All About The Wildwoods - Happenings and More

Dispute over visas has ripples at Shore

2008-03-23T13:22:00.000-04:00

A standoff in Congress over foreign labor could hurt tourism this summer, merchants warn.
By Jacqueline L. Urgo
April 23, 2008

Inquirer Staff Writer

WILDWOOD - Accountants and sales reps for Morey's Piers could be on the amusement park's front line this summer, operating rides and working in guest relations.
And the double duty won't be by choice.

Morey's, where hundreds of seasonal foreign guest workers did everything from strap riders into the Tilt-A-Whirl to dish out ice cream in 2007, is caught in a congressional immigration standoff that some say could cripple New Jersey's $37 billion tourism industry this year.

At issue is a critical shortage of H-2B seasonal-labor visas that last summer allowed about 7,500 foreigners to legally work at an estimated 700 businesses on the Jersey Shore.

"This is a huge economic issue for New Jersey," said Denise Beckson, director of operations and human resources at Morey's Piers, where the payroll grows to 1,500 in the summer.

Morey's, a landmark in this resort town, opened on Friday with a limited staff of mostly local employees. They are augmented by about a dozen college students from Thailand, whose J-1 visas will allow them to work for 90 days.

Hiring J-1 laborers has become a popular stopgap measure at the Shore, though employers would prefer H-2B workers whose six-month visas make them available in both of the "shoulder" seasons, before Memorial Day and for about a month after Labor Day.

"If you don't have enough employees, you ultimately can't provide proper service for your guests, and that could have both short-term and long-term impacts on New Jersey's tourism industry," Beckson said.

In 1991, the federal government set a quota of 66,000 seasonal H-2B visas per year - half issued in winter and half in summer - that allow residents of countries such as Ireland, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, South Africa, and Thailand to take mostly low-paying U.S. jobs that employers say are difficult to fill.

The laborers pay taxes and contribute to Social Security, then return home at the end of the season. By law, they must be paid prevailing wages. The H-2B visa program does not apply to seasonal agricultural workers.

Shore businesses "have historically tried to hire as many local kids as we can," said Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. "But there are usually more jobs than there are local students."

As tourist season has lengthened, hotels, restaurants, amusements and other businesses have relied less on American students because of their restrictive school schedules. And U.S. adults tend to seek higher-skilled year-round jobs, employers say.

Not only is the annual H-2B cap too low, say the business owners, but regulations that prevent laborers from applying for a visa more than 120 days before starting work hurt their industries. The 33,000 visas made available on Jan. 2 were gone in one day, before workers who would arrive in spring were allowed to apply.

This year, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus added a wrinkle by blocking legislation that would have extended a measure, first passed in 2005, that exempted returning H-2B workers from the quota. With that exemption, some say, more than 225,000 visas for new and returning workers were granted last year. The caucus has said it is holding out for a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

Local employers fearful of a summer labor shortage say immigration reform is separate from the issue of H-2B work permits and have called on Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), a member of the caucus, to get things moving.

"We have tried to make it clear to Sen. Menendez the negative impact that this standoff can have on his own home state," said Beckson. The Morey's Piers official is a member of a group called Save Small Business that recently made the rounds in Washington, asking legislators to reform the work-visa system.

Menendez is sympathetic, he said, but he is not inclined to reform immigration laws piecemeal.

"I am aware of the problems that small businesses face. Clearly, there aren't enough Americans to do the number of important jobs in this country," he said in an e-mail last week.

"We need to see the bigger picture: We need a complete package to fix the [immigration] problem," Menendez said.

And the chance of that in a presidential-election year is virtually nil, say many political analysts.

In the meantime, recruitment and hiring at many Shore businesses have come to a virtual standstill.

Beckson and others from Morey's did their customary off-season recruitment tour of Asia and Western and Eastern Europe this year. In the past, they signed up H-2B workers who were typically college-age or just out of school. The company stayed competitive, she said, by offering dorm housing and slightly better pay than other Shore businesses.

Morey's had hoped to recruit from South Africa this year, but canceled its trip there due to the visa issue.

The company expects as few as 35 H-2B workers to be on its payroll this summer, Beckson said. She hopes to hire more three-month J-1 workers, and she will dragoon Morey's administrative personnel if things get tough, she said.

Jenkinson's Piers, in Point Pleasant Beach, is looking for more domestic labor.

"We had a job fair last month, and we're having another one this month to try to find more local kids to fill in positions where we may need them later on in the summer," said Marilou Halvorsen, director of recruitment for Jenkinson's, which will open in a few weeks, weather permitting.

Jenkinson's hires about 1,500 employees for its amusement piers, beaches and aquarium, Halvorsen said. Last year, about 100 were H-2Bs.

In January, Jenkinson's contacted ski resorts out West in hopes it could persuade H-2B employees there to stay in the country and work at the Shore. The complicated process of applying for a visa extension has led few to come forward, Halvorsen said.

Gillian, of the Ocean City chamber of commerce, said some in her organization are worried about what will happen if Memorial Day arrives and they aren't fully staffed.

A labor shortage would affect New Jersey businesses large and small, Gillian said. At Six Flags Great Adventure, in Jackson, N.J., about 400 of the park's 1,800 workers were on H-2B visas in 2006, according to the most recent statistics available from the state Department of Labor.

"It could be devastating and seriously hurt our Shore communities if these workers can't return," Gillian said. "And it seems like we really won't know for sure what the numbers will be until the season gets into full swing in June."

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

Be Fit

2007-10-02T21:39:00.000-04:00

Fitness park off to running start in Wildwood Crest

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2007

WILDWOOD CREST - Mayor Carl Groon summed up what made the borough's new fitness park different from similar settings in other cities and towns.
"(It is) a great park overlooking one of the best beaches in the world," Groon said as the park was officially opened Monday afternoon.

Jogging with an ocean view - what jogger could ask for more?

The name fitness park, however, is being used for lack of a better term, Commissioner Don Cabrera explained.

The park features a jogging path, five laps of which equal slightly more than a mile, but otherwise it is primarily a place to stop and relax thanks to the lush green lawn and plenty of comfortable benches.

The original plan was to have six to eight fitness stations with balance beams and other exercise aids, but they were not included in the final project budget of $475,000.
Cabrera hopes that a private donor will provide the approximately $30,000 needed to put that part of the park into action.

Meanwhile, residents and visitors alike have a new place to spend their time.

In fall 2006, Cabrera introduced the idea of turning two vacant borough-owned lots between Forget-Me-Not and Palm roads at Ocean Avenue into the fitness park with the help of money being returned to the county's municipalities by the Cape May County freeholders.

The money was the result of an ample 2006 budget surplus, which the county opted to use to encourage communities to make recreation or quality-of-life improvements.

The county set aside $3.8 million for those projects and Wildwood Crest received more than $156,000 to put towards the property's transformation from sandy, weed-covered lot to an inviting place to play.

In addition to the fitness stations, Cabrera said there are also plans to add an entertainment area for concerts and puppet shows.

The lots covered about 4,000 square feet and the jogging path measures 1,069 feet with five laps equaling just over a mile at 5,345 feet.

Cabrera credited the county and local residents for supporting the project.

"The park improves our recreation and our quality of life," Cabrera said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:

Mediation scheduled

2007-08-12T23:11:00.000-04:00

Meeting set to settle costs, code violations in Wildwoods
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 11, 2007

WILDWOOD — A voluntary session with a state mediator is scheduled Wednesday in the ongoing effort to finally fix and pay for repairs to hundreds of Wildwoods condominium units not built to code.

At a February hearing, Superior Court Judge Steven Perskie urged mediation to settle the case he named “JCOW versus most of the western hemisphere.”

Attorney Glenn P. Callahan, representing the former Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, said he is dealing with 101 buildings, which were found to have violations related to fire safety.

“We are in settlements. We are about halfway through,” Callahan said.

Callahan said that of the 101 properties, 51 are settled between at least two parties, meaning they are awaiting closing agreements.

The parties involved in the agreements can include the construction office, builders, architects and condominium associations.

Callahan said another 35 properties are in the midst of “active negotiations” and about 15 are in a holding pattern.

All parties were invited to attend the mediation session in Trenton, but the session is voluntary, and Callahan said he won't know how many will take part until Wednesday.

Of the 51 described as settled, some of the work has been done to fix the violations while work is scheduled to begin on others.

The violations were first spotted in a 2005 review by the state Department of Community Affairs, which found as many as 500 units were not built to code. The violations included missing firewalls, inadequate exits and other fire-related issues.

Perskie had said he would take away the certificates of occupancy for units unable to work out the problems, but in February he was satisfied that was not necessary as settlement talks progressed.

Callahan said about 65 percent of the 101 buildings have seen the work completed, but questions remain about who will ultimately pay for the repairs.

Attorney Henry Lewandowski, who represents 42 of the condominium associations involved, said Friday that a few have seen their matters resolved with the work done and paid for already.

The rest, however, remain in settlement talks.

Lewandowski said he is working with the construction office and any architects with insurance.

His clients, meanwhile, continue to wait for their cases to reach some conclusion.

“Anger is the most significant, most consistent emotion,” Lewandowski said. “They get angrier as the days go on.”

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Film Fest

2007-08-12T23:09:00.000-04:00

Wildwood by the Sea Film Fest planned for fall
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 11, 2007

WILDWOOD — Never made it to a Hollywood premiere?
Well, not to worry. Organizers of the Wildwood by the Sea Film Fest hope to bring a little bit of Tinseltown to the shore.

“We're going to join Wildwood and Hollywood. We’ll call it Wollywood,” joked Paul Russo, co-director of the festival.

The festival, being presented by the Greater Wildwood Hotel Motel Association, is designed to combine music and movies for what organizers describe as “a world premiere event.”

Russo said a number of films will debut at the festival, which will run for from Sept. 27 to Sept. 30 at the Wildwoods Convention Center.

Russo said film director Shawn Swords asked why the island didn't host a film festival, and the festival grew from there.
Swords was one of three directors who helped announce the festival Friday inside the new Doo Wop Experience, the city's Ocean Avenue museum devoted to the culture of the 1950s and 1960s.

Near the podium was an artist's rendering of a red-carpet gala complete with limousine outside the entrance to the convention hall.

Russo said about 100 films will be shown during the festival, with cast and crew coming from as far away as Tokyo.

Bruce Smith, president of the hotel motel association, introduced three directors who will be premiering their latest ventures in Wildwood.

They included George Manney, director of “Pipes of Peace,” Carolyn Travis, director of “Airplay,” and Swords, director of “Philly Music Scene.”

Each of the films is related to the music industry and features some of the acts who also made a name for themselves in Wildwood during its musical heyday.

Travis said she couldn't think of a better place to debut her film, which focuses on the rebel DJs who made music available to audiences who might otherwise not have heard it.

Manney focused on the life of Rufus Harley, who was billed as the world's first jazz bagpiper, while Swords film takes a look back at the Philadelphia music scene between 1952 and 1963 with the aid of performers like Chubby Checker.

Swords promised a “couple of Hollywood people” would be among the crowd when the film debuts here in September.

While Friday's event was to introduce the festival, organizers also recognized doo-wop supporters and the musicians who made the era so memorable.

The owners of the Caribbean Motel, George Miller and Carolyn Emigh, received an award marking the motel's 50th anniversary.

“They made an investment in what we believe in,” said Dan MacElrevey, president of the Doo Wop Preservation League.

Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, was also on hand to present several proclamations to the motel owners and musicians Dee Dee Sharp and members of The Orlons and The Dovells.

Van Drew credited the island with finding ways to create economic opportunity and move the community forward while appreciating its history.

“Celebrate the past and look to a better and brighter vision of the future,” Van Drew said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Waterpark in North Wildwood

2007-07-18T09:01:00.000-04:00

Piering into the future North Wildwood approves plan for waterpark high-rise hotel
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2007

NORTH WILDWOOD — City Council has approved a plan to turn the now-vacant Seaport Pier into a 90,000- square-foot pirate-themed indoor waterpark.
WB Resorts Development plans to invest $175 million in the project, which includes both construction of the water park on the east side of the Boardwalk between 22nd and 23rd avenues and a 16-story 425-room hotel on the west side.

Tentatively named “Captain Andy’s Indoor Waterpark Resort,” the water park could be open in 2010 if the project receives all the permits and approvals it needs.

Attorney M. James Maley, representing WB Resorts, called Tuesday’s decision by City Council the start of a partnership that will revive the dilapidated pier and bring new business activity to the area around it.

“If you’re not growing, if you’re not improving, then you’re dying,” Maley said of the need to bring new life to the pier.

He predicted the project would also deliver not only construction jobs, but 300 to 400 year-round job opportunities on the island.
Under the redevelopment agreement, the city would sell the pier to the developers for a yet undetermined price. WB Resorts already owns or has the option to buy the property across from the pier.

The plan also calls for the pier to be moved slightly to the south to align it with the hotel while also improving the view at the street ends at 22nd and 23rd avenues.

The pirate-themed water park would be enclosed in glass, visible from the Boardwalk, and built in what Maley called a “Disneyesque” fashion designed to draw visitors to the island beyond the traditional tourist season.

It would be open to hotel guests first, and then to other island visitors based on availability and the park’s capacity.

The 187-feet, 16-story hotel, meanwhile, would feature some form of condominium ownership, but all the rooms would be used as hotel rooms, Maley said.

An overhead pedestrian walkway would link the two properties. The resort would also feature three restaurants and a 600-car parking garage.

Maley said the developers plan to meet with the neighbors around the site within the next month to discuss any concerns about the effect the resort will have on the neighborhood.

He said the entrance for vehicles would be within the building’s footprint to avoid traffic backing up into city streets.

Maley said the property will also handle its own trash collection and security to reduce reliance on city services.

With the city’s approval in hand, the developer can now work on obtaining Coastal Area Facility Review Act, or CAFRA permits, along with local Planning Board approvals.

City Planner Stuart Wiser said the city currently permits buildings as tall as 90.8 feet in the Boardwalk location, so variances will be required.

Special counsel Robert Beckelman said the city has to approve the design and final site plan, and the developer is obligated to stay in constant communication with the city on the project’s status.

Beckelman said the redevelopment agreement also requires city residents to get the first crack at the resort’s jobs.

Wiser said the city’s Planning Board has also declared the west side, where the hotel will be built, as an area in need of redevelopment and an agreement on that portion of the project will be forthcoming.

WB Resorts is a limited liability company founded in 2006 by Andrew Weiner, Brian Baratz and David Baratz.

Weiner is the managing partner of Splash Zone, a water park in Wildwood. Brian Baratz is an accountant and founding partner of Baratz & Associates. David Baratz is director of operations and marketing for Splash Zone.

The project is expected to have a 2008 ground breaking with an opening planned for 2010.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

2007-07-11T02:32:00.000-04:00

South Jersey Journal
Cradle of Rock? Two Towns Stake Their Claims

By ROBERT STRAUSS
Published: July 10, 2007
WILDWOOD, N.J.

Bill Haley and the Saddlemen performed at Jack's Twin Bar in the early ’50s, before the Comets and “Rock Around the Clock.”

Dick Richards was pounding the drums and thinking of the girls on the beach. It was Saturday night during Memorial Day weekend in 1954, and more than 500 people were jammed into the HofBrau Hotel here to hear his band, the Comets, kick off the summer.

“We had just recorded this song in April,” he said, “and that night we introduced it to the crowd. I guess that was the first real night of rock ’n’ roll.”

The song was “Rock Around the Clock,” by Bill Haley and His Comets, considered by many to be the first rock-’n’-roll hit, and the first song with the word “rock” in the title to hit the top of the Billboard charts.

Now officials and residents in Wildwood, which in recent years has put a high polish and a healthy dose of kitsch on its 1950s- and ’60s-era motels to promote tourism, are saying that their town near the southern tip of New Jersey in Cape May County is the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll.

After all, for a few summers Dick Clark held record hops in Wildwood while he was the host of “American Bandstand.” And there are plaques where the HofBrau once stood, as well as the site of the former Rainbow Club (now a nightclub called Kahuna’s), where Chubby Checker first performed “The Twist.”

But Gloucester City, another New Jersey town, about an 80-mile drive northwest of Wildwood, wants to cut in right there. And on Saturday, Mr. Richards and other Comets plan to headline a show in Gloucester City, in Camden County along the Delaware River, to commemorate an 18-month span in the early 1950s when Mr. Haley led the house band at the Twin Bar.

The thing is, though, at the time that band was Bill Haley and the Saddlemen— not the Comets — and it started out playing traditional country-and-western music.

“Before I joined them, they had started playing a song called ‘Rock This Joint,’ which had a rhythm-and-blues beat, but mostly they were a western swing band,” said Mr. Richards, who today is 83 and has homes in Ocean City, N.J., and in Missouri, near Branson, where the Comets play at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater about 80 times a year.

“Then they added a drum and a lead guitar and became the Comets,” Mr. Richards added, “and the rest is history.”

Or maybe not.

No matter what claim these two towns make, competition for the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll stretches from Philadelphia, the home of “American Bandstand”; to Cleveland, where the disc jockey Alan Freed came to fame and home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum; to Memphis, the site of Elvis Presley’s Graceland home.

“I don’t know that rock was born — more that it evolved,” said Bob Santelli, a former education director at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a former chief executive of the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle. “Memphis, New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta all significantly helped the American music scene after World War II, though certainly these New Jersey towns played roles.”

Still, he acknowledged that Bill Haley, who died at age 55 in 1981, “has rarely been given his due.”

Mr. Santelli said of Mr. Haley, “He was among the first to blend black and white music and saw that country and western and rhythm and blues could have a hybrid.”

Steve Martarano, 78, who still lives in Gloucester City, said he was just back from the Navy when he started hanging out at the Twin Bar.

“Ladies weren’t allowed in the front room of the bar, but they could go back in back where the Saddlemen played,” said Mr. Martarano.

Dennis Galligan, a trucking executive from Williamstown, about 20 miles south of Gloucester City, was looking for a business that he and his wife, Tammy, could run while caring for her sick father. He ended up buying Burt’s Shamrock Bar in 2004, and soon afterward had an out-of-towner come in and look around.

“It was a guy named Marshall Lytle, and he said he played there as one of the Comets,” Mr. Galligan said.

Mr. Lytle, indeed, played bass with the Comets in the 1950s, and still does along with Mr. Richards, and Mr. Galligan’s business was the former Twin Bar. Mr. Galligan painted the exterior yellow and renamed the place Jack’s Twin Bar. It has outdoor seating by Gloucester City’s main intersection, and the front doors are copies of the original hardwood-and-glass ones that Mr. Haley strode through.

While Gloucester City’s rock commemoration will feature an afternoon of music, Wildwood is planning an entire weekend — its fourth annual Fabulous ’50s Weekend — in October, with performers like the Coasters and, the Cadillacs and Little Anthony and the Imperials.

“We’ll let them have their version if they let us have ours,” said Paul Russo, the owner of Cool Scoops, a ’50s-themed ice cream parlor in North Wildwood and a promoter of the weekend celebration. “It’s just important that people know South Jersey wasn’t a backwater, but an innovator of a great part of American culture.”

4th of July

2007-07-01T23:31:00.000-04:00

Wildwood Is Having a July Fourth Bash
Four Days of Fun Set Up Around July 4th in Wildwood,NJ
Chris Kirk
AC - The People's Media Company
July 1, 2007

Some cities celebrate July 4th in style. Wildwood, NJ though has decided to turn July 4th into a five day celebration with details on this website. They have decided at this beach town on the southeast coast of New Jersey that just one day, just plain isn't enough. The resort town will of course be having some of the traditional celebratory activities, including fireworks on July 4th, but they will add to it. Considering that there are fireworks every Friday night in season in Wildwood, it was only natural to try to do something a little bit different for the Fourth Of July, and Wildwood has done just that.

The celebration will last a total of five days. The resort town will start and end the celebratory period of our nation's independence with concerts, and also have fireworks, a barbecue, and boxing during that time period. The celebration will start on July 3rd at 8 PM, as Jefferson Starship, the band with hits from the 60's through the early 90's, will open the celebration up with their concert. Other bands will appear with Jefferson Starship as was as Tom Constanten of The Grateful Dead.

On July 4th, Wildwood is turning the beach into a huge backyard barbecue! The back deck of the Ocean Front Arena is where everyone will want to go starting at 5:00 PM. There will be a large "all you can eat bbq buffet" starting at that time which will include hamburgers and hotdogs, sausage and peppers, chicken, fruits, vegetables, and cookies. All of this will be available for adults for $14.95 and only $6.95 for children ages six and under. The barbecue will also offer peel and eat tiger shrimp and clams as well for an additional cost for anyone wishing to purchase them. After the bbq, there will be a live DJ playing music until the fireworks display at 10 PM.

On Friday July 6th, Wildwood will host live boxing matches along with mixed martial arts matches. There will be six boxing matches, along with 8 mixed martial arts matchups for a total of 14 contests. Tickets will be good for both shows. The doors for the Ocean Front Arena (Wildwood Convention Center) will open at six o'clock with the mixed martial arts matches starting right away, the boxing matches will begin at eight o'clock on the 6th.

