lamps and showcase pieces designed to create a permanent theme for a room.

Either way, the look is sleek and sophisticated unlike previous seasons, which featured more emphasis on whimsical accents

Adding the classic and clean colors with a nautical touch to your home creates new mood, said Chicago designer Nate Berkus, who has a line of home products at Linens-n-Things.

"It represents a movement towards making the rooms you live in feel like you are on vacation at the shore," he said via e-mail.

That feeling of vacation is the perfect theme for summer decorating, agreed Laura McDowell, home decor spokeswoman for TJ Maxx.

"It's fun," she said. "It's a good way to welcome the warm weather."

To create a seasonal look, she suggests adding red, white and blue bedding to a bedroom, setting out hand towels with a lighthouse design in the bathroom or using acrylic dishes in Americana colors or decorated with a nautical theme in the kitchen.

For a more permanent look, she likes pairing natural woods with touches of blue and white. For homeowners inspired by the sea and sand, there are beautiful choices in blues and aquas and tans and oranges.

"There are a lot of different ways to do this," she said.Shaker Heights interior designer Holly May recently helped a client capture the essence of Caribbean in her home.

Cricket Karson and her husband, John Liebert, wanted a master suite in their Shaker Heights home that would remind them of family vacations to Anguilla Island.

"Whenever the ocean is involved, it's a great vacation for us," Karson said.

To stir up those happy memories, May and Karson chose sea-glass mosaics and a shell-inspired chandelier for the bathroom and an ocean-inspired color palate for the bedroom. Karson, whose office is in the Ohio Design Centre, said she picked out a few pieces before turning to May to help her pull the theme together.

Finding the right accents to showcase is important when creating a themed room, May said. "You have to be careful not to overdo it."

Dutton is a free-lance writer in Columbus.

She may be reached at: homes@plaind.com

2006-04-06T23:24:00.000-04:00

Vacation-Home Buyers Flock to New Locales

(April 4, 2006) -- Even as the housing market evens out in some markets, second-home sales continue to soar. That has led many vacation-home buyers to these up-and-coming spots where they can get more for their money.

According to a New York Times report, these locales are emerging hot-spots for second homes:

Arcata, Calif. This destination is on California's redwood coast, about 275 miles north of San Francisco and near Humboldt Bay. Attractions include the Arcata Community Forest, the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary and Humboldt State University.

Spirit Lake, Idaho. The lake, in northern Idaho, has a city park with a public beach and is surrounded by forests with hiking and biking trails, along with the Selkirk Mountains to the north and west.

Port St. Joe, Fla. On the north Gulf Coast of Florida between Panama City and Apalachicola, this historic community is known for its fishing tournaments and boating.

Gold Beach, Ore. At least eight major rivers and dozens of creeks run through this southern coastal town, just 50 miles north of the California border. The area is known for its fishing, hiking and kayaking.

Port Isabel, Texas. This coastal community in southeastern Texas has full-service boat yards and marinas, along with museums and the historic Point Isabel Lighthouse.

Somers Point, N.J. Seven miles west of Atlantic City, on the Great Egg Harbor River bayfront, it is in an area is known for its marinas and boating.

Louisa, Ky. This eastern Kentucky city, near the West Virginia border, is home to the Yakesville Lake State Park and is recognized as one of the state's best fishing sites for bass.

Bluffton, S.C. Across the bridge from Hilton Head Island and near the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, Bluffton borders the May and Colleton Rivers. Antebellum homes and historic churches line its historic district.

Source: The New York Times, Vivian Marino (03/31/2006)

2006-04-05T22:57:00.000-04:00

N.J. should get more funding for beaches
Courier Post Online
Wednesday, April 5, 2006

The federal government must not shortchange New Jersey on needed beach replenishment projects.

Whether it's money for road projects, homeland security or, now, beach replenishment, it seems New Jersey always gets shortchanged by the federal government. President Bush's proposed 2007 budget will do it yet again, unless New Jersey's representatives in Washington do something.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it needs $51.8 million for beach replenishment projects in Ocean City, Atlantic City, Ventnor, Stone Harbor, Avalon and on Long Beach Island.