The Fourth Of July week celebration will end on Saturday night with Mary Wilson of the Supremes performing a concert. She will be joined by The Angels, The Dixie Cups, The Ronettes, and The Shirelles. The concert will be held once again at The Wildwood Convention Center, and will begin at 8 PM.

Tickets for the concerts and the martial arts and boxing event can be purchased through Ticketmaster

Beach Boardwalk

2007-06-29T16:45:00.000-04:00

Wildwood meets bathers halfway
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, June 29, 2007

WILDWOOD — Sure, a moving sidewalk that carries beachgoers and their belongings the 1,800 or so feet between the Boardwalk and the water's edge here would be perfect.But visitors such as Diane Dunham are almost as thrilled with the next best thing — a wooden walk that makes at least half the trek across the city's expansive beach just a little easier to manage.

On Thursday, public works crews installed the new wooden walks at several streets. Most of the wooden sections ordered by the city should be in place in time for the Fourth of July holiday.

“You're not having to walk in that hot sand,” said Dunham, of Woodstown, as she and her friends and family prepared to make the trip toward the Atlantic Ocean from the Boardwalk at Leaming Avenue.

They came to town for the day, but with what appeared to be provisions for a much longer stay. There were beach chairs, a cooler, buckets and shovels, beach towels and more. The little ones in her group helped carry what they could, and the new wooden walk eased their burden, too.

The wooden walkways, made of pressure-treated pine, were built through a Department of Corrections program and funded by an $80,000 grant from Cape May County, said city development director Lou Ferrara.
Nine hundred of the 4-by-10-foot-long sections will be planted up and down the beach as they come in. By Thursday afternoon, Roberts, Rio Grande, Leaming and Hildreth avenues had the walkways in place.

Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said the city hopes to improve access for everyone, particularly those in wheelchairs, who want to enjoy the beach. Beach ends with ramps were among the first to receive the new walkways.

In addition to the 900-foot-long walks, the city has added portable toilets at the end of the walks, including handicapped-accessible facilities, said acting Public Works Director Kevin Verity.

Along the way, extra boards have been added at certain points to allow room for beach- goers to pass each other. Benches will likely be added later, Troiano said.

Ferrara said the boards will likely stay in place until the season comes to a close, and then they will be stored until next summer.

And in the meantime, the mayor warned those with permits to drive on the beach not to drive across the walkways, which could crack or break under the weight of a car or truck.

“Anybody caught driving over them will be shot at sundown,” the mayor joked.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Diamond Beach

2007-06-09T04:24:00.000-04:00

Construction Underway for Luxury Jersey Shore Condo Complex
June 08, 2007
Commercial Property News USA
By Amanda Marsh, Associate Editor

The Grand at Diamond Beach condominium complex in Diamond Beach, N.J., is well on its way. The property, which is just south of Wildwood in Cape May County, is a 12-story building that will contain 125 upscale condo units along with associate amenities and recreation areas upon its completion, expected in fall 2008. The site is the former location of the Grand Hotel, which was razed to make room for the development.

The Dick Corp. was recently awarded a $100 million contract to provide construction services for the project along with Baumgardner Construction. Paul Chiolo, the sales director for the project and the owner of Oceanside Realty, which is marketing the condo units, told CPN the total build-out would be in the "couple hundred million dollar" range.

The Grand at Diamond Beach is an unprecedented project for the Cape May area. "This is the only condo/lifestyle project of its type on the Jersey Shore," Chiodo said. The project is in response to the growing affluence of the area, and is unique because of its private beach. The parcel next door, which is currently home to the Pier 6600 Motor Inn, will house the second phase of The Grand at Diamond Beach a few years down the line, he added. The second phase is currently in its design stage by the project's developer, Achristavest L.L.C., which specifically focuses on waterfront residential developments.

Other upscale residential projects Achristavest currently has under development include: Shoals Resort in Bald Head Island, N.C.; Santa Rosa in Ocean City, N.J.; and Deerfield Estate in Deer Valley, Park City, Utah.

Tourism Tax

2007-06-03T18:51:00.000-04:00

N.J. tourism tax deal no winner, locals say

By PETE McALEER Statehouse Bureau, (609) 292-4935
Published: Saturday, June 2, 2007

TRENTON — When the state adopted a 7 percent lodging tax in 2002, it cushioned the blow with a promise seemingly backed by the force of the law.
By statute, the Legislature dedicated a portion of the revenue from the room tax to tourism and the arts. The win-win scenario had the state collecting more tax dollars from the lodging industry but investing more into tourism to attract new visitors.

Five years later, half of that scenario has held true. Guess which half.

“The only part of the bill that they enacted is the part about taking the money,” said Diane Wieland, director of tourism for Cape May County.

Tax revenue from hotel and motel visits continue to grow each year, bringing $78 million to this year's budget and a projected $87 million in the upcoming budget.

Meanwhile, tourism officials are back in Trenton, fighting for money they thought had been guaranteed. The state cut tourism funding from $12.76 million to $10.1 million last year and proposes to spend the same $10.1 million this year.
“The state is reneging on a promise they made,” said Aldo Tenaglia, owner of the Royal Canadian in Wildwood and Shalimar Resort in Wildwood Crest.

For hotel and motel owners, the tax puts their businesses at a disadvantage not only with other states but with their neighbors, Tenaglia said. Hotels and motels must charge both a 7 percent sales tax and a 7 percent lodging tax. The state does not collect either tax from condominiums or rental properties.

While hotel and motel owners feel shafted, state treasury officials are pointing to the fine print. The statute recommends the state spend $12.7 million on tourism, but it allows for a minimum appropriation of $9 million, said Treasury Department Spokesman Mark Perkiss.

“When you look at the statute, it doesn't say ‘you must,'” Perkiss said. “We're in compliance.”

John Siciliano, executive director of the Wildwood Convention Center, said the state takes the wrong attitude toward the tourism industry.

“This is a $47 billion industry for the state, and we're going to be sitting down arguing over $2 million,” Siciliano said. “I'm shocked we're even having these conversations.”

Two weeks ago, Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew — who is chairman of the Tourism and Gaming Committee — held a hearing about the issue. He plans to rally tourism officials to attend an upcoming budget hearing and fight for full funding.

“Our argument is we know the budget is tight, but the city of Philadelphia spends more in tourism promotion than the entire state of New Jersey,” Van Drew said. “I think as distasteful as that tax is, the redeeming factor was there would be a statutory requirement to fund tourism. You really are breaking the intent and the spirit of the legislation.”

Van Drew said he will introduce legislation that requires the state to fund tourism fully or eliminate the occupancy tax. He said the bill will not move in time for this budget, which must be adopted by July 1.

A similar “poison pill” amendment requires the state to fund beach replenishment fully if it wants to collect the real estate transfer tax. Those types of arrangements typically are set before a tax is adopted and not after.

State Sen. Nicholas Asselta, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said the Legislature pulled a similar trick when it promised to direct money from an income tax increase toward property tax rebates, then later cut the rebates while keeping the tax.

“Where does it end?” Asselta asked. “We should be fighting for more money, not what's owed to us. This is the livelihood of the state, tourism, and you're shorting them $2 million in marketing money. Is this maybe one of the underlying reasons for why we still have a deficit? It's penny-wise and pound-foolish.”

For Weiland, the director for Cape May County's tourism department, the biggest concern is that the numbers show a trend toward daytrippers. She said Cape May County's accommodations industry has remained flat for three years at $2.2 billion annually, while revenue for attractions has risen 60 percent.

“If we reduce tourism funding by $2 million, are we doing everything we need to do?” Weiland asked. “We need to use every penny of that to expand our market and open new markets to create overnight stays.”

Statewide, tourism has fallen from the state's second largest industry to its third, behind pharmaceuticals and technology. Marilou Halvorsen, president of the New Jersey Travel Industry Association, said the state's own study shows every dollar spent on tourism promotion brings back $29 to the economy.

“I don't know any investment on Wall Street that yields that kind of return,” Halvorsen said.

To e-mail Pete McAleer at The Press:PMcAleer@pressofac.com

On the Boardwalk

2007-05-25T06:53:00.000-04:00

Wildwood mayor: Choice of wood for Boardwalk not set in concrete

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, May 24, 2007

WILDWOOD — Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. on Wednesday restated his willingness to use something other than tropical hardwood to rebuild the city's Boardwalk if an alternative can be found that will meet both the city's structural needs and spending limits.

During the city's regular commission meeting, Ocean City resident Stephen Fenichel asked the mayor about the city's plans to use a tropical hardwood called ipe certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Designating the wood as certified means the council can track its origins and certify it has not been illegally harvested.

Fenichel, pointing to a January 2007 issue of National Geographic, told the commissioners that the logging of tropical hardwood's is destroying the rainforests and should not be supported by local governments.

As he has done before, Troiano told Fenichel the city is willing to consider using an alternative wood, black locust, if the wood meets the city's needs.

City Engineer Marc DeBlasio told Fenichel that “mechanically the wood meets the specifications,” meaning a Boardwalk made of black locust could be strong enough to support both the millions of visitors who come here and emergency equipment if needed.

The question is whether the city could readily access a large enough supply by the time the Boardwalk reconstruction is scheduled to begin in October and whether it could be found for the right price.

Phase one of the project, which stretches across Oak, Cedar and Schellenger avenues, is expected to cost $3.4 million.

Urban Enterprise Zone director Lou Ferrara said the city has been willing to work with Fenichel and Rainforest Relief, but he suggested the push for black locust was “another stall tactic.”
“If you're serious about us getting black locust, get us a price,” Ferrara said.
Troiano echoed his comments.

“We will use it if the price is right,” Troiano said, explaining that the city's bid specifications allowed for the use of ipe and other materials of equal or better quality.

Fenichel said he would attempt to get the city a price with the help of Rainforest Relief.
Also during Wednesday's meeting, the commission introduced several bonding ordinances to support a range of capital improvements and equipment purchases.

They include $5 million for water-main replacements and another $658,000 for drainage upgrades in the back bay area, sewer repairs and equipment purchases. The city also expects to receive $240,600 in grant money for the drainage projects.

The city also introduced an ordinance to spend $42,000 for a revision of the master plan.
That revision was deemed necessary by the state Department of Environmental Protection if the city hopes to move forward with the construction of multiple high-rise hotels.

The city also held a public hearing on the 2007 budget Wednesday, but no members of the public spoke.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Rental Tax for All

2007-05-23T09:01:00.000-04:00

Make all rentals pay room tax, say Wildwoods hotel owners

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Wednesday, May 23, 2007WILDWOOD — The island's leading tourism groups are urging the state to require owners of condominium units to charge their renters the same taxes imposed on motel guests.

“They should collect the tax like everybody else is forced to do,” said Bruce Smith, president of the Greater Wildwood Hotel & Motel Association.

Smith said condominium owners have an unfair advantage over motel owners who are required to charge a 14 percent room tax in the Wildwoods and at least 12 percent elsewhere in the state.
In addition to the 7 percent sales tax, motel and hotel guests in the Wildwoods pay the following taxes:

n 2 percent tourism tax for operation and maintenance of the Wildwoods Convention Center

n 1.85 percent tourism assessment for advertising and marketing by the tourism authority
n 3.15 percent room occupancy tax for the state

During a news conference Tuesday, Smith, owner of the Tangiers Motel in Wildwood Crest, read a resolution passed by the association's board of directors asking the state to enforce existing state law, which they believe applies to hotels, motels and other room rentals including condominiums.

The state's administrative code requires that taxes on hotel-room occupancy must be imposed and it defines hotel as meaning “a building or portion thereof which is regularly used and kept open as such for the purpose of furnishing sleeping accommodations for pay to tourists, transients or travelers. It includes, but is not limited to the following: an apartment hotel, motel, inn, tourist home, tourist house or court, tourist cabin and club; a boarding house or rooming house containing eight or more units; and any other building or group of buildings in which sleeping accommodations are normally available to the public on a transient basis.”

The law does not address forms of ownership or amenities provided.

However, Mark Perkiss, a spokesman with the state Department of Treasury, said Tuesday the rental of a condominium is not subject to the state's room tax.

“The law is specific to motel rooms,” Perkiss said, adding condominium rentals involve the rental of real property as opposed to designated hotel or motel rooms.

The Wildwoods tourism authority disagrees.

“We do believe the law is written very clearly,” said John Siciliano, executive director of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority. “It's time for the state to apply it as it's written.”

Siciliano said the state is missing out on an estimated $345 million in tax revenue that could be generated by condominium rentals through the state's 7 percent sales tax and the 5 percent room-occupancy tax.

Siciliano said the additional revenues could support the state's meager tourism advertising budget and plug holes in the state's troubled budget process.

More importantly, he said, the amount paid in taxes is forcing visitors to spend their nights in condominiums rather than in the island's hotels and motels.

Mary Erceg, a member of the tourism authority board and owner of the AA Heart of Wildwood Motel, recalled the case of a guest who checked into a motel room and quickly checked out after learning there would be no occupancy or sales taxes charged in a nearby condominium.

Erceg said she doesn't understand why the state has failed to act.

“We have not gotten any response other than a deaf ear,” she said.

Steve Tecco, owner of the Armada Motel, said not requiring condominium owners to pay the same taxes amounts to a 14 percent subsidy by the state.
“We cannot compete as those serving as pseudo-motels,” h
e said.

A brief Internet search led to several condominiums in the Wildwoods that list the lodging tax as zero or none. The owner of one of those properties said the zero sales tax is not the primary concern of her guests.

“They are interested in the number of rooms and how many can sleep in a unit (not the tax),” she said.

Tecco said the many taxes paid support advertising for the island, which in turn brings new visitors here. When those visitors opt to rent condominiums instead of motel rooms, the condominium owners benefit without paying their fair share, he said.

Smith said he a number of motels on the island have chosen to move to the condominium form of ownership simply to avoid paying the various taxes, and he fears more will do the same, thereby reducing advertising dollars for the island.

Siciliano sent a letter last week to the Division of Taxation asking the state to once again take a look at the issue.

“It is the financially prudent thing to do,” he wrote.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Watch the Tram Car Please

2007-05-18T07:29:00.000-04:00

'Voice' Behind Wildwood's Tram Cars Never Expected Fame
POSTED: 5:28 pm EDT May 17, 2007
NBC Ted Greenberg

WILDWOOD, N.J. -- The tram cars are a staple of the Wildwood boardwalk, and along with them comes that famous voice.

Slideshow: Wildwood To Unveil New Tram Cars

You know the one. She tells us to "Watch the tram cars please!"

The woman who made that recording still lives here in the Wildwoods. When she made it in the early 70s, she never thought it would become a phrase so many people instantly connect with the Jersey Shore.

They are five words that first rolled off Floss Stingel's tongue 36 years ago.

"They were looking for a new recording," Stingel said. "I just spoke into a little tape recorder and that was it. Watch the tram car please. Watch the tram car please. … I became the voice of the tram car."

Stingel, now 67, made the recording in 1971 as a favor to her then-boyfriend, who worked for the company that owned the Wildwood's boardwalk tram cars.

"Didn't think much of it," Stingel said.

The boyfriend is long gone. But Stingel's voice never left the resort's wooden way.

"I think it still sounds the same except once in a while when it skips," she said. "… Sometimes it's annoying to hear it too much if I'm walking up here and hear it a lot."

But for many others, the phrase instantly transports them back to the childhoods in the Wildwoods.

"A lot of people walking will tell me hit the button," said tram car supervisor John Gigliotti. "People want to hear it."

The trams have fixtures in the wildwoods since 1949. This summer, five new passenger cars -- designed to be more comfortable -- are being built for the first time in 44 years.

"I think it's great. Anything they do to them, it's great … any improvements," Stingel said.
Stingel is now retired after working for South Jersey Gas Company for 40 years. She lives in North Wildwood, and still finds time to ride the tram cars that have carried her voice up and down the boards for more than three decades.

"It's something you expect to see. It's part of the town," Stingel said.

NBC 10's Ted Greenberg reported that Stingel was not paid a cent to make the recording, but these days she usually gets to ride the trams for free.

Seawall Bans

2007-05-15T10:10:00.000-04:00

North Wildwood to ban certain activities on new seawall

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, May 15, 2007

NORTH WILDWOOD — The city's new seawall is perfect for a stroll along the water's edge, but the wall — with drops about 6 feet in some places — is not the perfect spot for, say, go-cart racing.

Today, City Council is expected to approve a ban on such activities to keep the city's newest attraction safe.

“We're playing catch-up on this thing. We never expected it would be such a popular promenade,” said city Administrator Ray Townsend.

City Police Capt. Robert Caruso said that so far the seawall, which stretches around the northern end of the city and varies in width from 10 to 12 feet, has been free of any serious problems, and the ordinance was designed to keep it that way.

The new rules take a cue from an existing Boardwalk ordinance also designed to keep people moving safely.

Under the new guidelines, “self-propelled wheeled devices” such as skateboards, bicycles, roller blades and scooters will not be permitted along the seawall.

Motorized devices such as motorcycles and minibikes are also banned.

The ordinance does not, however, apply to medically necessary devices such as wheelchairs or walkers.

In addition, the ordinance bans the consumption of alcoholic beverages, sleeping on the seawall or peddling and vending.

Violators will be subject to as much as $1,250 in fines and 90 days in the county jail.

Mayor Bill Henfey said that as the wall was completed last year, the city noticed the number of bicycles making use of the promenade, which Townsend said stretches about 6,000 feet along Hereford Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean to the beach.

“There's a concern about any collisions or people falling off there,” he said. “We want everybody to enjoy the walk and keep it safe.”

Some repairs are under way on a small section of the walk, and once those are done the city also plans to install railings along the ocean side of the seawall and the street side where necessary, Henfey said.

The city has already set aside$1 million in bonds for that project.
A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at City Hall followed by a vote on the seawall regulations.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Doo Wop

2007-04-24T11:41:00.000-04:00

Doo Wop Experience taking shape in Wildwood

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2007

WILDWOOD — The grand opening of the city's Doo Wop Experience museum is set for this weekend, but visitors won't get the full experience for some time.

The building itself, housed within the steel structure of the former Surfside Restaurant, is in the final stages of its construction, and Monday workers busily poured concrete to complete the sidewalks, finish the flooring installation and other last-minute jobs.

During a visit to the museum Monday, Frank Nave, museum-exhibit designer, said it will still be many months before the high-tech interactive exhibits planned for the museum are online.
But if Nave's enthusiasm for those exhibits is any indication, they will be worth the wait.

“This is not going to be artifact intensive,” Nave said, explaining there will be no shelves stacked with memorabilia at this museum.

“How do you get young people or international people passionate about (doo-wop)? The idea is to make it interactive and constantly changing,” he said.

Artist's renderings of the museum's interior feature several different exhibits designed to be a world apart from standard museum fare.

Among them is an interactive I-Wall that will deliver doo-wop details via a 42-inch plasma screen that visitors can control.

Doo wop fans will also be able to stroll along a giant map of the Wildwoods that will feature music and information about various doo-wop motels.

He likened the technology to the giant piano keyboard actor Tom Hanks played in the movie “Big.”

Visitors will also be able to harness the hidden designer in them at a display that will allow anyone to design his or her own doo-wop motel.

“They can choose the railings or how many palm trees. You've got to have the palm trees,” Nave said.

Nave said other plans include an exhibit of photographs that can be manipulated on three screens by a control device.

Within each photograph will be more photographs offering different glimpses of period cars, hotels, people and places.

For the more traditional visitors, there will be a couple of less high-tech exhibits including a decorative array of period chairs and a column covered in period lamps.
There is also room within the approximately 3,000-square-foot space to have changing exhibits.
One month a hot rod could be on display, the next, a typical 1950s kitchen, Nave said.
“This was really one hell of a place. It was like Vegas east, and we want to find ways to bring that forward,” Nave said.

At Saturday's grand opening, some of the renderings along with a few vintage pieces and signs will be on display, and Jack Morey, of the Doo Wop Preservation League, said temporary exhibits will also be added until the interactive pieces are ready.

A fundraising effort is also planned to support the exhibits, he said.

And when it's done, Nave said visitors will have a reason to keep coming back because the museum will constantly change its offerings.

“This is going to be pretty unique,” Nave said, “You'll never be able to see it all.”

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Housing Decision

2007-03-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

Wildwood faces split decision on housing

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Monday, March 5, 2007

WILDWOOD — The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is moving its public housing authorities toward a new way of doing business through project-based accounting and budgeting with a goal of operating those authorities more like their counterparts in the multi-family real estate business.

But the move has some, like Wildwood Housing Authority Executive Director William Harris, concerned that the change will actually make the small housing operation less efficient.

“This year, we should be able to maintain the status quo, but it could result in staff reductions later on,” Harris said.

The authority has one part-time and five full-time employees, two full-time and two part-time housekeeping staffers, and six full-time administrators.

Under project-based accounting, the authority will have to divide its two housing entities, Sandman Towers and Commissioners Court, by using two separate budgets and conducting two separate audits.

Sandman Towers has 100 efficiency or one-bedroom units, while Commissioners Court has 70 two-, three- or four-bedroom units.

The units in Sandman Towers are open to those meeting federal income guidelines who are older than 60 or permanently disabled, while Commissioners Court is open to low-income families.
While the change should make the Housing Authority more cost conscious, Harris said it will also add expenses, such as the need to install a second water meter, to allow the two facilities to be billed separately in keeping with the new accounting system.

It's a move Harris fears could make things less efficient given the small size of Wildwood's housing complex.

“This won't have any impacts in 2007 or through mid-2008, but possibly an effect later on in areas such as being able to turn over units and getting new people moved in,” Harris said.
Authority employees will have to undergo new training to meet the requirements of new Housing and Urban Development job descriptions that are more in keeping with their private sector counterparts.

Harris said the authority also is coping with budget changes as its federal subsidy drops from $640,569 in fiscal year 2007 to a projected $502,362 in fiscal year 2008.

The agency's total budget also will drop slightly from $1.27 million in 2007 to $1.25 million in 2008. Tenant rents, interest on the authority's reserves and grants from the state Department of Health and Senior Services support the budget.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Doo-Wop

2007-01-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

Things looking up for doo-wop devotees in the Wildwoods
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Saturday, January 20, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

WILDWOOD — The year is off to a strong start for doo-wop enthusiasts.
This week, Doo Wop Preservation League board member Mary Fox said the league's doo-wop trolley tours will continue in 2007, thanks to $5,000 in funding from the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority.

The tours, which last year took doo-wop fans past 1950s and 1960s motels primarily in Wildwood Crest and Wildwood, drew about 200 people in the summer of 2006 with an additional 200 taking the tour during the annual Fabulous 50s Weekend.

Fox said the tour program got off to a late start in 2006, with tours starting in mid-summer, but this year they are scheduled to run every Tuesday and Thursday from June 19 to Aug. 30.

With the money in place, Fox said organizers can also devote time to other aspects of the tour program.

“We have time now to improve the whole look and feel of the tour,” Fox said, noting that doo-wop design with its plastic palm trees, neon signs and kidney-shaped pools remains popular with visitors around the globe.
“There is a lot of interest in doo wop,” she said.

While many doo-wop era motels have been lost to new development, the recent slow down in real estate sales has also slowed demolitions, Fox said.

“It's giving everybody time to catch their breath,” Fox said. “Even those who want to develop maybe think demolition isn't the way to go. They are asking what can we do instead.”

Visitors will also get to the experience the tour during the island's salute to the '60s Weekend at the end of April when the city unveils its new doo-wop museum, another doo-wop highlight.

The museum, across from the Wildwoods Convention Center on Ocean Avenue, will likely become the first stop on the trolley tour.

Built using the steel superstructure of the former Surfside Restaurant, the museum will house all manner of 1950s artifacts from the Wildwoods and elsewhere.

Preservation league President Dan MacElrevey said Friday the league is even looking on eBay to locate small items, such as period dinnerware, it doesn't already have.

The museum, which will be known formally as the Doo Wop Experience, is nearly complete and is expected to be open to the public the last weekend in April. A neon sign garden will follow.

The league has enlisted museum exhibit designer Frank Nave to help create interesting displays, what MacElrevey called first-class exhibits.

“It's a whole new focal point for Wildwood. It opens up a whole new entertainment center for the city,” MacElrevey said, noting the connecting band shell to the museum.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Wildwoods Improvement Plans

2007-01-13T00:48:00.000-05:00

Wildwoods improvement districts make budgets, plans
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

WILDWOOD — The Boardwalk Special Improvement District is looking to add to its lineup of family entertainment and enhance its sponsorship efforts in time for the 2007 tourist season.

The district, made up of Boardwalk property owners in Wildwood and North Wildwood, has presented its annual budget to fund those efforts to City Commission and will do the same next week for North Wildwood City Council.

Managing Director Patrick Rosenello said the district already supplies free entertainment on the boards most nights of the week except Tuesday.

The plan is to add child-friendly entertainment such as strolling childrens' characters. Also topping the group's agenda are ways to enhance an existing sponsorship agreement with Coca-Cola, possibly with a Coca-Cola sponsored event.

The largest chunk of the district's $1.24 million budget comes from its operation of the Boardwalk tram cars, but sponsorships and other revenue sources, such as funding from the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority add about $250,000 to district's spending plan.

Assessments on the Boardwalk property owners account for $115,000, just 9 percent of the budget, and tram revenue adds $873,000, Rosenello said.
The district took over the tram operation in the spring of 2004, something Rosenello said was a positive move for the district.

He pointed to the trams recent appearance in Philadelphia's annual Mummer's parade and Coca-Cola's tram sponsorship.

"After three years, I'm pretty happy with it," Rosenello said. "We've greatly enhanced the value of the trams to the Boardwalk."

Rosenello, who also serves as managing director for the Downtown Business Improvement District, said that group is also pushing ahead with its 2007 budget and its priorities for the year.

The business district has proposed a $315,000 budget for the year, which requires Wildwood City Commission's approval.

"The focus is on capital projects, bricks and mortar operations," Rosenello said.

The business district is busy redoing sections of Pacific Avenue in the hope that improving the appearance of the downtown will draw new businesses and new customers.

Burk to Spicer avenues are expected to be done by Memorial Day, he said. The outlying blocks not complete by that time will follow.

Grants, obtained with the city, have supported those projects which include new sidewalks and decorative features such as trash cans and street lights.

A design study, supported by the district, is also under way to help business owners win the grants they need to improve the look of their storefronts.

City Commission is expected to hold public hearings and final votes on both the Boardwalk and downtown district budgets on Feb. 14.

North Wildwood City Council will introduce the Boardwalk budget at its Jan. 16 regular meeting.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Changing Times

2006-12-13T23:32:00.000-05:00

Jersey shore amusement hotspot ditches paper tickets
December 12, 2006, 10:00 AM EST
Press of Atlantic City

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) _ You aren't going to need a ticket to ride at one New Jersey shore institution starting next summer.

Instead, you'll need a plastic card.

Morey's Piers, a string of five seaside amusement parks, is doing away with its traditional paper tickets _ long the stuff of scrapbooks and displays at the Wildwood Historical Society Museum.

For rides from the mini tea cups to the AtmosFEAR, admission will be paid starting in 2007 with plastic cards that look a lot like credit cards. That means no more tearing off two or three tickets per ride.

Will Morey, president of the piers, told the Press of Atlantic City for Tuesday's editions that he thinks customers will be comfortable with the switch _ even if nostalgia seekers aren't.

The cards can be reloaded from home computers and registered so that it will be possible to find the owners of lost ones _ and to trace the track of kids lost while playing at the pier.

"We're a unique breed," Morey said, "and we don't want to be outdated."

JCOW

2006-11-13T22:16:00.001-05:00

Former commissioner says now a good time to get out
e-published 10/31/2006

WILDWOOD CREST – Before commissioners moved into a closed-door executive session on Wednesday evening last week to discuss the status of their membership in JCOW, former Commissioner Robert Young wished them luck and offered some advice.
“If you could find a qualified construction official, certainly now would be a good time to disembark (from JCOW),” Young said.

The problem has been ongoing, he reminded them. Concerns about the performance of the JCOW office – including its inspection practices and financial administration -- surfaced periodically over the past several years in Wildwood Crest. In February 2005, Mayor John Pantelone’s administration discussed their concerns with former JCOW construction official Michael Preston. Shortly after taking office, Mayor Carl Groon’s administration considered severing ties with JCOW in June 2005as the result of alleged questionable accounting practices and a buy-out package offered to Preston at his retirement.

At that time, commissioners reported discussing the possibility of hiring a code enforcement inspector through JCOW who would be solely responsible for construction in the Crest.

In an interview with The Leader last June, Commissioner Don Cabrera described withdrawal from JCOW as a “last resort option.”

“I am one for structure,” Cabrera said. “You need to know someone is going to come by and check on you. Right now the only time you get enforcement is if someone complains.”

Commissioners said with Preston retiring, they would give a new construction official a chance to address their concerns. They would use the additional year to consider their options, they said.

It was eventually uncovered by The Leader that Preston retired while under investigation by the State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and he forfeited his license at their request. In September, code violations in 79 buildings inspected under Preston’s watch were revealed.

Young said on Wednesday that he believed that all of the participating municipalities have to take some responsibility for the problems at JCOW. Young noted that Preston worked part time as the Crest’s zoning officer while also working for JCOW.

“He certainly bears a lot of the brunt (of the responsibility, but I think we bear some responsibility, too,” Young said.

-- Maureen Cawley

JCOW

2006-11-13T22:16:00.000-05:00

Former commissioner says now a good time to get out
e-published 10/31/2006

WILDWOOD CREST – Before commissioners moved into a closed-door executive session on Wednesday evening last week to discuss the status of their membership in JCOW, former Commissioner Robert Young wished them luck and offered some advice.
“If you could find a qualified construction official, certainly now would be a good time to disembark (from JCOW),” Young said.

The problem has been ongoing, he reminded them. Concerns about the performance of the JCOW office – including its inspection practices and financial administration -- surfaced periodically over the past several years in Wildwood Crest. In February 2005, Mayor John Pantelone’s administration discussed their concerns with former JCOW construction official Michael Preston. Shortly after taking office, Mayor Carl Groon’s administration considered severing ties with JCOW in June 2005as the result of alleged questionable accounting practices and a buy-out package offered to Preston at his retirement.

At that time, commissioners reported discussing the possibility of hiring a code enforcement inspector through JCOW who would be solely responsible for construction in the Crest.

In an interview with The Leader last June, Commissioner Don Cabrera described withdrawal from JCOW as a “last resort option.”

“I am one for structure,” Cabrera said. “You need to know someone is going to come by and check on you. Right now the only time you get enforcement is if someone complains.”

Commissioners said with Preston retiring, they would give a new construction official a chance to address their concerns. They would use the additional year to consider their options, they said.

It was eventually uncovered by The Leader that Preston retired while under investigation by the State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and he forfeited his license at their request. In September, code violations in 79 buildings inspected under Preston’s watch were revealed.

Young said on Wednesday that he believed that all of the participating municipalities have to take some responsibility for the problems at JCOW. Young noted that Preston worked part time as the Crest’s zoning officer while also working for JCOW.

“He certainly bears a lot of the brunt (of the responsibility), but I think we bear some responsibility, too,” Young said.

-- Maureen Cawley

JCOW

2006-11-13T22:12:00.002-05:00

Former commissioner says now a good time to get out
e-published 10/31/2006

WILDWOOD CREST – Before commissioners moved into a closed-door executive session on Wednesday evening last week to discuss the status of their membership in JCOW, former Commissioner Robert Young wished them luck and offered some advice.
“If you could find a qualified construction official, certainly now would be a good time to disembark (from JCOW),” Young said.

The problem has been ongoing, he reminded them. Concerns about the performance of the JCOW office – including its inspection practices and financial administration -- surfaced periodically over the past several years in Wildwood Crest. In February 2005, Mayor John Pantelone’s administration discussed their concerns with former JCOW construction official Michael Preston. Shortly after taking office, Mayor Carl Groon’s administration considered severing ties with JCOW in June 2005as the result of alleged questionable accounting practices and a buy-out package offered to Preston at his retirement.

At that time, commissioners reported discussing the possibility of hiring a code enforcement inspector through JCOW who would be solely responsible for construction in the Crest.

In an interview with The Leader last June, Commissioner Don Cabrera described withdrawal from JCOW as a “last resort option.”

“I am one for structure,” Cabrera said. “You need to know someone is going to come by and check on you. Right now the only time you get enforcement is if someone complains.”

Commissioners said with Preston retiring, they would give a new construction official a chance to address their concerns. They would use the additional year to consider their options, they said.

It was eventually uncovered by The Leader that Preston retired while under investigation by the State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and he forfeited his license at their request. In September, code violations in 79 buildings inspected under Preston’s watch were revealed.

Young said on Wednesday that he believed that all of the participating municipalities have to take some responsibility for the problems at JCOW. Young noted that Preston worked part time as the Crest’s zoning officer while also working for JCOW.

“He certainly bears a lot of the brunt (of the responsibility), but I think we bear some responsibility, too,” Young said.

-- Maureen Cawley

Membership in JCOW

2006-11-13T22:12:00.001-05:00

Former commissioner says now a good time to get out
e-published 10/31/2006

WILDWOOD CREST – Before commissioners moved into a closed-door executive session on Wednesday evening last week to discuss the status of their membership in JCOW, former Commissioner Robert Young wished them luck and offered some advice.
“If you could find a qualified construction official, certainly now would be a good time to disembark (from JCOW),” Young said.

The problem has been ongoing, he reminded them. Concerns about the performance of the JCOW office – including its inspection practices and financial administration -- surfaced periodically over the past several years in Wildwood Crest. In February 2005, Mayor John Pantelone’s administration discussed their concerns with former JCOW construction official Michael Preston. Shortly after taking office, Mayor Carl Groon’s administration considered severing ties with JCOW in June 2005as the result of alleged questionable accounting practices and a buy-out package offered to Preston at his retirement.

At that time, commissioners reported discussing the possibility of hiring a code enforcement inspector through JCOW who would be solely responsible for construction in the Crest.

In an interview with The Leader last June, Commissioner Don Cabrera described withdrawal from JCOW as a “last resort option.”

“I am one for structure,” Cabrera said. “You need to know someone is going to come by and check on you. Right now the only time you get enforcement is if someone complains.”

Commissioners said with Preston retiring, they would give a new construction official a chance to address their concerns. They would use the additional year to consider their options, they said.

It was eventually uncovered by The Leader that Preston retired while under investigation by the State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and he forfeited his license at their request. In September, code violations in 79 buildings inspected under Preston’s watch were revealed.

Young said on Wednesday that he believed that all of the participating municipalities have to take some responsibility for the problems at JCOW. Young noted that Preston worked part time as the Crest’s zoning officer while also working for JCOW.

“He certainly bears a lot of the brunt (of the responsibility), but I think we bear some responsibility, too,” Young said.

-- Maureen Cawley

Membership in JCOW

2006-11-13T22:12:00.000-05:00

Former commissioner says now a good time to get out
e-published 10/31/2006

WILDWOOD CREST – Before commissioners moved into a closed-door executive session on Wednesday evening last week to discuss the status of their membership in JCOW, former Commissioner Robert Young wished them luck and offered some advice.
“If you could find a qualified construction official, certainly now would be a good time to disembark (from JCOW),” Young said.

The problem has been ongoing, he reminded them. Concerns about the performance of the JCOW office – including its inspection practices and financial administration -- surfaced periodically over the past several years in Wildwood Crest. In February 2005, Mayor John Pantelone’s administration discussed their concerns with former JCOW construction official Michael Preston. Shortly after taking office, Mayor Carl Groon’s administration considered severing ties with JCOW in June 2005as the result of alleged questionable accounting practices and a buy-out package offered to Preston at his retirement.

At that time, commissioners reported discussing the possibility of hiring a code enforcement inspector through JCOW who would be solely responsible for construction in the Crest.

In an interview with The Leader last June, Commissioner Don Cabrera described withdrawal from JCOW as a “last resort option.”

“I am one for structure,” Cabrera said. “You need to know someone is going to come by and check on you. Right now the only time you get enforcement is if someone complains.”

Commissioners said with Preston retiring, they would give a new construction official a chance to address their concerns. They would use the additional year to consider their options, they said.

It was eventually uncovered by The Leader that Preston retired while under investigation by the State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and he forfeited his license at their request. In September, code violations in 79 buildings inspected under Preston’s watch were revealed.

Young said on Wednesday that he believed that all of the participating municipalities have to take some responsibility for the problems at JCOW. Young noted that Preston worked part time as the Crest’s zoning officer while also working for JCOW.

“He certainly bears a lot of the brunt (of the responsibility), but I think we bear some responsibility, too,” Young said.

-- Maureen Cawley

Hotel/Condo Project in Wildwood

2006-10-24T23:22:00.000-04:00

Developers Unveil $225M Hotel/Condo Project
By Eric Peterson
October 24, 2006
GlobeStreet.com

Wildwood Beach Hotel(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
WILDWOOD, NJ-A Princeton-based group headed by a 9/11 survivor has unveiled plans for the Wildwood Beach Hotel and Resort, a combination of residential condos and hotel rooms. The project, which will rise 25 stories along a full city block, will encompass 190 luxury beachfront condos and 150 hotel rooms. It will cost $225 million. Pending a coastal permit, required for construction from the New Jersey DEP, targeted completion is December 2009.

The developer is Princeton Junction Development Partners LLC, headed by Christian Nickerson. And for this project, Nickerson has partnered up with William Meyer of Meyer Jabara Hotels, which will operate the property once it’s completed, and Dr. Gerard Klauder, whose firm Klauder & Associates will serve as construction manager of the W.B., as the property is being called. This city is on the Atlantic Ocean between Atlantic City and Cape May, and the hotel site itself is adjacent to the Wildwood Convention Center.

“As a survivor of the 9/11 attack on Tower One of the World Trade Center, I believe people think differently about travel,” Nickerson says. “Many families would like to have a taste of the Caribbean without the hassles of airport security, passports and a long plane ride. Even in winter, visitors would be able to relax at our indoor beach.”

That indoor beach is part of an indoor water park, according to plans unveiled over the weekend. Also part of the amenity package for the W.B. are a spa, restaurants, retail shops and indoor parking.

“Our location, steps from the new convention center, combined with the amenities, will help us turn Wildwood into an all-season resort,” Nickerson says. “Our project is expected to fuel Wildwood’s revitalization.”

The W.B. is the fourth project Nickerson’s group has been involved in recently. The others include a luxury condo property on the bay in Wildwood, two residential developments in Deptford and ongoing management of the Oceanic Hotel here.

Meyer Jabara Hotels, meanwhile, is a Danbury, CT and West Palm Beach, FL-based group with a portfolio of 26 hotels with more than 4,700 rooms in 12 states operated under licenses from Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton and Holiday Inn. Klauder & Associates is a Hollywood, FL-based construction management firm.

Sky High

2006-10-23T06:10:00.000-04:00

Wildwood developers look to sky

By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Monday, October 23, 2006

WILDWOOD — Lately, when developers size up land for new construction in the city, they risk getting cricks in their necks.
That's because the most ambitious new projects proposed here are high-rise hotels.

The Nouveau Wave, the Oceanic, the Starlight, the Pearl and the Waypoint Beach Club have won city approvals. Several others are in the planning stages.

And on Saturday, a Princeton developer unveiled designs for a $225 million, 25-story hotel called Wildwood Beach Hotel and Resort — or simply the W.B.

This doo-wop themed hotel across from the Wildwoods Convention Center will boast 190 beachfront condos and another 150 hotel rooms. The hotel will have its own spa, restaurants, indoor shopping and an indoor water park featuring a sandy beach and wave pool.

The hotel's facade resembles a giant drink tumbler bordered by lava lamps in a one-of-a-kind style befitting the city's attachment to all things doo-wop.
“That's what the mayor wants. That's what the town wants,” said Stephen Scherfel, co-founder of the development firm Princeton Junction Group.

Wildwood changed its zoning laws just 18 months ago to accommodate new high-rise hotels. Previously, the city allowed a top height of just 128 feet or 12 stories. The tallest building in the city is Sandman Towers, which stands 13 stories tall.

So far no shovels have been planted on any of the hotels. None so far has persuaded the state Department of Environmental Protection to grant a coastal permit required for construction.

In June, the DEP rejected a Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit for the 281-foot-tall Nouveau Wave Hotel proposed for Rio Grande Avenue. The DEP said it feared the imposing hotel might interfere with bird migrations that make Cape May County one of the best birding spots in the nation.

Neighbors of the hotel would fare no better, the DEP said. The hotel would block air and light and possibly even clog up sewers, the agency said.

Every other high-rise hotel will face the same state scrutiny before construction can commence.

Mayor Ernie Troiano said he is optimistic that the hotels will prevail.

“It's just a matter of time. The DEP has been working with us,” he said.

The city and its taxpayers stands to reap a windfall in savings if even one of the hotels is built.

“I suspect the tax rate will be next to nothing. Our tax assessor estimated we should see a 15-cent reduction for each of them,” Troiano said.

The city is sitting on about $1.7 billion in taxable property now. Troiano said the new hotels could triple that, taking a tax burden off many residents.

Meanwhile, the hotels hold the promise of jobs in a resort that regularly sees the highest wintertime unemployment rate in New Jersey.

The business community is behind the high rises. The Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority endorsed the Wildwood Beach Hotel and Resort to bring more convention business to the 5-year-old center across the street.

Authority Vice Chairwoman Mary Erceg said the state can't strand its $75 million investment in the convention center. The island needs more accommodations to support it.

“If one arm of New Jersey government builds something like this, the other arm should support it,” she said.

But she, too, is optimistic about Wildwood's high-rise future.

“I think once the (CAFRA) permit is given and the first shovel is in the ground, the floodgates will open,” she said.

The developers seemed pretty confident, too, during Saturday's lava-lamp-themed launch party for the W.B. Scherfel said he expected his hotel to be the first or second high rise to open on the island.

But it certainly won't be the last.