But the proposed 2007 budget only allocates $8.3 million, and nothing for the Ocean City or Atlantic City/Ventnor projects.

New Jersey's representatives in Washington need to work in unison to get more funding for these projects.

New Jerseyans themselves ought to be infuriated that the federal government wants to shortchange this state yet again. They should contact elected officials and demand that the state get its fair share.

The Garden State already gets the lowest return on its federal tax dollars of any state. For every tax dollar New Jerseyans send to Washington, the state gets back just 62 cents, according to the Tax Foundation. This in a state where residents already face the most burdensome property taxes in the nation.

For that reason alone, the federal government should not only fully fund these beach projects, but it ought to be sending more money to New Jersey for other purposes, as well.

Additionally, it's critical that beaches be maintained because of their importance in flood protection and because they drive a multibillion dollar tourism industry.

Without beaches and sand dunes, many shore communities could easily be underwater the first time a hurricane or nor'easter hit the coast. Hurricane Katrina should have taught the federal government how important it is to properly invest in measures to prevent flooding.

Secondly, New Jersey's thriving shore tourism industry, and the billions in tax dollars it generates, would surely dry up without the beaches.

As U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-Hoboken, pointed out Monday, Ocean City alone generates $1 billion per year in tourism dollars. With the millions in taxes paid on that, it's very much in the government's interest to spend $10 million over three years to ensure Ocean City's beaches remain wide and welcoming to tourists.

"New Jerseyans vote for agricultural subsidies, which is important to the Kansas economy. This is important to our economy," Menendez added.

He's right.

The Army Corps of Engineers ought to get the money it has requested for beach replenishment projects. New Jersey's lawmakers in Washington need to fight to make sure that happens. State taxpayers deserve to get more out of the federal government they pour so many tax dollars into.

2006-04-02T20:02:00.000-04:00

In A.C., builders playing for keeps

Sunday, April 2, 2006
By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

ATLANTIC CITY
Developer Tom Scannapieco told a few hundred planners, builders, public officials and architects attending the Urban Land Institute's first-ever seminar here last week that Atlantic City's future is more than a hot name.

This city is not just about casino resorts anymore. It's about vacation homes as well.

"This is the best second-home market in the U.S.," Scannapieco said. "Eighteen residential projects are advancing in Atlantic City."

Though none of the proposed residential developments has broken ground, they include projects in most every section of the city. Atlantic City promises to become a weekend getaway resort far more attractive than Las Vegas. The reasons: the never-ending popularity of waterfront development, upscale casinos and an appeal to affluent, aging baby boomers.

As recently as five years ago, no one talked about buying a second house here, said Tim O'Rorke, a commercial real estate lender for Commerce Bank, which is involved with residential projects in the city. "It's amazing to look at what's happened here since," said O'Rorke, who attended the seminar.

Another attendee, Larry DeVietra Jr., president of the Glassboro-based Land Dimensions Engineering, said the growth in Atlantic City offers his company opportunities.

"I believe the Atlantic City market will affect all of South Jersey," said Barry Bannett, CEO of the Bannett Group, a Cherry Hill-based builder and designer.

"This region could have the greatest home market on the East Coast. And Atlantic City is the focal point."

As housing attracts more private developers, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority is getting out of that phase of its mission, said panelist Tom Carver, executive director of the agency. The CRDA will change its focus.

With Atlantic City one of the leading economic generators for the state, the agency will concentrate on job growth and investment in Atlantic City and South Jersey, Carver said. "The port of Camden and all of Camden is important to us. I want to see Camden grow."

Panelists spoke of the growth in nongaming attractions. Carver said a $100 million program to upgrade the boardwalk kicks off this summer. When completed, it could be the catalyst to attract national retailers and restaurants to the boardwalk outside of the confines of casino hotels.

The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment.

Established in 1936, the institute has more than 29,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or wsokolic@courierpostonline.com