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

Sunset Lake Improvements

2006-10-12T21:33:00.000-04:00

Wildwood Crest plans Sunset Lake improvements

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Thursday, October 12, 2006
Press of Atlantic City

WILDWOOD CREST — The borough has awarded a $1.8 million contract to Albrecht & Heun to stabilize the shoreline around Sunset Lake.

Borough Clerk Kevin Yecco said the project involves the addition of soft-concrete armoring to square off and clean up the area along the shoreline of the popular lake.

Yecco said the project would allow the borough to reclaim another 10 to 20 feet of land by removing the rocks and old concrete dumped in the lake decades ago near Rambler Road south, making the area more attractive at low tide.

A pre-construction meeting will take place in the next couple of days to determine a project timeline.

Funding for the shoreline improvements comes from $1.4 million in state grants with the borough providing the remainder.

During Wednesday's regular meeting, Borough Commission also agreed to submit an application to the state Department of Transportation to use state money set aside to extend its bike path to instead improve the bike path that already exists along the beachfront.

The borough has $250,000 set aside to extend the path, but found it would make more sense to upgrade the existing path.

During a closed session, the commissioners also discussed the town's involvement in the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods.

The borough previously submitted a letter to the island-wide agency informing it of the borough's plans to leave the joint construction office by Dec. 31 if its requests were not met. Those requests include hiring a full-time administrator and having the state conduct any building inspections of high-rises proposed for the city of Wildwood.

Yecco said the borough is still reviewing its options while it waits for a formal response from the joint construction office.

Some of the options under consideration are hiring a third-party to conduct the borough's building inspections, having the state Department of Community Affairs perform inspections or having the work done in-house.

Borough Solicitor Doreen Corino also is working with Tax Assessor Jason Hesley to come up with a plan of action regarding Cape May County's order that the borough perform a revaluation.

The borough has been told to conduct the revaluation of the town's properties next year to allow those figures to be placed on the county's tax rolls in 2008.
Also Wednesday, the commission considered whether its logo, featuring the Brigantine Nancy, should be replaced with something new. The matter is still in the discussion phase.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: Gilfillian@pressofac.com

Dreams to Nighmares

2006-09-25T09:44:00.000-04:00

W'wood code issue makes nightmare of dream homes

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Sunday, September 24, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Southern New Jersey's shore and summer vacations were synonymous for the May family.

“As a kid, my parents used to go down to the Wildwoods,” Richard May said. “To us, North Wildwood was the shore.”

So as an adult, it seemed fitting that May, 64, would buy a vacation home here. He hoped his three children and five grandchildren could create equally lasting memories.

But a cloud overshadowed what should have been a sun-filled summer at the shore for May and many of his fellow condominium owners. They found out their properties may not have been built up to code.

The Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, which oversees construction projects for Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, North Wildwood and West Wildwood, notified the owners of nearly 500 units primarily in Wildwood and North Wildwood of the possible violations this year. Most received word in the first few months of 2006, but some, including May, only learned of the problem in June.

Owners were told their buildings may have been improperly inspected by the construction office or not built to code, and that an array of violations, such as a lack of firewalls, had to be repaired.

The construction office, according to its attorney, Glenn P. Callahan, is also reviewing other buildings, as many as 2,000, constructed between 2000 and 2005 to determine if the problem is more widespread. The review will then extend to other multifamily buildings erected prior to 2000, Callahan said.

The reported deficiencies in May's building, a four-unit property on Ocean Avenue, include the need for a second staircase and questions about the very joints holding it together.

Suddenly, May, of Yardley, Pa., found his perfect vacation home was not so.
May recalled looking at 28 properties in 2003 before he found number 29.

“Something with an ocean view, not the Boardwalk, and I liked the layout,” May said.
North Wildwood's appeal, he said, included what he called the gentrification of the island, linked to a changing real estate market combined with prices still relatively reasonable compared to neighboring shore towns Avalon and Stone Harbor.

He purchased his unit for under $300,000. According to the city's recent revaluation, the 1,600-square-foot unit is now valued at $570,000.

With the code question looming, however, those figures lose some of their meaning.
“For starters, if I wanted to, I can't sell it. I can't rent it if I wanted to right now,” May said. “I have no idea what my property is actually worth.”

And he has only an estimated idea of what it will cost to fix or whether it really needs to be fixed at all.

In August, May was one of many owners meeting with construction office officials to learn exactly what was wrong.

May said they couldn't find the building plans during that meeting and instead suggested that because it was designed by architect Kevin Young, the same architect who worked on several properties involved, that it likely had the same code violations.

“They couldn't prove it to me,” May said.

Superior Court Judge Steven Perskie, who is overseeing the litigation surrounding the units, has said he wants the problems fixed, promising no one will be hurt in one of the properties while he's involved.

Perskie became involved when the construction office filed suit against dozens of builders, developers, architects and condominium associations connected with the affected properties.

He has said he will revoke the certificates of occupancy later this year for properties where no progress has been made.

Meanwhile, the joint construction office has been talking with the owners, builders, developers and architects to resolve the problems and many owners have already signed abatement agreements, which are documents spelling out the violations and how they will be resolved.

If May and others in his building sign such an agreement, they will have to pay to fix any code violations. He says that could include installing fire alarms and sprinkler systems and estimates costs between $50,000 and $60,000.

May, who makes a living selling services to mutual funds, said he can afford it, but the additional expense, along with attorney's fees, will likely pose a hardship for others.

And May wonders just how urgently the repairs are needed.

“To date, nothing's burned down that I know of,” May said.

Instead, May said the focus should be on forcing those responsible to take the blame and suffer the consequences.

Perskie has said there is ample blame to go around, but assigning it will likely come later when he determines who ultimately will pay for the repairs.

The state Department of Community Affairs has already cited several construction officials for their role in the inspection process. As of June, letters of warning had been sent by Office of Regulatory Affairs supervisor Louis J. Mraw to Lawrence J. Booy, John E. Conti and Mario A. Zaccaria. A letter of reprimand also was sent to Wayne M. Gibson. An additional letter was sent to inspector Albert S. Beers advising him that a review committee will look at findings in his case to determine if his licenses should be revoked.

“The judge is trying to look like a hero. What he needs to do is knock heads with the developers and the JCOW office,” May said.

In the meantime, May says, he is managing to enjoy his seashore home. A typical summer day has included visits with his children and grandchildren, making sandcastles, reading a book under the sun and cooking together at home.

“There are trips to the Boardwalk with the grandkids. We've still been able to do that,” May said.

And this weekend, the joint construction office was the least of his concerns as he planned to enjoy a late September visit during the Irish Fall Festival.

May said the whole experience has soured him just a little on the Wildwoods, but he still wants to stay and enjoy his time here, possibly even purchasing a more luxurious vacation home next time around.

“I think North Wildwood is a pretty place. They've done some good things here,” May said.

But his good feelings may not be enough.
“This has the potential to destroy the community,” May said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Budget Approved

2006-09-20T15:55:00.000-04:00

Wildwood approves '06 budget
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, September 20, 2006

WILDWOOD — City Commission approved its 2006 budget this week after receiving approval from the state's Division of Local Government Services.
The state had to give its blessing to an additional agreement between the city and developer K. Hovnanian in which the company agreed to pay the city $1.5 million by Dec. 15.

According to the budget, the city anticipated that money, a partial payment for the developer's purchase of a former city landfill, as revenue that would help support the $24.8 million spending plan.

Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said the state gave the nod to the agreement late Friday, and the commission in turn adopted the budget early Monday.

City Clerk Christopher Wood then drove the document to Trenton and placed it in the state's hands.

The amendment to the original memorandum of understanding between the city and K. Hovnanian notes that the developer has spent more than $1.5 million conducting its on-site analysis of the city's former backbay landfill in an effort to turn that property into an upscale residential development.
The company had initially planned to build more than 200 homes on the site, but that number may change.

According to the agreement, however, “such analysis has revealed that the costs for developing the site are substantially higher than initially contemplated.”

Under the agreement, K. Hovnanian agrees to pay the $1.5 million by December, and both sides agree to meet by Oct. 20 to finalize the redevelopment agreement for the back-bay area.

In addition, the agreement states that if the developer does not make the payment, the city can withdraw from the agreement and the $3 million already paid to the city by K.Hovnanian does not have to be returned.

The city would also be given all documentation and information already collected by K. Hovnanian regarding the landfill site, including surveys, professional reports and any environmental studies. The city also reserves the right to take the project to another developer.

With the 2006 budget finally adopted, Troiano looked ahead to the 2007 budget process.

He said the city has some surplus funds and payments due next year that will help support the 2007 spending plan, but he remains cautious.

“Until we get these bigger buildings in place, it's going to be difficult each year,” Troiano said, referring to a number of high-rise hotels planned in the city.

Troiano estimated those properties would add billions to the city's ratable base and reduce the tax burden on the town's other property owners.

The city's ratable base rose from $546,094,923 in 2004 to $1.727 billion in 2005. This year, the ratable base is up to $1.765 billion.

Troiano said he expects to hear some news from the state Department of Environmental Protection within 45 to 60 days on the status of those buildings. The state had previously denied the first of those proposed high-rises a permit to build.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Refuge Name Protest

2006-09-07T20:56:00.000-04:00

Lower resident protests Villas name on wildlife refuge

By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Thursday, September 7, 2006
Press of Atlantic City

LOWER TOWNSHIP: Town Bank resident Steve Sheftz calls his community the “birthplace of South Jersey.” He wonders how the upstart in the neighborhood, the 80-year-old Villas section, won the naming rights for the new state wildlife preserve off Bayshore Road.

Sheftz said his community has been around for 371 years. Town Bank was home to whalers as far back as 1635, he said, and famous Quaker and Pennsylvania founder William Penn is credited with giving Town Bank its name. Sheftz also points out that Town Bank is 141 years older than the United States of America, 163 years older than Lower Township, and 234 years older than Cape May.

Sheftz compiled his arguments in a letter to Lee Widjeskog of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, the agency that is turning the former Ponderlodge Golf Club into the wildlife preserve that Widjeskog announced recently would be named the Villas Wildlife Management Area. Sheftz claims the new name does not have support from Township Council or the people of Town Bank.

“I am sure that many of the people, especially descendents, would be greatly offended by the name you mentioned,” Sheftz wrote to Widjeskog.

He described the Villas as an area with less than 80 years of history with “primarily a short real estate business and supportive services background.”

Councilman Mike Beck, who represents the Villas' ward and offered the idea to use the name for the new preserve, claims Sheftz is striking back at him because Beck was the first to support the bird sanctuary instead of the public golf course Sheftz wanted. Beck said that once council agreed to the bird sanctuary, it took away the main campaign issue Sheftz had in the November election. Sheftz, a Republican, is running in the 2nd Ward race against incumbent Democrat Wayne Mazurek, and one of his platforms was to push for a golf course.

Part of the debate centers on which community can geographically claim the 253-acre tract. Neither the Villas nor Town Bank is an incorporated town — they are both communities with no clear boundaries.

Sheftz claims the Villas ends at Wildwood Avenue. Beck counters that the U.S. Census places the Ponderlodge property in the Villas and it has a Villas post office address. Beck offered a reference to the movie Miracle on 34th Street, in which a post office address proved there was a Santa Claus, to bolster his argument.

“Miracle on 34th Street was decided on a post office address. He (Santa Claus) got his mail at the North Pole and therefore he did exist. Their mail goes to the Villas. Game, set and match,” Beck said.

The three other members on council are split over the naming issue. Beck said Councilman Stig Blomkvest agrees with him.

Mazurek, who originally wondered if it should be named after the Fishing Creek section or the historic Cox Hall Creek on the property, leans towards the Villas. Due to coastal erosion, Mazurek noted that the original Town Bank whaling village is out in the Delaware Bay.

“It's not Town Bank. In reality, the real Town Bank is three miles offshore in the bay,” Mazurek said.

The Villas is also much easier to find on a map, Mazurek said, which may be important to visitors coming from all over to tour the new preserve.

Beck also has argued the Villas needs the good recognition it would get from a world-class bird sanctuary, and Mazurek agrees.

“Mike feels it gives a boost to an area that's not had a great reputation. His thoughts are well taken on that,” Mazurek said.

Lower Township Mayor Walt Craig has asked Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster to do some research on where Villas ends and Town Bank begins.

“I can't see it being named for a place it's not in. Personally, I think it should just be the Lower Township Wildlife Management Area,” Craig said.

The mayor said he is more concerned about the property being turned into a quality refuge and public recreation facility. He also noted the name issue must be decided because the site opens to the public Saturday.

“The first 100 get a free T-shirt, and I don't know what it's going to say,” Craig said.

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

Tax Rate Up

2006-09-07T09:49:00.000-04:00

Tax rate up slightly as property values climb in Wildwood

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Thursday, September 7, 2006
Press of Atlantic City

WILDWOOD — The public had little to say during Wednesday's public hearing on the city's 2006 budget.

Of the 20 or so residents who attended the special meeting in City Hall, only Ernesto Salvatico spoke.

Salvatico said he is concerned about the taxes and used his own property on Bennett Avenue as an example. The property's value, he said, had gone up several hundred percent since the city's recent revaluation.

His tax bill was also up, Salvatico said, to almost $6,000.

“It's insane,” Salvatico said.

Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said he understood Salvatico's concern, but he added the city could not control property values.

Salvatico warned that high taxes will mean some people will not be able to afford to pay this year's tax bill, which will result in higher tax bills for everyone in the future to make up the difference.

“We're not immune from the tax increase ourselves,” Troiano said of himself and his fellow commissioners.

The city's 2006 spending plan totals $24.8 million, up slightly over the 2005 budget of $24.7 million.

The budget is supported by $14.3 million in local property taxes, $1.9 million in surplus funds, and $8.5 million in revenues. It also comes with a tax increase of 1.5 cents.

That means the local purpose tax rate, which supports the city's operations, will be 81.2 cents compared to 79.7 cents in 2005.

Initially, the tax increase was expected to be slightly higher, but Troiano has said the city worked hard to pare down the figure.

The overall tax rate, including county and school taxes, will equal $1.51 per $100 of assessed property valuation. The total tax rate in 2005 for the city was $1.42.
After the meeting, Commissioner Kathy Breuss said adoption of the budget was delayed until Monday, Sept. 11, because the city is awaiting $1.5 million in land-sale revenues from developer K.Hovnanian.

That money is part of the purchase price of the former back bay landfill which K.Hovnanian is expected to convert into a residential development of about 200 homes.

Once the city has the money in place, the budget can be adopted, Breuss said.

The city will reconvene the special meeting on the budget at 4 p.m. Sept. 11

Doo Wop Safari

2006-09-02T09:05:00.000-04:00

Destination doo wop
Preservation effort offers tour of Wildwoods architecture
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, September 1, 2006

WILDWOOD — Preservationists, historians and everyday fans of the Wildwoods have been invited to take part in a sort of urban safari this fall.

But instead of plains teeming with wildlife, this safari will highlight bright neon signs, jutting roof lines and plastic palm trees.

The endangered species on this tour? The island's collection of 1950s and 1960s-era motels.

The motels were named to Preservation New Jersey's 2005 list of the state's 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites. Then, the National Trust for Historic Preservation added the motels to its 2006 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

“We thought it was an appropriate time to take people on the tour and highlight what's happening in the Wildwoods,” said Swathy Keshavamurthy of Preservation New Jersey.

The group has joined forces with the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia to offer an up-close tour of the motels Oct. 21 to focus attention on both the motels that have been demolished in favor of new construction and the motels that remain.

Ron Emrich, executive director of Preservation New Jersey, said a tour bus will collect visitors in New Brunswick and PATCO's Woodcrest station before heading to Five Mile Beach.

“We wanted our membership to learn more about them. We'll take reservations (for the tour) until we can't take anymore,” he said.

Emrich said about 100 of the motels, with exotic of futuristic names like the Hi Lili and the Satellite, have been torn down in the past several years.

“Of course it worries us. The Wildwoods have the most significant collection of mid-20th century architecture in the country, if not the world,” Emrich said.

Tour goers will see the new construction, primarily condominiums, that have replaced them, but they will also see the ones that have been restored, modernized and maintained.

Emrich said the future of those that remain is tied to economic incentives and education, demonstrating how they can be renovated to meet modern visitor needs while maintaining their doo-wop flavor.

“There's trouble putting all your eggs in one basket, in this case condos,” Emrich said. “You've got to retain and maintain a variety of products.”

Keshavamurthy said the organization has offered similar tours of other historic places such as sections of Newark and Jersey City, and this year it decided to restart the tour program in Wildwood.

That's a move Dan MacElrevey, head of the Doo Wop Preservation League, welcomes.

“It's amazing to me how many e-mails we get about the Wildwoods and the 1950s and 1960s. A lot of people remember it fondly. Sometimes, we're too close to see that,” MacElrevey said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Fire Code Violations

2006-08-25T10:22:00.000-04:00

Deadline set on fixing Wildwoods condos

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Friday, August 25, 2006

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — The blame can be assigned later.

For now, Superior Court Judge Steven Perskie said he is more concerned with making sure that nearly 500 condominium units in the Wildwoods are made to comply with fire codes.

“Job one is fixing the buildings that need fixing and doing so immediately,” Perskie said Thursday during the latest hearing on the noncompliant properties.

Perskie said it made no sense to him that the state Department of Community Affairs did not consider the building-code violations an imminent threat to public safety, given that most of the violations are related to fire safety, fire separation and fire suppression issues.

Of the 75 buildings with violations, 46 had not reached an agreement on how to resolve those code issues as of Thursday's 9 a.m. hearing.

Perskie warned that if the remaining condominium associations fail to reach some agreement for repairs by Sept. 7, he would consider suspending their certificates of occupancy and order the buildings be vacated.

“No one is going to get hurt in any one of those buildings on my watch,” Perskie said.

The issue of who will ultimately pay for the repairs is likely to be decided in future legal proceedings, but Perskie said the immediate responsibility lies with the homeowners.

Once repairs are made, they are free to pursue claims against those they blame for the code violations.

On Feb. 10, unit owners were sent notice that their properties had been identified by the state as being built or inspected under the wrong building codes related to fire walls, means of egress and other fire-related safety issues.

Since then, the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, has been meeting with developers, builders, architects and condominium associations to find ways to solve the problem.

On Thursday, Perskie received an update on the problem from JCOW attorney Glenn Callahan and heard from attorneys representing some of the dozens of owners, developers and other professionals involved.

Callahan told the judge the list of troubled properties started with 79 buildings and was later reduced to 75 that actually belonged on the list.

Of those, 29 have been abated or have formal agreements on how they will be abated, meaning repairs have been or will be made, Callahan said.

They have been given until Dec. 15 to make the necessary repairs.

That leaves 46 properties with no agreement in place. Callahan said talks are ongoing for the majority of those and he expects at least 14 will come to an agreement with JCOW shortly.

The delay on those, Callahan said, has to do with money.

“The issue in the balance is who's going to pay for it,” Callahan told the judge.
Attorney Henry Lewandowski, representing multiple properties, said the owners are faced with certain economic realities that cannot be avoided.

Lewandowski said the owners in North Wildwood, for instance, are unable to rent their properties because the city will not permit them to, and real estate agents won't list them for sale.

That means many of them are coming to the realization they cannot afford to hold onto their condominiums, he said.

“They're going to have to walk away from it,” Lewandowski said.
Perskie said he was aware of the financial bind placed on owners, but public safety was his focus.

“We're going to fix the buildings quickly, or we're going to vacate the buildings,” Perskie said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Motel Conversions

2006-08-14T14:17:00.000-04:00

Wildwood Crest attempts to stem loss of motels
Monday, August 14, 2006
By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

WILDWOOD CREST
As part of efforts to stem the loss of motels, the borough -- in conjunction with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority -- hired an engineering and planning company to study the situation.

The work done by Vollmer Associates, funded with $30,000 in CRDA money and matched by Wildwood Crest, should be finished next month.

The borough has lost 20 motels in the recent past.

"We wanted to know what can be done to slow the demolitions," said Karlis Povisils, director of policy research for the CRDA and project manager for the study.

Among questions expected to be answered: how the lodging industry fares in the marketplace; how that will change in the future in terms of the length of the season, and the condition and status of the motels.

"A lot of the buildings do not have the amenities needed to be competitive," said Jeremy Alvarez, director of planning for the Philadelphia office of Vollmer Associates.

Owners would like to expand and modify their properties, but they face administrative and regulatory constraints from state and local authorities, he said.

"We're using a panel of locals to come up with a draft set of recommendations," Alvarez said. "The time for pointing fingers is over. We hope to emerge with a proposal for action by CAFRA and the State Historic preservation office. Do they need to do things differently? What does the municipality need to do? What things can motel owners do? It'll be a recipe book with a variety of things."

Owners might need tax credits, Povisils said. Local restrictions on signage may need to be lifted, or federal assistance may be necessary.

Correcting tax inequities may be another avenue, he said.

For example, motel visitors have to pay an occupancy tax but condo guests do not.

But don't expect a silver-bullet solution, Povisils said.

"Maybe nothing can be done," he said. "If nothing can be done, we want to know."

The Wildwood Crest-CRDA study is just one avenue in the march toward preservation.

Earlier this year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the Wildwoods motel collection as one of the 11 most endangered historic sites.

"Hopefully, the designation will be a wake-up call to those who can make a difference with this effort," said Jack Morey, founder of the Doo Wop Preservation League, which trumpets efforts to save the motels.

North Wildwood is reviewing policies to see what can be done to encourage condo units to return to the pool in the form of "condotels."

"We've had some discussions about an overlay zone to make it more attractive," said city administrator Raymond A. Townsend.

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or wsokolic@courierpostonline.com

Condominium conversions bring change to Wildwoods

2006-08-14T14:13:00.000-04:00

Wildwood Crest attempts to stem loss of motels
Monday, August 14, 2006
By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

NORTH WILDWOOD
The Surf Song resembles a typical beach-block motel.

It has four stories, 90 rooms and two pools.

The only difference? It's a former motel gone condominium.

Upscale suites loaded with all of the comforts of home can be yours for anywhere from $199,000 to $550,000.

The motel-to-condominium conversion phenomenon has washed over most Jersey Shore towns, but it's a tidal wave in the Wildwoods. No matter that a downturn in the real estate market in the last year has resulted in a glut of unsold condos on the island.

"We've been watching it happen. We've had front-row seats," said Jack Morey, executive vice president of Morey's Piers and a founder of the Doo Wop Preservation League.

The league trumpets preservation efforts of the Wildwoods' collection of kitschy motels from the 1950s and 1960s, known for a style architects have labeled Doo Wop.

Of 145 motels on a list compiled for the Doo Wop Preservation League, 50 have disappeared in the last few years. Many were in Wildwood Crest, which has the largest concentration, said league chairman Dan MacElrevey.

"It's market pressure," he said. "The land values along the Jersey Shore have exploded."

In a number of cases, the motels are demolished, much to the chagrin of preservationists who hoped the buildings would do for tourism in the Wildwoods what Victoriana did for Cape May.

In other cases -- the Surf Song, for example -- the basic building remains the same and only the format changes. Conversions, rather than demolitions, offer hope that the architecture stays alive.

Mary and David Benson of Mount Laurel bought a one-bedroom condo at the Surf Song, in part because it retained its motel look.

"We bought it as an investment to rent out, but also knowing we won't have to rent a place for the summer ourselves anymore. It's a perfect size for us. We'll utilize it a lot," said Mary Benson, a CPA who has vacationed in the Wildwoods much of her life.

Buying these kinds of condos in the Wildwoods is an inexpensive way to go from renter to owner/investor for folks who find Stone Harbor, Sea Isle City and Brigantine too pricey, said Brian McDowell, a broker with Shamrock Real Estate in North Wildwood.

McDowell helped sell conversions of the European and the Mediterranean motels in North Wildwood. Both sold out, and some units already have been resold.

"I was able to get the buyers into a place where they use it and also rent for the other weeks to pay some of the mortgage and taxes," he said.

Officials with M.W. Mitchell Inc., an Audubon company that developed the Surf Song and other motels in the Wildwoods, see the condo trend as a boon to the local tourism industry.

"As much as you're looking at losing motels, you gain redeveloped real estate in the process," said Dan Decker, a vice president with the firm. "We bring these buildings up to current code and make affordable shore homes available to people."

It's not just cheap housing fueling the condo boom.

The Wildwoods have witnessed an upward trajectory after years as a downtrodden resort.

"I've lived here all my life and you couldn't give away properties 10 years ago," said Len Lauriello, an electrical inspector for the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, which approves building plans on the island.

Upscale restaurants have moved in throughout the island.

The Wildwoods Convention Center now books concerts from classic rock to the Bacon Brothers.

Despite the changes, developers found motel owners all too willing to get out of the business for a price.

"You offer them $10 million. And they ask themselves, "Do I want to keep working every summer,' " said Michael W. Mitchell, a Haddonfield resident and president of the development company that bears his name.

For many owners, the money raked in over a 12-week season isn't enough to offset the amount of work and regulations.

Insurance rates have skyrocketed since 9/11, Comcast has raised its cable rates and water bills have risen.

Motels often set rates in November for the following season, and profits are gobbled up by these increases, said Bruce Smith, owner of the Tangiers Resort Motel in Wildwood Crest and president of the Greater Wildwood Hotel & Motel Association.

The truth is, the value of the land is much higher than what motel owners can expect to bring in, said Bruce Esher of Fasy Real Estate in North Wildwood.

"Before a lot of these motels were demolished or condo'd out, they weren't doing that well," he said.

Jerry Clark agreed to convert the Central Motor Inn in North Wildwood to condos. At age 65, she no longer wanted the aggravation of running a motel.

"My children help me, but it's not fair to them," she said.

Smith and others hope efforts under way on a number of fronts will fend off further motel losses.

"As motel owners, we want to know what do we need to do to save them and compete in tomorrow's market," Smith said. "It's up to the municipalities to pass whatever ordinances are required to move that along."

Reach William H. Sokolic at (609) 823-9159 or wsokolic@courierpostonline.com

Local Tax Increase

2006-08-12T08:45:00.000-04:00

Wildwood budget calls for 1.5-cent local tax increase
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 12, 2006

WILDWOOD — The city's 2006 budget, introduced this week, comes with a local tax increase of 1.5 cents, Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said Friday.

That means the local purpose tax rate, which supports the city's operations, would be 81.2 cents compared to 79.7 cents in 2005.

“We worked extremely hard to bring (any tax increase) down,” Troiano said. The city had estimated the municipal tax rate would increase 2.5 cents.

“We struggled with this budget once again,” Commissioner Kathy Breuss said.

The overall tax rate, including county and school taxes, would equal $1.51 per $100 of assessed property valuation. The total tax rate in 2005 for the city was $1.42.

Troiano said he would not take the blame for the bulk of the increase, which he said can be attributed to increases in the school tax and county taxes.
According to the budget, the total 2006 spending plan is $24.8 million, an increase of $73,093.26 over last year.

The budget is supported by $1.9 million in surplus funds, a $14.3 million tax levy and $8.5 million in revenues.

On the revenue side, the new budget anticipates receiving $1.56 million from land sales of city property compared to $3.3 million from 2005.

The city also received $171,000 from the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority as part of the omnibus agreement for construction of the new Boardwalk convention center.

The city delayed adoption of the budget while it worked to retrieve some of the money it is owed for its support of the convention center project.

Breuss said the city is owed another $490,000, and it will continue to fight to get that money in future budgets.

Spending increases are anticipated in salaries and wages for departments including police, parks and sanitation.

The city also anticipates fuel costs will increase from $235,406 paid in 2005 to $340,000 for the year.

Breuss said the city has already spent the amount of money it allocated for fuel in 2006. She noted that, as of Monday, Public Works employees who previously took their work cars home with them will no longer be allowed to do so in an effort to save fuel costs.

Insurance and contributions to the police and firemen's retirement system are also expected to increase.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6 in City Hall.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:
TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Waterpark Oasis

2006-08-07T18:04:00.000-04:00

Sip and slide
Alcohol sales prove a hit at Wildwood water park By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, (609) 463-6713
Published: Monday, August 7, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Brian Ploe laid back in a 92-degree pool Sunday afternoon, a frozen Mai Tai frosting the plastic cup in his hand.

Between Ploe, relaxing, and a 50 mph looping roller coaster was about 40 feet and a roof made of tessellated Eucalyptus bark.

The covering was designed to look tropical while separating two very different attractions on the 25th Avenue pier.

A volcano with a face spurted water from the middle of the 3-foot-deep pool, where men and women with wristbands gathered around the edges to talk and sip beer and tropical drinks.

“It does make it a nice atmosphere for the adults to enjoy,” said Ploe, of Upper Township, Cape May County.

The Caribbean, Jimmy Buffet-style Ocean Oasis Water Park and Beach Club has been serving alcohol at designated areas in the park for about three weeks.
Park officials hope the alcohol sales — tied in with services such as private cabanas, hammocks, massages and concierge services — will attract visitors and keep them there longer.

The market demanded more services and amenities, a Morey's Piers representative told the city when it sought approval for alcohol sales in the company's plan.

A separate but connected water park owned by the same company does not allow alcohol.

By the nature of water parks, it's difficult to determine what effects the changes have had so far, said George Rohman, operations manager for Morey's Piers.

It's been busy, but the recent heat wave and overall hot weather — like gold to places that market lots of water — could have played a big factor too, he said.

“We think the concept is working,” he said.

The opening of a water park that also serves alcohol has drawn criticism from people who see an inherent problem with mixing liquor and water parks.

Any way you slice it, having alcohol, children and bodies of water in the same area is not a good idea, opponents have said.

After hearing both strong opposition and strong support, on July 5 the City Council voted 5-2 to allow the sale of alcohol at the park. Liquor sales started a few weeks later.

Park officials have said they have strict controls in the two areas of the park where alcohol is currently being served.

In the heated pool, Rohman said, an extra lifeguard is used just to keep tabs on the alcoholic drinks.

The area, which is full of bamboo and metal painted to resemble bamboo, looks like Gilligan's Island but with more revealing bathing suits.

Steve Siegfried of Upper Township was in the heated pool Sunday afternoon, having spent much of the day at the park. It was his first time there.

“I think it was a good idea,” Siegfried said. “It's very relaxing.”

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

Food Safety

2006-08-06T09:39:00.000-04:00

Hot weather can spoil beach snacks, tourists' appetites for boardwalk food
By THOMAS BARLAS
Press of Atlantic City Staff Writer, (609) 272-7201
Published: Sunday, August 6, 2006

David and Linda Graham walked down the Wildwood Boardwalk last week under the blistering sun of a summer heat wave as they munched slices of pepperoni pizza picked from a row of pies on display at an open-air eatery.

The Deptford couple said they had no worries about the soaring temperature spoiling their snack.

“I looked it over pretty good,” David Graham said. “If it had looked like it's been out a little too long, forget it.”

Graham's once-over may not be exact science, but it's one easy thing nutritionists say people can do to prevent getting sick from food left out too long in the heat.

“Smell and color,” said Joyce Brody, clinical nutrition manager for AtlantiCare Regional Medical Centers. “If you're smelling it and it's not quite right, there's a reason for that.”

That's particularly important during the summer.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food-borne illnesses spike in the summer as food-borne bacteria grows fastest at temperatures between 90 and 110 degrees. Bacteria also need moisture to flourish, and summer weather — especially in New Jersey — is often hot and humid.

Local and county health officials who deal with boardwalk eateries say changing temperatures and humidity levels pose additional challenges to operators of those establishments: It can be more difficult to keep hot food hot and cold food cold, and to throw out any foods — from sausage to garlic knots — on display before they go bad. They also must deal with blowing sand and flies.

Some of those concerns could be reduced under a series of regulations being considered by the state Department of Health and Senior Services. The department could require screens to stop insects from getting into the open-air eateries, time-dating foods to make sure food doesn't sit out too long, and having food servers and preparers wear gloves. The regulations could be in place next year.

Those regulations also could further reduce what officials with health departments in Cape May County and Atlantic City say is a surprisingly low number of people who develop what is commonly referred to as food poisoning from boardwalk fare.

“Remarkably, with (millions) of visitors, it's minuscule,” Atlantic City Health Department Director Ron Cash said.

“We're not seeing anything above normal,” acting Cape May County Health Coordinator Kevin Thomas said. “One or two, here or there.”

Thomas said high turnover rates during busy times of the day usually ensure food doesn't sit out too long.

Joan Thaler, an inspector with the Cape May County Department of Health, said one of the things she stresses to boardwalk open-air food operators is to be aware of what's happening during off-peak hours, when food moves more slowly and there's a greater chance it might stay out too long.

“I encourage owners to think of the time the food has been left out, and to be aware of that,” she said. “Just like you would do in your own house.

“I think it's a matter of establishing rapport with the owner, and once you've got good communications and explain what your concerns are, and listen to their concerns, we can come to an understanding about what can be done to solve the problem.”

Mike Rogers owns Sorrento's on the Wildwood Boardwalk, and he only puts a few slices of pizza on display at a time to attract customers because of the heat last week. He's also installed a refrigerator near the open display area so he can control the quality of his fare.

Rogers said the food preparation and handling courses he's taken over the years made him aware of how important it is to keep food fresh, and not just for the health of his patrons.

“In this business, I can't afford any problems,” he said.

Not everyone is satisfied.

Anna Lindell, of Upper Darby, Pa., was on the Wildwood Boardwalk on Thursday with her two children, 8-year-old John and 11-year-old Amy.

Lindell wouldn't let her children eat any of the boardwalk fare that was on display because of the heat. She said she just didn't think it was safe.

“It't too much of a chance to take,” said said, adding she'd rather buy her children water ice or ice cream as a snack and feed them when she got back to her hotel.

Brody said customers should never feel badly about asking a boardwalk eatery operator how long the food has been on display, or even if they'll cook up something fresh.

Linda Graham said she and her husband have done that on occasion.

“They always say it's fresh,” she said. “What else do you expect them to say?”

To e-mail Thomas Barlas at The Press:TBarlas@pressofac.com

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

2006-08-05T12:17:00.000-04:00

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse celebrates National Lighthouse Day
From Press of Atlantic City staff reports
Published: Saturday, August 5, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — The Hereford Inlet Lighthouse is marking Aug. 7, National Lighthouse Day, by offering free admission to children 12 and younger.

Steve Murray, the city's parks director, said National Lighthouse Day was established in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan to recognize lighthouses and their place in America's history.

Murray said New Jersey once had 49 lighthouses and that number is down to about 22. Of those, about a dozen are open to the public at some time during the year.

For more infomation, see

www.herefordlighthouse.org
The lighthouse is located at First and Central avenues.

Wildwood Beaches

2006-07-30T10:37:00.000-04:00

A Long Way To Fun
Plenty of room in Wildwood, but is a trek to the water
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Sunday, July 30, 2006
Updated: Sunday, July 30, 2006

WILDWOOD – Hosi Khan of Montreal stood, hands on hips, looking for the rest of his beach party.

Khan lugged about 40 pounds of cooler, towels, beach chairs, umbrella and snacks piled high on a hand cart from the parking lot past the Wildwoods Convention Center.

But he stopped after 100 feet when he realized he wasn't sure where he was going. The rest of his family was nowhere in sight. With acres of deep sand surrounding him, he was looking for a beeline.

Finally, he spotted them waving about 100 yards north. With a grunt he leaned forward and continued the slog.

“My sister-in-law picked the place,” he said, panting a little as the cart's almost useless wheels dug parallel furrows in the hot sand. “She had to pick the farthest spot.”

With him pulling and his brother-in-law Tuan Vu pushing, they made it to the family's umbrella planted like an explorer's flag in their patch of white beach.

Families such as Khan's make this pilgrimage to the sea every summer day — sometimes many times throughout the day. The walk never gets any shorter.

Wildwood has the Mount Everest of beaches. It's so vast the city has dirtbike rallies here. It's so immense, it serves as a drop zone for skydivers every summer and boasts two outdoor movie theaters with room enough for thousands of beach towels, sandcastles and umbrellas.

The only erosion here is the kind that nibbles at your will to keep moving toward the mirage that is the water.

“We call it the desert,” said Drew Landes of Boyertown, Pa., still dripping from a refreshing ocean swim.

“We like that it's a long stretch of sand. It never gets too crowded,” he said.

Tour operators have taken full advantage. One company gives rides on the beach in a cherry-red monster truck named The Jersey Devil. Another enterprising businessman approached commissioners in 2000 about giving camel rides on the city's own Sahara.

Perhaps, as Landes suggests, some people are intimidated by the prospect of crossing to the water's edge without help from a Sherpa. More likely, the ample beach creates an optical illusion that there are fewer people here than in neighboring towns. After all, there are no beach tags here.

Celine Pilon of La Chute, Quebec, used a beach ball the size of a coffee table to play kickball with three children. They only needed a courtyard's worth of room but had enough empty acreage around them to fill Citizens Bank Park.

“We went to Cape May first. Here, it's better for the children,” Pilon said. “They have more room.”

Why so big?

Wildwood hasn't always had such a generous strand. Aerial photographs from 1920 show a consistent strip of sandy coastline resembling beaches in Ocean City today.

What happened? Two major things, beach expert Stewart Farrell said.

He is director of the Coastal Research Center at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built twin jetties along either side of Cold Spring Inlet, the rocks began trapping sand that might otherwise have drifted south to Cape May and the Delaware Bay, he said.

Then in 1922, an entire channel called Turtle Gut Inlet became choked with sand forming what is now Sunset Lake in Wildwood Crest. The sand from the inlet began to collect, helping to form what is now a Wildwoods phenomenon.

Another reason Wildwood has such amazing beaches is the sand itself. Five Mile Island has the finest sand in New Jersey, Jeffrey Gebert said.

He runs the coastal planning section of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Philadelphia.

“The smallest grain size of sand along 125 miles of New Jersey coast is in the zone occupied by the Wildwoods,” he said.

The difference is tangible. Wildwood's beaches actually feel different beneath bare feet than Strathmere's or Atlantic City's. The fine sand in the surf can be packed so tight it feels smooth and hard like marble. The dry stuff can be silty.

“There is a progressive fining as you go south along the coast,” Gebert said. “The grain size gets smaller and smaller until you get to Wildwood.”

Contrarily, Delaware Bay beaches have larger grains and even bits of polished quartz known locally as Cape May diamonds.

The grain of the sand has a correlation with the slope of the beach, Gebert said. Wildwood has some of the flattest beaches, too, in New Jersey.

“The larger the grain size, the steeper the slope,” he said.

So even though beachgoers have a long walk, at least it's flat.

Shifting sands

Farrell said Wildwood's colossal beach likely won't get much bigger.

“The rate of growth has come to a standstill on Wildwood's beaches. They won't get even 100 feet wider naturally,” he said.

This is good news in some ways. The city has to work daily to keep storm-water pipes free of sand. The bigger the beach, the more time it takes for tractors to rake trash and debris every morning.

The creeping beach has dry docked the fishing pier on Heather Road in Wildwood Crest. At low tide, anglers with the local fishing club can cast 200 feet and still miss the water.

The Army Corps launched a study of the island's beaches this year. North Wildwood's northern beaches have lost as much as 800 feet of sand in the past decade.

Gebert said tourism dollars are a factor in his agency's analyses for shore protection projects. There is no telling whether the island's large beaches attract tourists for the elbow room or keep them away because of the daunting hike, he said.

“As a beachgoer, the quarter mile of hot, dry beach to get to the Boardwalk or where you park your car. To me, that would not be an advantage,” he said. “Does it have an impact on the number of beach users?”

Not judging by Saturday's crowds. The beaches were dotted with umbrellas as far as the eye could see.

People seemed to enjoy the space, flying kites and building enormous castles. Wildwood hosted an Ultimate Frisbee tournament Saturday. The Poplar Avenue beach fit 60 fields with space for team tents.

Lifeguards in some towns rigidly enforce rules against tossing footballs or Frisbees on crowded beaches. Not here, Caroline Pauze of Montreal said.

”We used to go to Ocean City. But the lifeguards made you swim between the flags,” she said, toting a beach chair and a backpack full of drinks and summer reading.

“But I'm not here to play games today. I just want to relax.”

And here, more than at any beach in New Jersey, there is plenty of room for that.

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

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2006-07-17T23:38:00.000-04:00

Peaceful retreat or eyesore?
Wildwood Crest wild garden attracts fauna, ire of neighbors

By MEGGAN CLARK Health/Science Writer, (609) 272-7209
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Monday, July 17, 2006
Updated: Monday, July 17, 2006

WILDWOOD CREST — Bob Kole likes the simple moments in life, like picking a ripe tomato in his backyard or relaxing on the porch after work, sipping a beer and watching the birds.

Kole's home, a triplex with a strip of tall flowers out front, isn't fancy by Wildwood standards, but it's home. The backyard is crowded with sunflowers, pine trees, bird feeders, vegetables, a birdbath and a soccer net, and his porch is similarly crowded — books, sea shells, wind chimes and a small brown fridge give it a comfortable, unpretentious feel.

Ten years ago, Kole says, you could still see the ocean from his back porch. The neighbors had picking rights in his garden and he had swimming rights in their pool. His dad, Vincent, who bought the Morning Glory Road home as a vacation place three decades ago, had retired there from Philadelphia and grew huge tomatoes that won prizes at the county fair.

That was back when the neighbors didn't mind the Koles' garden.

But things can change a lot in 10 years, and now, with housing growing faster than the wildest zucchini, Kole says there isn't much room in Wildwood Crest for a garden, wildlife, birds or his family anymore.

Just five years ago, Wildwood Crest issued only 33 residential building permits. By 2005, building had had increased more than tenfold. Nearly every street and street corner in the borough seems to be under construction — raw dusty dirt holes, big yellow machines, piles of cinder blocks.

The new houses are big. They're expensive. They're often vinyl-sided and surrounded by narrow strips of concrete and white pebbles in the place of grass. They replace smaller, older, more modest homes, like the old sea captain's house and little Cape where the Koles' neighbors used to live.

“We used to be able to see the ocean,” Kole says. “Now all I look at is vinyl siding. You're out here and all you can hear is central air conditioning.”

The noise is ever-present, a wet muffled roar.

These days, Kole has one of the few wild yards on Morning Glory Road. Squirrels climb his trees. Cardinals visit the bird feeders. The confusion and profusion of his garden yields beets, eggplant, tomatoes, peas, raspberries and sunflowers.

To Kole, it's a garden — the garden that's been there for 30 years.

Breeding complaints

But to his new neighbors, it's nothing short of an eyesore. It's earned him numerous visits from town code-enforcement officers and citations. Some of them, he says, are apologetic. But the codes are the codes.

“I don't want to get the borough in trouble or anyone else in trouble,” Kole says, adding that one code inspector even asked him for some daffodils to bring to his wife. “The borough wouldn't be bothering me if it wasn't the neighbors complaining all the time.”

Kole's problems with his neighbors are not rare. As development booms along the southern shore and trophy vacation homes take the place of old working- and middle-class year-round dwellings, a backyard garden can become a lightning rod for dissent.

“Quite a few people do have to contend with ill-informed township officials who are trying to enforce something like a weed ordinance that really doesn't apply to a wildlife habitat,” said the Cape May Bird Observatory's Pat Sutton. “(A weed ordinance) applies to something that is neglected and a wildlife garden, it's not a neglected, nuisance situation.”

Sutton teaches classes on gardening for butterflies, birds and wildlife as part of the observatory's efforts to increase and preserve wildlife habitat in the face of New Jersey's burgeoning population. She teaches people to plant native species, not popular, non-native ornamentals; to grow patches of milkweed for the Cape's famous monarch butterfly migration, to leave enough wildness and greenery that small animals and birds will thrive.

Wildlife gardeners love their little patches of rampant, unfettered beauty, the butterflies, birds and squirrels they attract — even the caterpillars, worms and bugs.

Need for education

But when the neighbors have a lawn of white rock and concrete, or perfectly manicured green, problems can erupt. It's so common, in fact, that the New Jersey Audubon Society's Web page on gardening for wildlife includes a section called, “So, your neighbors don't like your backyard habitat.”

The advice: If you're going to have a wildlife garden, educate your neighbors, build paths and plant pretty native flowers to make your property more attractive, and, if necessary, fight your municipality's code violation citation in court.

Kole, who can rattle off the history of the Jerusalem Artichoke like most people can recount a Philadelphia sports team's season, sees his garden as something of a fortress, a refuge for animals and birds left with fewer and fewer places to live in the Crest. The past few years, he's started seeing more squirrels in his garden, a phenomenon he attributes to the development.

“They're cutting down more and more older trees. Where are the squirrels going to go?” he says. “Nature has sort of been pushed off the board for the sake of making money and development.” He says he wants to give his children a sense of where things come from, and birds a place to rest. Also, he says, he wants to be left alone.

Wildwood Crest's code-enforcement office didn't return calls and an e-mail seeking comment for this story, and Mayor Carl Groon could not be reached Thursday and did not return two phone calls Friday.

But Kole's neighbors spoke freely, although they refused to give their names.

“He's trying to use you idiots because the city wants him to clean up his yard and comply with codes,” shouted a next-door neighbor, who Kole identified as Chris, from his back porch.

He and a female companion shouted at Kole for several minutes, saying his yard is a mess and his tree is encroaching on his property.

“My tree was here before your building!” Kole shouted back. “Trees should have rights, Chris.”

Asked if she wanted to comment for an article, the woman replied, “Do you want to be sued? I don't want to talk about it because it's asinine, that's why.”

Chris also declined to be formally interviewed.

“If it it appears (in the paper), I'm going to sue the living (expletive) out of you,” he said. “I'm going to sue you personally.”

Chris lives in a new, white, towering new home with a newly poured concrete driveway and sidewalks. Kole says Chris' late father used to have a smaller home on the site that was torn down to make room for the new one. He says the family also used to have picking rights in Vincent Kole's garden.

Up for sale

“I think my days are numbered here,” Kole says wearily, after the neighbors retreat inside. “It's a shame. I wonder what the future is going to bring in Wildwood.”

Kole says he has reluctantly put his home up for sale, advertising it as “for sale by gardener” in the hopes that the buyer will continue the family tradition. But he admits that, with the land valued far higher than the house, his family home is likely to be bulldozed if he sells.

“This was a working class town, families coming here from the city for a week of vacation,” he says. “I feel I have roots here. This is my family's house.” He glances around, at the pristine, hostile white walls on all sides, where the view of the ocean used to be.

“Now, I want to leave.”

It's hard to believe, looking out over Kole's backyard, that the Wildwoods were so named because they were “wild woods,” a land of dunes and vine-tangled forest that until the turn of the century was virtually uninhabited.

“Today, when you drive through the Wildwoods, you can hardly find a tree,” Sutton says. “Everything that's not protected ends up looking like a cityscape. That frightens me.”

She calls the Wildwoods of today, with their sidewalks and pebble lawns “sterile, very sterile.”

“Heaven forbid a migrating bird should end up in Wildwood Crest unless they find their way to the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse or this gentleman's backyard,” she says.

To e-mail Meggan Clark at The Press:Meggan.Clark@pressofac.com

Developers Wanted

2006-07-17T23:25:00.001-04:00

North Wildwood hopes to attract developers to pier
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, July 11, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — The Boardwalk is abuzz with the sounds of screaming roller-coaster riders and the sweet smell of funnel cakes, but the scene is a little different at Seaport Pier.

The municipally-owned pier, between 21st and 23rd avenues, is quiet except for occasional activity at the information center and police substation up front.

But in less than a month, the city should have plenty of ideas about how the dormant pier can be revived.

City Council approved a redevelopment plan for the pier, and municipal planner Stuart Wiser said at least 85 requests for qualifications and proposals have been sent to potential developers.

In addition, the city placed advertisements in major newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times asking for potential developers. Those ads also led to several calls.

Next, the city hopes interested developers will come back, by the Aug. 4 deadline, with plans to turn the pier into a quality retail, dining and/or entertainment complex.

Mayor Bill Henfey said he is optimistic the wooden pier can become a destination that will bring excitement to the Boardwalk.

Henfey said the city had already received calls from people wanting to go up on the pier and take a look at the site, and on Monday a developer spoke to him about options for the pier.

While the city asked for dining, retail and entertainment operations of some sort, Henfey said the city welcomes something beyond the ordinary.

“I'm hoping to get surprised with something we haven't even thought about,” Henfey said. “A fresh idea.”

Henfey recalled his childhood days when the pier was made for fishing. At one time, a restaurant was at the center of the pier and fisherman could travel farther up to cast their lines.

Resident and local historian Robert J. Scully recalled building stores across from the fishing pier in the 1970s and said the pier can trace its roots to the 1920s.

Today, water no longer runs under the pier, but the city is still doing a little fishing.

“We tried to cast a wide net,” Wiser said, noting that local, national and international developers have been invited to redevelop the pier.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:Gilfillian@pressofac.com

Liquor at Waterpark

2006-07-17T23:25:00.000-04:00

N. Wildwood waterpark gets approval to sell liquor
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, July 6, 2006
Updated: Thursday, July 6, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — With a 5 to 2 City Council vote Wednesday night, Morey's Piers won the last approval it needed to begin serving alcoholic drinks at its 25th Avenue waterpark.

Clark Doran, director of planning and development for Morey's, said the company hoped to be serving alcoholic drinks by this weekend at the Ocean Oasis Waterpark and Beach Club.

Wednesday's vote by City Council, which acts as the city's Alcoholic Beverage Control board, followed a steady stream of speakers for and against the prospect of allowing alcoholic beverages to be served at the former Raging Waters park.

Doran told City Council the company was trying to keep up with a market that demanded more services and amenities than found at the traditional waterpark.

The company has already added hammocks, massages, organized activities and other services to the waterpark, and alcoholic drink service is part of the plan to upgrade the park.

“We try to evolve with the times,” Doran said.

The company plans to sell beer, wine and tropical drinks at two locations within the lower level of the park and at an overhead observation area.

Denise Beckson, head of the company's waterpark operations, outlined the company's management plan and said strict controls would be in place.

They include issuing wristbands to patrons 21 and over, selling drinks in easily identifiable cups and not permitting unattended drinks to be left behind.

Opponents of the plan, however, warned that allowing drink service in a park frequented by children was a mistake.

Independent City Council candidate Kathy Martin said children ages 12 and over often travel to the waterpark without an adult, and the service of alcoholic drinks would be a danger to them.

Children, she said, would be swimming and playing in the water around adults who have been drinking.

Others questioned various aspects of the operation such as trash collection, the hours alcoholic drinks would be served and the need to separate children from areas where alcohol is served.

Drinks will be served from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. while the waterpark normally closes at 7 p.m.

But supporters said the Morey family was trying to change with the times as any business should do, and they suggested parents, not a private waterpark, are ultimately responsible for their children.

“I do not see alcohol as a threat,” said resident Brian Lafferty.

Councilman Hank Rice and Walt Larcombe, who had previously voted against the plan to sell alcoholic drinks at the waterpark, voted against the liquor-license transfer.

“I just think (the sale of alcoholic drinks) has been taken very lightly,” Rice said.

Rice said he worked as a bouncer for 12 years, and he has seen the effect alcohol has on people. “You can't tell me alcohol doesn't change a person,” he said.

Ocean Oasis opened in mid-June without alcoholic drink service.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Casino Shutdown

2006-07-17T23:24:00.000-04:00

With appeal lost, casinos start planning for shutdown

By THOMAS BARLAS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7201
Published: Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, July 4, 2006

ATLANTIC CITY — There will be no tear gas. Dogs won’t be turned loose. Paddy wagons won’t cart away scores of gamblers reluctant to let go of their favorite one-armed bandits.
The hope is that the unprecedented shutdown of gambling at the city’s casinos — scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday — will be calm, orderly and without any problems.
Casinos will turn in part to closing plans originally developed to deal with things such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks. They’ll follow specific steps to secure money and keys to hard-count rooms and gaming-table drop boxes. Continued surveillance will help make sure that nobody places a bet at a table game or slips a coin into a slot machine — or even crosses the gaming floor — after the closing deadline.
Perhaps the hardest job will be to get customers off the gaming floor by 8 a.m.
That will be primarily the job of casino security staff, which have reportedly undergone briefings on the issue since Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed an executive order that shut down state government after he and the Legislature couldn’t agree on a budget by the constitutional deadline of midnight June 30. Corzine considers state Division of Gaming Enforcement inspectors, who must be present in the gaming halls for gambling to proceed, to be nonessential state employees.
But at least 100 DGE inspectors and uniformed State Police officers will be on hand to back up casino security Wednesday morning. They’ll meet at about 6 a.m. at DGE headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue to get a last minute briefing from DGE Director Tom Auriemma before heading to the casinos.
“It’s not like we’re going to arrest anybody,” Auriemma said. “The goal is to ensure an orderly exit.”
A gambling shutdown is not what the casinos want, and casino officials worked the state court system on Monday in hopes of staying open.
Their efforts were unsuccessful, as both an appellate court and the state Superior Court on Monday denied their request to keep gaming operations running. State Supreme Court Associate Justice James Zazzali said simply that the casinos had not “established sufficient grounds for relief.”
Assistant Attorney General Patrick DeAlmeida, who argued the case on behalf of the state, said that if the casinos won judicial approval to stay open, other private parties would also seek such relief.
“Casinos are not alone here in feeling economic harm,” DeAlmeida argued.
Casino association lawyer John Kearney said the casinos were trying to figure out their next step.
The decision means that while casino restaurants, shops, bars and entertainment venues will remain open, gridlocked state budget negotiations will do what not even past hurricanes or blizzards could — bring gambling to a halt.
Casino officials weren’t immediately available for comment regarding their gaming shutdown plans.
However, the casinos, DGE and state Casino Control Commission have already discussed stop-gaming scenarios.
Auriemma said that getting people off the gaming floors should be easier at 8 a.m. than at most other times of the day because crowds are not at their largest.
Each casino can decide how to get people off the floor, he said. Part of that might involve an announcement to customers, he said.
Casinos may decide to cordon off sections of the gaming floor as the overnight crowd begins to thin out, Auriemma said. It’s possible that gaming at some casinos will end before 8 a.m., he said.
Once customers are off the gaming floor, the casinos will have several hours of accounting that must be done, he said.
The casinos will also have to figure out a way of keeping customers out of gaming areas, Auriemma said.
That could present a challenge for some casinos that have bars and restaurants on their gaming floors, he said. Casinos could close those bars and restaurants, he said, or create some kind of secured path through the gaming floor so customers can reach their destinations.
Auriemma said it’s clear that casino officials aren’t happy with the situation.
However, he also said that discussions regarding the gaming shutdown have been professional and cordial despite the court challenges to the closure.
“We work with them every day,” Auriemma said. “They work with us.”
“We didn’t expect them to sit idly by without challenging the issue. That’s their right.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

To e-mail Thomas Barlas at The Press:
TBarlas@pressofac.com

Beaches Open

2006-07-17T23:23:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, folks — most N.J. beaches are open
By DEREK HARPER Staff Writer, (609) 272-7203
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, July 4, 2006

ATLANTIC CITY — Listen up, ladies and gentlemen: The New Jersey shore is still open.

“We're going to have to start telling people that,” laughed Elaine Shapiro Zamansky, spokeswoman for the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority.

The authority, which took calls from people wanting to know whether the casinos were still open, was one of several places along the shore that panicked vacationers called Monday.

They heard New Jersey's state government closed, potentially shuttering the casinos along with state beaches and parks Wednesday, and thought that meant all beaches, boardwalks and other attractions from Cape May to Sandy Hook were locked down.

In reality, the casinos will remain open until at least 8 a.m. Wednesday, and each of the towns bordering the Atlantic Ocean owns its particular stretch of the shore.

While some state-run areas like Cape May Point State Park, Corsons Inlet in Cape May County and Island Beach State Park in Ocean County may be forced to close this week, those are the exceptions.

In North Wildwood, Lotus Inn co-owner and manager Lori Stambaugh took calls throughout the day asking if the beaches were opened. She was upset.

“I am not happy when information is put out there to alarm the public and to influence the public and it is not in the correct way.”

In Wildwood, Lee Brasch, admissions manager for Morey's Piers, took a similar call from a woman coming to vacation who wanted to know: Are the beaches closed?

“No,” Brasch said.

How about the water park?

“Nope. And even if the beaches were closed, we will not close the water park,” she said.

Operators told people that the city's beaches and the privately owned pier were still open, but she was afraid that tourists would stay away.

“Tell everybody to come to Wildwood!” Brasch said. “It's great here!”

In Ship Bottom, Information Clerk Cindy Galvin assured a person who stopped by the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce that the Barnegat Lighthouse State Park was still open.

In Cape May, Cathy Wahl at the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May said she took a dozen similar calls throughout the morning, mostly from the New York region.

Callers wanted to know if the beaches were still open. She assured them yes and read a letter from Director Larry Muentz explaining things were up and running.

“We sure don't want to have people call and cancel their vacation out of fear,” Wahl said.

Fear over a potential closure stretched into Pennsylvania.

In Douglassville, Pa., 45 miles northwest of Philadelphia, people called Adele Klein to find out whether Klein Transportation's casino buses ran were still going to Atlantic City casinos.

“We just tell them to keep signing up and we will let you know if they are closed,” said Klein, co owner and director of business development.

She's concerned. The company runs between four and five 54-person buses to Atlantic City every day. While the firm has 17 buses, the resort is its only regularly scheduled destination and accounts for half of its revenue.

On Monday, 11 buses were out. If there is a casino shutdown, they stand to lose as much as $6,750 per day because beach or no beach, that's not what they're coming for.

“They enjoy what Atlantic City is all about and if they pay the fare, that's what they want to take part in,” she said, referring to casino gambling.

Even so, Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Rod Aluise was surprised when a reporter called him. The city's beaches were thick with the holiday crowd.

He relayed his view from the squad's South Carolina Avenue headquarters, a couple blocks from Resorts Casino Hotel. “I am looking at a very beautiful holiday crowd,” Aluise said. “Everything is normal.”

Wildwood Tax Bills

2006-07-17T23:22:00.000-04:00

Wildwood to issue estimated tax bills
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, July 1, 2006
Updated: Saturday, July 1, 2006

WILDWOOD — City Commission held an emergency meeting Friday to authorize the tax collector to issue estimated tax bills for the third quarter.

According to a resolution passed by the commissioners, the emergency meeting was necessary because of the anticipated late adoption of the city's 2006 budget and the lack of a certified tax rate for the year.

“The mailing of estimated tax bills will enable the city of Wildwood to meet its financial obligations, maintain the tax-collection rate, provide uniformity for tax payments and save the unnecessary cost of borrowing,” the resolution read.

The third quarter bills are due Aug. 1.

Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said Friday that tax bills should be mailed to city property owners within the next two weeks.

The city, meanwhile, continues to fine-tune its 2006 budget, and Troiano said he hopes to introduce it within two weeks.

Under the estimated tax-bill resolution, the city's anticipated total tax rate is $1.52 per $100 of assessed property valuation compared to $1.42 in 2005.

The rise in the overall tax rate includes a 1-cent increase in the Cape May County tax, small increases in the the county library and county open-space taxes, and a 5.7-cent increase in the local school tax.

“Seven or eight cents of (the increase) is something I have no control over. I have zero control over the county and the school,” Troiano said.

According to the estimated tax bill, the local property-tax rate, used to fund the city's operations, would increase from 79.7 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation in 2005 to 82.3 cents in 2006.

The estimated local tax levy is $14.5 million, which would be an increase over the 2005 tax levy of $13.7 million.

Troiano said the final city tax rate, however, was expected to change because the city is still waiting to receive state funds connected with the Wildwoods Convention Center operation.

The city's 2005 budget was $22.5 million.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Doo Wop Tour

2006-07-17T23:21:00.000-04:00

Doo Wop tour leaves visitors in Wildwood daze
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, July 1, 2006
Updated: Saturday, July 1, 2006

WILDWOOD — Drivers caught behind the slow-moving yellow school bus occasionally honked or sped past whenever they could, but those on board hardly noticed.

Like children on a field trip, they peered through the windows trying to catch a glimpse of the globe spinning above the Pan American Hotel.

This, after all, was the Doo Wop 50s Trolley Tour, a trip designed to slow things down and get visitors to see the details they had likely passed before but never really noticed.

The dozen or so tourists on this tour oohed and aahed as tour guide, and self-described Wildwood cheerleader, Joan Husband pointed out the design elements that have come to be known as doo-wop.

Tour goers looked to the right at the roof line on the Bel Air Motel designed to resemble the fins on the car of the same name, and to the left as the bus passed the lava rock that covered the walls at the Waikiki Oceanfront Inn.

Much was said of the plastic palm trees, a native Wildwood plant, known to appear in time for spring, the neon signs that would light the night sky, and the decorative railings such as the “va va va voom” rounded balconies of the Imperial 500 Motel.

The tour bus cruised up and down the streets of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest as Husband talked of the history behind the island's collection of doo-wop motels

Husband, sporting her 50s-style “Pink Ladies” shirt, spoke of the role cars played in the Wildwoods and the development of the drive-up motel.

Other events of the times also played their part in the Wildwoods, Husband explained.

Motels like the Satellite and the Ala Moana owed their names to the space race and the development of commercial air travel to foreign locales.

“You came here for your foreign travel,” Husband said as the bus made its way past the famed Caribbean Motel.

And Miami Beach was only a drive away with motels like the Eden Roc.

“Come to Wildwood. You're in Miami Beach,” Husband said.

Along the way, Husband also pointed out what was no longer there.

As the tour bus passed new condominium construction, Husband recalled motels that once lined the streets like the Hi-Lili and the Three Coins.

“Don't get me crying,” Husband said as the bus passed what was no more.

But while some of the island's doo-wop motels have ben torn down to make way for the new, Husband literally found signs of hope.

The Acme sign, the Commerce Bank sign and more.

All are examples, she said, of doo-wop revival, a modern take on a bygone day.

With songs like “Leader of the Pack” and “Under the Boardwalk” playing on the bus speaker system, Husband pointed out the major companies that have embraced this new doo-wop. Wawa and Harley-Davidson, for instance, have doo-wop themed stores covered in neon and chrome along Rio Grande Avenue.

The tour also gave visitors ideas.

“We have to go in there,” said one as the bus passed the new doo-wop flavored Starlux Motel. “Wow,” said another.

When the tour returned to its base at the Wildwoods Convention Center, visitors like Brie and Pat Walsh departed the bus with a better appreciation for the motels and their history.

The Washington, D.C., couple came to town at the invitation of their cousins and had never been to Five Mile Beach before.

“I thought it was a worthwhile $10,” Brie Walsh said. “I'm seeing it in a new light. I really did learn about the Wildwoods, the history, the music.”

Pat Walsh said he had no idea how much cars influenced the motels' development.

Brie Walsh, meanwhile, was anxious for nightfall to arrive so she could see the neon in all its glory. She had already begun planning her next trip to the Wildwoods.

“I already picked out a couple (motels) I want to stay at,” she said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Boat Parade Doesn't Sail

2006-07-17T23:20:00.000-04:00

Lack of Funds Kills Wildwoods' Boat Parade
Cape May County Herald
6/28/2006
WILDWOOD - The annual Christmas in July boat parade, originally scheduled for July 22, has been cancelled, Greater Wildwood Jaycees announced June 23. The Grinch didn't do it. It was lack of funds, the Jaycees deciding that the parade was "too much for this non-profit organization to handle," according to a press release. The parade has been a tradition in the Wildwoods for over 15 years, said Jodie DiEduardo, chairperson. In years past, the Jaycees said it relied on the support of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority (GWTIDA), Coastal Broadcasting, and Lighthouse Pointe Restaurant. "Without their support, it couldn't have ever happened," said DiEduardo. GWTIDA had provided $10,000 annually for the last two years, but specified the contribution would decrease over time, according to reports. This year, the event received $2,000 from GWTIDA. The plan, according to the Jaycees, was that the event would grow and attract more sponsors, thus, becoming self-sufficient. "Unfortunately, not many other businesses or organizations in the Wildwoods were willing to help with the event, which costs in excess of $10,000 each year," the press release stated. "I've sent letters asking for cash donations in the past, and we've received gift certificates from various businesses to use as prizes, but we haven't received monetary donations that could keep the parade going," explained DiEduardo. In addition, the number of registered boats dropped from approximately 40 boats in 2000 to 16 in 2005. The only portion of the event that was expanding in popularity was the house decorating contest, said DiEduardo. Unfortunately, that was all tied into the parade and will be cancelled as well, she said. "The event was a huge amount of work," stated DiEduardo. "Considering all the paperwork and permits involved, we have to start working in April and then run right up until July." The only annual fundraiser for the organization, the Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Trade show, was cancelled due to poor attendance and dwindling motel rooms in the area. "(The trade show) decreased to the point where exhibitors were not interested in participating in the event anymore," according to the Jaycees. The Jaycees said that it had hoped another organization might step forward and take over the parade. For more information, the Greater Wildwood Jaycees can be reached at P.O. Box 63, Wildwood, NJ 08260. Contact Huggins at: (609) 886-8600 ext. 25

Reval Lawsuit Dropped

2006-07-17T23:19:00.000-04:00

North Wildwood couple drops reval lawsuit
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Two city property owners have dropped their legal challenge to the city's recent revaluation.

In April, property owners Alexander and Margaret Schernecke, on behalf of the Wildwood Taxpayers Association, filed a lawsuit in state tax court charging that errors in the revaluation process led to “violations of the taxpayer's constitutional right to be taxed fairly and equitably under New Jersey law.”

The lawsuit claimed that the revaluation “resulted in grossly overvalued, inequitable and inconsistent valuations throughout the city.”

If the suit had been successful, it would have forced the city to complete an entirely new revaluation.

The suit named the city along with Tyler Technologies/CLT Division, which performed the revaluation, as well as the Cape May County Tax Board and the city's tax assessor.

On Monday, the city received written notification from the Schernecke's attorney, Philip J. Giannuario, that the lawsuit had been withdrawn.

The letter was dated June 23, the same day a judge was set to hear a number of motions filed by the city and others asking that the lawsuit be dismissed.

“In our estimation ... it was frivolous litigation,” City Solicitor William J. Kaufmann said Monday.

In court documents, Kaufmann asked Judge Joseph C. Small to dismiss the Schernecke's complaint for several reasons.

Kaufmann said the couple had failed to exhaust all of the administrative remedies open to them to challenge the new value placed on their property. Those options included appealing to the county tax board and then to the state.

In addition, Kaufmann said the Scherneckes had no standing to act on behalf of other property owners, 85 percent of whom did not file an individual appeal with the county tax board.

County Tax Administrator George R. Brown said 1,057 North Wildwood residents, or about 15 percent of the city's property owners, filed tax appeals.

The tax board has heard individual North Wildwood appeals since May and has several more to hear in July, Brown sid Monday.

Kaufmann also noted that the Scherneckes did not challenge the initial county order which required the city to conduct the revaluation in the first place.

Kaufmann also challenged the timeliness of the suit. He said notices of the new assessments were mailed Feb. 10 and property owners had 45 days to appeal, which would mean they had until March 27. The lawsuit was filed April 3.

Neither the Scherneckes or their attorney could be reached for comment Monday.

Before the revaluation, the entire city was valued at $794.9 million, and after the revaluation, the town is now said to be worth about $3 billion.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

CAFRA Permit denied

2006-07-17T23:18:00.000-04:00

State denies CAFRA permit for high-rise hotel in Wildwood

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

WILDWOOD — The state has rejected the coastal building application for the Nouveau Wave Hotel, calling the proposed 25-story hotel out of character with the surrounding community, a danger to migratory birds, a public safety risk and damaging to the island's historical collection of motels.

The developer, listed as PPI Rio Associates LLC in care of Pitcairn Properties Inc., planned to build a 281-foot, 269-unit hotel/condominium complex with 4,566 square feet of retail space, a restaurant and other amenities on the site of the former Rio Motel, now a vacant lot at the corner of Ocean and Rio Grande avenues.

In a letter issued Friday, the state Department of Environmental Protection denied the developers the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, or CAFRA, permit needed to move ahead with construction.

The state found the Nouveau Wave would have met a number of regulations such as requirements for impervious coverage and plant materials coverage given the size of the 48,000-square-foot lot.

But Kevin J. Broderick, manager of the Land Use Regulation Program, offered a long list of reasons why the permit was being denied.

The state found construction of the high-rise was only made possible by the destruction of the Rio Motel, one of the 1950s and 1960s-era motels built in the doo-wop style known for exotic names, bold neon signs and kidney-shaped pools.

Demolition of the Rio began before the CAFRA application was submitted and an analysis of whether the demolition could have been avoided could not be done, Broderick wrote.

“This project resulted in the destruction of a historic or potentially historic property,” the report reads.

Next, the height of the building and its effect on wildlife came into question.

“The proposed 281-foot high-rise structure would have been constructed within the lower 10 kilometers of Cape May County near the tip of the ‘funnel' of the second most important migratory flyway in North America,” the report reads.

Broderick said the building's height, perpendicular orientation to the coastline and the fact that it would be lighted at night would be detrimental to birds.

A hotel of this size and magnitude “would have had an adverse effect on the endangered and threatened bird species which use this flyway and is prohibited.”

Broderick also detailed safety issues surrounding the high-rise and its relation to the smaller properties surrounding the motel site.

He found the hotel would cause a visual intrusion, a deterrent to air circulation, cast shadows on residences, adversely impact traffic patterns and threaten property values. Broderick wrote there was also a concern about the sewer system's ability to handle the added burden of the high-rise.

Broderick continued, “With regards to public safety, neither the applicant nor the city has presented evidence that the local fire department has the equipment to effectively fight a fire within a building of this size.”

The state also reviewed the city ordinance that permits high-rise construction up to 250 feet and found that while the ordinance allows such buildings it does not require them.

It also found the hotel would tower over neighboring structures such as smaller motels and residential units and was not “visually compatible with existing scenic resources.”

Ultimately, Broderick found the building did not meet seven sections of the state's coastal zone management rules and the permit should be denied.

The developers can appeal the state's finding. They could not be reached for comment Monday.

Reval Lawsuit Dropped

2006-06-27T21:12:00.000-04:00

N. Wildwood couple drops reval lawsuit
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Two city property owners have dropped their legal challenge to the city's recent revaluation.

In April, property owners Alexander and Margaret Schernecke, on behalf of the Wildwood Taxpayers Association, filed a lawsuit in state tax court charging that errors in the revaluation process led to “violations of the taxpayer's constitutional right to be taxed fairly and equitably under New Jersey law.”

The lawsuit claimed that the revaluation “resulted in grossly overvalued, inequitable and inconsistent valuations throughout the city.”

If the suit had been successful, it would have forced the city to complete an entirely new revaluation.

The suit named the city along with Tyler Technologies/CLT Division, which performed the revaluation, as well as the Cape May County Tax Board and the city's tax assessor.

On Monday, the city received written notification from the Schernecke's attorney, Philip J. Giannuario, that the lawsuit had been withdrawn.

The letter was dated June 23, the same day a judge was set to hear a number of motions filed by the city and others asking that the lawsuit be dismissed.

“In our estimation ... it was frivolous litigation,” City Solicitor William J. Kaufmann said Monday.

In court documents, Kaufmann asked Judge Joseph C. Small to dismiss the Schernecke's complaint for several reasons.

Kaufmann said the couple had failed to exhaust all of the administrative remedies open to them to challenge the new value placed on their property. Those options included appealing to the county tax board and then to the state.

In addition, Kaufmann said the Scherneckes had no standing to act on behalf of other property owners, 85 percent of whom did not file an individual appeal with the county tax board.

County Tax Administrator George R. Brown said 1,057 North Wildwood residents, or about 15 percent of the city's property owners, filed tax appeals.

The tax board has heard individual North Wildwood appeals since May and has several more to hear in July, Brown sid Monday.

Kaufmann also noted that the Scherneckes did not challenge the initial county order which required the city to conduct the revaluation in the first place.

Kaufmann also challenged the timeliness of the suit. He said notices of the new assessments were mailed Feb. 10 and property owners had 45 days to appeal, which would mean they had until March 27. The lawsuit was filed April 3.

Neither the Scherneckes or their attorney could be reached for comment Monday.

Before the revaluation, the entire city was valued at $794.9 million, and after the revaluation, the town is now said to be worth about $3 billion.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

CAFRA permit denied

2006-06-27T21:01:00.000-04:00

State denies CAFRA permit for high-rise hotel in Wildwood
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

WILDWOOD — The state has rejected the coastal building application for the Nouveau Wave Hotel, calling the proposed 25-story hotel out of character with the surrounding community, a danger to migratory birds, a public safety risk and damaging to the island's historical collection of motels.

The developer, listed as PPI Rio Associates LLC in care of Pitcairn Properties Inc., planned to build a 281-foot, 269-unit hotel/condominium complex with 4,566 square feet of retail space, a restaurant and other amenities on the site of the former Rio Motel, now a vacant lot at the corner of Ocean and Rio Grande avenues.

In a letter issued Friday, the state Department of Environmental Protection denied the developers the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, or CAFRA, permit needed to move ahead with construction.

The state found the Nouveau Wave would have met a number of regulations such as requirements for impervious coverage and plant materials coverage given the size of the 48,000-square-foot lot.

But Kevin J. Broderick, manager of the Land Use Regulation Program, offered a long list of reasons why the permit was being denied.

The state found construction of the high-rise was only made possible by the destruction of the Rio Motel, one of the 1950s and 1960s-era motels built in the doo-wop style known for exotic names, bold neon signs and kidney-shaped pools.

Demolition of the Rio began before the CAFRA application was submitted and an analysis of whether the demolition could have been avoided could not be done, Broderick wrote.

“This project resulted in the destruction of a historic or potentially historic property,” the report reads.

Next, the height of the building and its effect on wildlife came into question.

“The proposed 281-foot high-rise structure would have been constructed within the lower 10 kilometers of Cape May County near the tip of the ‘funnel' of the second most important migratory flyway in North America,” the report reads.

Broderick said the building's height, perpendicular orientation to the coastline and the fact that it would be lighted at night would be detrimental to birds.

A hotel of this size and magnitude “would have had an adverse effect on the endangered and threatened bird species which use this flyway and is prohibited.”

Broderick also detailed safety issues surrounding the high-rise and its relation to the smaller properties surrounding the motel site.

He found the hotel would cause a visual intrusion, a deterrent to air circulation, cast shadows on residences, adversely impact traffic patterns and threaten property values. Broderick wrote there was also a concern about the sewer system's ability to handle the added burden of the high-rise.

Broderick continued, “With regards to public safety, neither the applicant nor the city has presented evidence that the local fire department has the equipment to effectively fight a fire within a building of this size.”

The state also reviewed the city ordinance that permits high-rise construction up to 250 feet and found that while the ordinance allows such buildings it does not require them.

It also found the hotel would tower over neighboring structures such as smaller motels and residential units and was not “visually compatible with existing scenic resources.”

Ultimately, Broderick found the building did not meet seven sections of the state's coastal zone management rules and the permit should be denied.

The developers can appeal the state's finding. They could not be reached for comment Monday.

Ever Changing Wildwood

2006-06-26T15:59:00.000-04:00

Midstaters ride Wildwoods condo wave
Back in the 1920s they were tearing down fishing shacks to build houses. In the 1940s they tore down houses to build boarding homes. In the '60s they tore down boarding homes to build motels. Now they are tearing down motels to build condos. The Wildwoods have been very flexible over the years.

Sunday, June 25, 2006
BY CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of The Patriot-News

To many who vacationed at the Jersey shore in summers past, the Wildwoods were best known for their abundance of funky '60s motels.

Built in bold, modernistic style with themes such as the Orient, pirates and outer space, the motels of North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest were considered the greatest concentration of mid-century architecture in the nation.

Despite efforts to save the resort's retro look -- dubbed "doo wop" by preservationists -- the old motels are falling to make room for an explosion in condos. Some midstaters are investing in what might be the Jersey shore's hottest real estate market.

They are drawn to the Wildwoods by the easy 31/2-hour commute from central Pennsylvania, the chance to purchase seashore property at comparatively affordable prices and memories of childhood vacations spent on the wide beaches by day and two-mile boardwalk at night.

"We were looking for a place at the shore that we liked and could afford. We bought a place right on the boardwalk. We have an ocean view. It's just a perfect location," said Judith Connor, 54, of Hershey.

The Connors bought their condo as an investment, but they have found they enjoy using it themselves so much, they are renting it out for fewer weeks than originally planned.

Retro recedes:
They reflect a growing trend. According to the National Association of Realtors, one-third of all home purchases are second homes to be used as investment properties or vacation getaways. Resort spots have been the hottest segment of that market.
In Wildwood, motel nostalgia can't compete with the demand for condos.

"Those motels are gone. There are only a few still left that look like they are from the '60s," said Robert Scully, curator of the Wildwood Historical Society's George F. Boyer Historical Museum.

More than 130 motels have been demolished, Scully said, with more to follow. Gone, too, are many of the old rooming houses, popular with students flocking there for senior weeks and summertime partying. In their place are condos and town houses -- close to 3,500 since the start of the boom in 2000, with more on the way.
"Every time we go down it seems there is another new condo being built," said Michael McNally of Hampden Twp.

McNally is among the midstate residents who have gotten in on the Wildwoods boom. McNally bought his three-bedroom, two-bath, beach block unit in North Wildwood three years ago. Since then, McNally said, his property's value has almost doubled.
David L. Schultz of Camp Hill purchased a condo unit three blocks from the boardwalk in Wildwood last year for $229,000. Units in the same building now sell for close to $400,000, Schultz said.

Shore was rowdy:
Real estate agents who had watched prices soar in Cape May and other shore towns said Wildwood was poised to be discovered.

"There had been development in all the other shore towns down here. Wildwood was sort of skipped over. It was just sort of sitting there waiting," said Carol McCormick of Wildwood's Don Martin Realty.

"We were very underrated here. We're a barrier island and property was cheap here. You couldn't give stuff away. It was just a matter of time," Len Lauriello, a member of Wildwood's planning board, said.

"Stone Harbor and Avalon were totally out of our price range. It was basically the only place that was relatively affordable on the New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland shores," said Lee Liebler of Hershey, who two years ago bought a condo three blocks from the North Wildwood beach.

Bruce Esher, an agent with Fasy Real Estate in North Wildwood, said the town's image as a party place probably played a big role in keeping land values low for so long.
Bill Haley and His Comets performed "Rock Around the Clock" for the first time at the HofBrau Hotel in 1954. Chubby Checker introduced the Twist at the Rainbow Club in 1960. Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" was first broadcast from the Starlight Ballroom. In his 1963 hit "Wildwood Days," Bobby Rydell sang about "sleepin' on the beach" and "rockin' every night till the early bright."

"We have had that party label on us for a long time," Esher said.

Still, families continued to flock there until the mid-1980s, when the Wildwoods started to lose their allure as those motels that seemed so glamorous in the '60s and '70s began to show their age.

Families began to migrate to quieter shore destinations, such as Cape May and Ocean City, N.J., and the Wildwoods became the place to go for a wild night or weekend.

Bathing in nostalgia:
Revitalization efforts in the '90s centered on preserving the resort's "Doo Wop" style properties, but ultimately those efforts were doomed by economics. With no undeveloped land available, the ground beneath the old family-run motels became worth much more than the rooms that sat on top of it.

"The motel people, the moms and pops, got offered big money," Lauriello said.
Ironically, while many of the motels seem destined to end up in landfills or preserved in a planned Doo Wop Museum, nostalgia seems to be a big catalyst in the Wildwoods condo boom.

The typical Wildwoods buyer is 50 or older, usually with a history of vacationing in the Wildwoods in years past.

"A lot of people who came to the Wildwoods as kids and on vacation are now retiring down here," McCormick said.

Many others are buying the condos as income and investment properties, looking to rent the units during the season to defray mortgage costs as the properties' values appreciate.

That has led to a glut of available rentals that vacationers might take advantage of to get bargain accommodations. Barbara Fasy, of Fasy Real Estate, said owners are accepting offers well below original asking prices to fill unrented weeks.

The seller's market also has slowed somewhat, due to excess inventory and higher interest prices. Although nobody expects values to stop growing, "builders are even taking offers," Fasy said.

Meanwhile, many developers are incorporating the "Doo Wop" theme into new properties. Drawings for two of five proposed 25-story condo-hotel towers planned for areas near Wildwood's convention center show retro influences.

Though some lament the loss of the old motels, Scully said the changes are part of the Wildwoods' ongoing evolution.

"Back in the 1920s they were tearing down fishing shacks to build houses. In the 1940s they tore down houses to build boarding homes. In the '60s they tore down boarding homes to build motels. Now they are tearing down motels to build condos," Scully said.

"The Wildwoods have been very flexible over the years. We have managed to change with the times."

The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contributed to this report. CHRIS A. COUROGEN: 975-9784 or ccourogen@patriot-news.com

How do you spell relief?

2006-06-22T15:44:00.000-04:00

Wildwood beachgoers to get relief
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, June 22, 2006
Updated: Thursday, June 22, 2006

WILDWOOD — Boardwalk visitors in need of a bathroom break may soon get a break.

The city's public restrooms located beneath the Schellenger Avenue information center have been closed since at least last summer, forcing vacationers to trek to one of the piers or to city bathrooms at Glenwood and Leaming avenues.

On Wednesday, Public Works Superintendent Matt Christopher said the Schellenger Avenue bathrooms should finally be open by the Fourth of July holiday.

Christopher said the bathrooms have been undergoing a major renovation with work being done by Public Works department employees as they are available.

“We work around other schedules, and that's part of the delay. Now we're on track,” Christopher said, explaining that having the work done in-house was designed to save money.

Commissioner Fred Wager said the opening of the bathrooms cannot come soon enough.

“People are calling every day about the bathrooms and why they're not open. Believe me, it's a nightmare,” Wager said.

Last year, the city rented portable toilets for the Schellenger Avenue location, but Wager said the city chose not to do so this year because the bathrooms were expected to open for the season.

The renovation includes the addition of new toilets, flooring, baby changing stations and more and is being paid for with a $150,000 federal grant, said purchasing agent Gordon Ball.

The city had hoped to have all of the work done by an outside contractor, but the cost proved to be too high, Ball said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Liquor License

2006-06-22T15:22:00.000-04:00

Waterpark liquor-license vote delayed
From Press of Atlantic Citystaff reports
Published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, June 21, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Tuesday's scheduled vote on a liquor-license transfer for the Ocean Oasis Waterpark and Beach Club was postponed.

City Council, acting as the city's Alcoholic Beverage Control board, was scheduled to vote on the license transfer, but city solicitor William Kaufmann said the vote was delayed because language in the legal advertisement announcing the transfer had to be reworded.

The waterpark operators must publish the legal notice again and the vote has been rescheduled for the next regular council meeting at 7 p.m. July 5.

Ocean Oasis, at 25th Avenue and the Boardwalk, opened during the weekend without liquor service. The Morey organization, which owns the waterpark, had hoped to begin serving liquor by the end of June.

Alcohol Vote

2006-06-16T08:38:00.000-04:00

Morey's one vote from OK on alcohol
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, June 16, 2006
Updated: Friday, June 16, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — The Morey Organization is one vote away from the last approval it needs to sell alcoholic beverages at its 25th Avenue water park.

Late Wednesday night, the city's Planning Board approved a conditional use permit that would allow the pier operator to serve alcohol at the new Ocean Oasis Waterpark and Beach Club formerly known as Raging Waters.

In a 6-1 vote, the board found the company met the conditions of an ordinance approved by City Council last month.

The ordinance requires that alcoholic drinks be served in designated areas and that a water park management plan be submitted. The plan must demonstrate that “alcoholic beverages shall be served in a controlled, dignified and upscale manner.”

Attorney Stephen Nehmad, representing the Morey Organization, said the company has met those and other requirements to develop a resort that is modern and competitive with other destinations.

Much of Wednesday's hearing focused on the location of one of three areas that will serve alcoholic drinks and whether it was actually part of the water park.

The company plans to serve drinks at two places in the lower, or attraction, level and at a third location on an elevated platform, or observation area, that offers views of the park below and the ocean.

Waterpark visitors must pay admission to get on the rides and attractions at the lower level, but entry to the upper deck does not require a paid waterpark admission.

Opponents say that is because the observation deck is not a part of the park.

“The bar on the observation deck is nothing more than a free-standing bar,” said Kathy Martin, an independent City Council candidate and longtime opponent of the plan.

Under Planning Board guidelines, Martin was questioned by Camden County attorney Stuart Platt, who said he represented Martin and the group she formed known as Families Opposing Waterpark Liquor.

“We do not believe the observation level is part of the waterpark,” Platt said.

Denise Beckson, director of water park operations, and other Morey representatives disputed that claim.

“That level is vital to our operation,” Beckson said.

Morey's planner Clark Doran said the deck would be home to the Oasis Cafe, which will have a small bar and seating for 93 patrons. In the past, he said, the deck was used by visitors who wanted to get away from the noise and activity going on below.

“It's all part of the water park to us,” Doran said.

He continued, “The alcoholic beverage service ... is a minor part of the whole package.” Doran noted the new park's other features such as private cabanas and organized children's activities.

Others said they opposed the process and said the improvements to the water park were done without the proper permits. Nehmad said the Morey Organization had operated above board obtaining permits as required by the city.

The board members said they had confidence in the Morey family and its operations.

Board member Bill Green said he was impressed with the company's management plan, which designated how alcohol would be controlled at the water park.

“Alcohol can be served responsibly if the proper protocols are in place,” Green said.

Chairman Charles Brackett, who voted against the conditional use permit, said he didn't think alcohol service would be a problem, but he felt he had been misled.

Initially, representatives of the company said access to areas serving alcohol would require an admission ticket, he said.

“What they presented is not what we started out with,” Brackett said.

Next, the Morey Organization must get a place-to-place liquor license transfer, and if that is approved, it will then be able to serve alcoholic drinks.

City Council President Patrick Rosenello said Thursday that the matter is on the agenda for the next Alcoholic Beverage Control Board/ City Council meeting starting at 7 p.m. June 20.

The company plans to sell beer, wine and tropical drinks between the hours of 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. The water park is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in season, Beckson said.

Ocean Oasis is opening this weekend without alcoholic drink service. If the ABC board approves the license transfer, drink service should begin by the end of the month.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:Gilfillian@pressofac.com

2006-06-13T13:49:00.000-04:00

Code office needs administrator as building booms in Wildwoods

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Atlantic City Press
Published: Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, June 13, 2006

WILDWOOD — The Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, is looking for help to manage its daily operations and finances.

In a news release issued Monday, JCOW officials said the office hopes to hire a business administrator and finance officer as part of an administrative-support reorganization.

“Construction activity in the Wildwoods has increased dramatically in both numbers and complexity during the past several years, requiring JCOW to increase the number of state-licensed code officials, inspectors and clerical support staff to meet the demand. However, administrative and financial management support has not been increased to support the increased activity of the office,” the statement read.

Revenues from construction-plan reviews, permits, and inspections, for example, more than doubled from $768,697 in 2002 to $1,680,565 in 2005, an increase of $893,868 or 113%. In the first four months of 2006, revenues from these services increased 84 percent since 2002, according to JCOW.

JCOW's management committee arranged for an independent review of business and financial management procedures this past spring. The leading recommendations from that review were to add the positions of business administrator and chief finance officer, a move unanimously accepted by the committee.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., who heads the JCOW board, said Monday that the office has many more responsibilities than it used to have and that adding professionals to handle the finances and operations was the right step.

“We're trying to create a business side and an inspection side,” Troiano said.

Troiano said he hopes the new staff members can be in place well before the end of this summer.

Meanwhile, JCOW has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to decide who is responsible to fix and pay for repairs to dozens of condominiums that still have building-code violations.

The lawsuit lists 58 condominium associations, and many builders, developers and architects as parties to the case, which involves properties built between 2000 and 2005.

An audit by the state Department of Community Affairs found 79 buildings on the island, primarily in North Wildwood and Wildwood, that did not comply with existing building codes for multi-family properties.

The non-compliance relates to safety issues, including fire separation, fire suppression and egress in the affected buildings.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Seaport Plan

2006-06-13T13:38:00.000-04:00

North Wildwood to hold hearing on Seaport plan
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, June 13, 2006

>NORTH WILDWOOD — City Council will hold a public hearing next week on plans to revive the city-owned Seaport Pier.

The pier, which sits on the east side of the Boardwalk between 21st and 23rd avenues, has been home to a variety of shops and games through the years but now sits “vacant, unutilized and deteriorating,” according to the pier's redevelopment ordinance.

Mayor Bill Henfey said the city is already advertising for developers interested in bringing new life to the pier in the form of restaurants, recreational games, such as miniature golf, or other entertainment options.

Henfey said the deadline for developers to submit their initial redevelopment plans, along with a $7,500 deposit, is Aug. 4.

Those plans will then be reviewed by committee and whittled down to the ones the city most prefers.

From there, the developers will be able to submit more detailed plans, and one winning plan will be selected.

According to the ordinance, the pier “should not only provide North Wildwood with substantial positive revenue, but has the potential of being a primary agent in the revitalization of North Wildwood's Boardwalk economy.”

“I'm anxious. I really am ready to see something new up there,” Henfey said.

This summer, the pier will remain empty except for an information center, some portable toilets and maybe a display or two, Henfey said.

The 51,543 square foot property belongs to the city and would likely be leased to a developer, although the city could consider selling the pier, he said.

According to the ordinance, the pier is in need of considerable investment before it can be made ready for visitors, and that investment is more than the city can undertake on its own.

The pier has been in the redevelopment works since June 2005 when the City Council directed the Planning Board to start work on labeling the pier as an area in need of redevelopment. It has since received that designation, and the redevelopment plan has also received the Planning Board's approval.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:Tilfillian@pressofac.com

Doo-Wop Swan Song

2006-06-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

Building wave claims Jersey shore motels

Associated Press
Jun. 4, 2006 12:00 AM
Arizona Republic

WILDWOOD, N.J. - The Lollipop and the StarLux. The Shalimar and the Caribbean. The Imperial 500 and the Tangiers.

With garish neon signs, multicolored exteriors and sweeping deck overhangs, the "Doo Wop" motels of the Wildwoods are the architectural equivalents of a Vitalis-slicked pompadour.

They, too, are fading into the past.

One by one, the mom-and-pop motels are being razed, rendered economically obsolete by a real estate boom that has made the land underneath too valuable to support a couple of dozen $100-a-night rooms.

"It's hard," said Daytona Motor Inn owner John Donio, who has been offered five times what he paid for his 20-unit motel, two blocks from the beach. "I want to stay, I really do."

More than 50 of the motels have been demolished in the past three years, giving way to pricey condominiums with none of the charm - or history.

"Without a concerted attempt to halt demolition, these colorful vestiges of American life will go the way of the ducktail haircut, the '57 Chevy and the drive-in double feature," said Richard Moe, executive director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Instead of being demolished to make way for nondescript new development, the Doo Wop motels should be preserved as the focus of an all-season resort and a vibrant, livable community for year-round residents."

The trust, based in Washington, D.C., included the motels collectively on its list of the 11 most endangered historic places in America.

More symbolic than anything else, the distinction is aimed at raising public awareness about the plight of the sites.

Built in the 1950s and 1960s and dubbed "Doo Wop" after the vocal style of the period, the motels sprung up next to the ocean in Wildwood, North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, catering to a booming postwar America that wanted vacation places with outdoor pools, parking spaces and easy ocean access.

Endangered Species

2006-05-27T07:39:00.000-04:00

Mom-Pop motels join list of endangered places
CANOE Travel News - travel.canoe.ca

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) - The Lollipop and The Starlux. The Shalimar and The Caribbean. The Imperial 500 and The Tangiers.

With garish neon signs, multicoloured exteriors and sweeping deck overhangs, the "Doo Wop" motels of the Wildwoods are the architectural equivalents of a Vitalis-slicked pompadour.

But they, too, are fading into the past.

One by one, the Mom-Pop motels are being razed, rendered economically obsolete by a real estate boom that has made the land underneath too valuable to support a few dozen $100-a-night motel rooms.

More than 50 of the motels have been demolished in the last three years, giving way to pricey condominiums with none of their charm - or history.

"Without a concerted attempt to halt demolition, these colourful vestiges of American life will go the way of the ducktail haircut, the '57 Chevy and the drive-in double feature," said Richard Moe, executive director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Trust, based in Washington, D.C., included the motels on its list of the 11 most endangered historic places in America.

Condo City - Wildwood, USA

2006-05-27T07:30:00.000-04:00

Shore enough, more condos arrive
Wildwood hotels replaced by condos
Saturday, May 27, 2006
By PETER GENOVESE
The Times - www.NJ.com
Newhouse News Service
The news was delivered one recent night in a meeting room a block from the ocean in Wildwood Crest.

"Forty hotels in town have been torn down so far," said Kirk Hastings, president of the Wildwood Crest Historical Society.

There were groans from the 25 people at the meeting, most longtime, year-round residents of the Cape May County seaside community.

"I can't keep up with this," Hastings said. "It's unbelievable how fast things are being torn down. I drove around the other day, noticed a few more empty lots, tried to remember what was there."

If you haven't been to the Wildwoods in a few years, you may not recognize the place. In the past five years, 75 vintage motels in North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest have been demolished to make way for condos with names such as Belldon's Coastal Colors, Club Regatta and Carousel-by-the-Sea.

"For Sale" signs hang from hotel railings. Hotels that might have cost $50,000 or $100,000 to build in the 1950s are being sold for $3 million and up. The pagoda-shaped Singapore in Wildwood Crest is listed at $14 million.

The skyline of Wildwood, the Jersey Shore's most colorful destination, is about to be drastically altered. Nine 25-story condo-hotels are planned on or near the oceanfront. They will include shops, restaurants and, in one case, an indoor beach with real sand.

"We have people complaining that we're turning Wildwood into Philadelphia-by-the-Sea," said Mayor Ernie Troiano, the town's most enthusiastic booster. "If the town never progressed, we'd all be in grass huts, and cattle would still be grazing out here. It's called progress."

But progress, in the form of high-rise hotels, luxury condos and increased ratables, has residents worrying the towns are losing their kitschy character and becoming sterile summer communities for the well-heeled.

The Wildwoods' collection of post-World War II resort hotel architecture -- perhaps the country's largest -- is rapidly declining. Hastings and others decry the loss of such classic motels as the Satellite, with its star and spaceship-studded neon sign; the Fantasy, whose name seemed to encapsulate the Wildwood experience, and the incomparable Ebb Tide, with its lean-in, lean-out walls. All three were demolished in the past two years -- the Ebb Tide and Satellite for condos, the Fantasy for a Harley-Davidson dealership.

Even the fabled Wildwood Diner is being moved out of the way for a mid-rise hotel. BCRC Associates of Newtown, Pa., the developer, is offering the classic blue-trimmed 1950s diner for free to anyone willing to pay transportation costs.

Five years ago, one-third of the residential units in Wildwood Crest were condos. Now it's up to one-half. Wildwood Crest Mayor Carl Groon, while welcoming the replacement of the older, more decrepit, 1950s motels, worries the dramatic influx of condos will adversely affect the town.

"The worst part about the increased value of our real estate is that it prevents young families from moving in," explained Groon, a lifelong Crest resident. "We are losing our year-round identity. It takes $400-$500,000 just to walk in and buy a small home.

"Plus, we're unable to draw volunteers for the fire department, for EMS, for Little League, because young people are the ones normally doing these things. It's not an easy problem to solve. How do you get young people to move here?"

Towns up and down the 127-mile-long Jersey Shore have been awash in construction in recent years. But nowhere is the building pace faster than in the Wildwoods, whose 14,000 year-round population swells to 4.5 million in the summer.

At the beginning of 2001, there were 126 hotels and motels in Wildwood Crest. Now there are 81, with 25 to 30 scheduled for demolition this year.

The resort is reinventing itself with a rapidity perhaps unprecedented for any town in state history.

Many of the new condos and town homes are not winning any beauty awards from locals, but several developments are striking and different. At Coastal Colors, a sprawling, multicolored town home complex described as the island's "most exclusive" community, single-family homes are priced from $1.5 million. Club Regatta, billed as "the luxury destination for a select few in Wildwood Crest," features condos in the $565,900 to $590,000 range, and town homes from $734,000 to $840,000.

"There's a lot of opportunity here; there are a lot of properties still available," said Paul Chiolo, owner of Oceanside Realty, which represents some 500 properties on the island.

Modern-day Wildwood (the term is often used to describe all three towns) was built on fantasy and fun. Some even consider the resort the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. Bill Haley and the Comets performed "Rock Around the Clock" for the first time at the HofBrau Hotel in 1954. Chubby Checker introduced the Twist at the Rainbow Club in 1960. Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" was first broadcast at the Starlight Ballroom.

Will Morey was one of the first to recognize the resort's postwar potential. Morey built a neon-lit empire of candy-colored hotels and ride-studded piers that would attract generations of tourists. With his brother, Bill, he opened Morey's Pier.

Wildwood became a brilliantly lit, sign-studded fantasyland. The motels echoed the past (the Frontier, Saratoga, Carriage Stop), looked ahead to the future (the Satellite, the Astronaut) and transported you to exotic locales (the Singapore, Tahiti, Kona Kai). Tiki heads, outrigger canoes, thatched roofs, sword-wielding pirates, flying-saucer-shaped lounges, plastic palm trees: in the Wildwoods, kitsch was king.

But Wildwood's motels started to show wear and tear in the 1980s, and the resort gradually lost its allure. It became a place to spend a rowdy night or weekend, not a peaceful week. Cape May, just under 10 miles to the south, with its splendid Victorians, and Ocean City -- "America's Greatest Family Resort" about 30 miles to the north -- became more attractive destinations. Wildwood hit rock bottom.

The real estate turnaround began about five years ago. A $70 million state-of-the-art convention center, largely funded through a state bond issue, opened on the oceanfront. It reaped immediate dividends. In 2001, the old convention center hosted 49 groups. From April 2002 through December 2005, the new convention center hosted 543 groups. Developers started to cast covetous eyes at the doo-wop motels and their choice lots. The Doo Wop Preservation League had been formed in 1997 to save the resort's 1950s commercial architecture, but by the new millennium the writing was on the crumbling motel walls.

Peter Genovese can be reached at (973) 392-1765 or pgenovese@starledger.com

North Wildwood Appeals

2006-05-24T10:09:00.000-04:00

County hears N. Wildwood homeowners' reval appeals
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, May 24, 2006

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — It's the $3 billion question.

“Why don't you tell us why you feel your assessment is too high,” asked Philip F. Judyski, chairman of the Cape May County Board of Taxation.

He posed the question Tuesday to North Wildwood property owners, or their attorneys, appealing the results of a 2005 revaluation that increased the town's overall value from $866 million to just about $3 billion.

Some cases were resolved on the spot.

Attorney Henry Lewandowski represented one of his neighbors who couldn't attend the morning hearing.

The neighbor's condominium was valued at $300,000. The Board of Taxation agreed to drop the figure to $275,000, the same as most of the property's other units.

Lewandowski, president of the Rancho Villas Condominium Association, said he had reached the same settlement on his unit after it was originally valued at $340,000.

“$275,000 is the number I anticipated. It's the number I think is fair,” Lewandowski said.

“The initial shock was bad for many (residents), but most are satisfied with their figures now,” he said.

Other cases did not reach a neat conclusion.

Jeff and Robert Stewart came to the board on behalf of their parents, Robert and Elizabeth Stewart, ages 88 and 85, respectively.

“They've owned the house since 1949 and always paid their taxes, but they can't afford $17,000 in taxes,” Jeff Stewart said. Their old tax bill was about $4,200.

He said his parents' home on Second Avenue was valued at about $200,000 before the revaluation. Now, the property is assessed at $2.5 million.

The brothers suggested a fairer number for the home and 10,000 square foot lot would have been $1.5 million.

During Tuesday's hearing, Tax Assessor Joseph Gallagher and a representative of Tyler Technologies/CLT Division reviewed the Stewarts' assessment and the process used to determine the value.

They said the sale of comparable properties at an appreciation of 2.5 percent per month was used to determine current values.

Robert Stewart called the value unreasonable.

“They're basically saying sell your house and get the hell out,” Jeff Stewart said. “That's what they're telling you.”

His brother said the values reflect the peak of the Wildwoods real estate market, and he believes that peak is past.

“Those numbers are gone. There has been a dramatic change,” Robert Stewart said.

Many more North Wildwood residents will likely make similar claims during the new few weeks.

Tax Administrator George R. Brown III said 1,064 city property owners appealed their new assessments and hearing are schedule to run through June.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Holiday Reopening

2006-05-24T10:07:00.000-04:00

Wildwood landmark may reopen by holiday
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, May 24, 2006

WILDWOOD — The Boardwalk was busy Tuesday as merchants stacked shelves, cleaned counters and prepared for the Memorial Day crowds.

But the pace at the new Sam's Pizza Palace seemed to be moving twice as fast.

Inside and out workmen hurried to hammer the last nails, install the last fixtures and put everything in its place.

“We're trying for Memorial Day. It's our goal,” said Anthony Zuccarello, one of many family members eager to see the pizza shop open its doors.

Rows of blue chairs and tables are in place in the shop at 26th and the Boardwalk, but much is left to be done by the start of the holiday weekend.

“We're getting there. This is just icing now. We went through all the bad things already,” said Rosemary Zuccarello.

Her family, including her father, Salvatore Spera, could only stand and watch as the old Sam's was destroyed by a fire that started in the adjacent Shore Plaza Motel on Dec. 9, 2005.

The motel had been in the Spera family since 1977, and Sam's traces its roots to 1957.

While the family is still considering the future of the motel, rebuilding Sam's, a Wildwood institution, was never in doubt.

“That was very important. This is our heart and soul. It's what we know best,” said Tony Spera as construction activity went on around him.

The new restaurant is bigger than the old with 40 additional seats for a total of 195, and everything will be brand new, but the family members said they know Sam's is much more than a building.

“It's the service. The loyal employees. The customers know the people here,” said Anthony Zuccarello.

Fans of Sam's are so enthusiastic many have called the family at home asking when the pizza place will re-open.

“And we call them back,” Rosemary Zuccarello said.

Words of encouragement have come in many forms since the fire. Rosemary Zuccarello pointed out that a local Green's Liquor store offered support on its bulletin board with the words “You build it. They will come.”

“I teared up at that,” Rosemary Zuccarello said.

She said the whole experience has also brought the family closer, and Tony Spera said it has given him a new perspective on the damage fire can do.

“You understand what they have lost because we know what we have lost. We could have closed shop and sold, but this is what we do,” Tony Spera said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Can't Rent

2006-05-24T09:33:00.000-04:00

Wildwoods condo owners can't rent without fix
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, May 24, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Condominium owners who received notices of violation from the island construction office have been sent letters by the city telling them that they will not be able to rent their properties this summer unless a fix is found.

City Administrator Ray Townsend said Tuesday that letters are going out to those who requested mercantile licenses for the summer informing them of the city's position.

Other letters will be sent to people who already received those licenses, explaining the city's method for rescinding mercantile licenses.

Earlier this year, about 500 units on the island were deemed to have been improperly inspected and/or constructed by the state Department of Community Affairs.

The units have problems of varying degrees related to the type of fire-suppression systems installed and fire safety.

Solicitor William Kaufmann said the city will not issue mercantile licenses to those properties unless the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, notifies the city that the problem has been fixed.

Kaufmann said that if JCOW tells the city that JCOW, the state and the owner have reached an agreement to fix the problems, then the city will also consider the problem abated and would then issue a mercantile license.

Kaufmann said the matter is moving as quickly as possible given the litigation involved.

JCOW attorney Glenn P. Callahan has been meeting with property owners, builders, developers and architects to come up with solutions for the 79 buildings involved.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Drink Up

2006-05-17T20:49:00.000-04:00

Alcohol sales will be no mirage at North Wildwood's Ocean Oasis
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Press of Atlantic City
Updated: Wednesday, May 17, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — In a 5-2 vote Tuesday, City Council approved an ordinance that will allow Morey's Piers to sell alcoholic beverages at its 25th Avenue waterpark.

Owners Jack and Will Morey already are transforming the former Raging Waters park into the resortlike Ocean Oasis Waterpark and Beach Club, and the addition of alcoholic beverages, which will include beer, wine and tropical drinks, is part of that change.

The ordinance takes effect 20 days from Tuesday, meaning alcohol will be available there this summer.

The Moreys plan to open the Ocean Oasis in mid-June.

Jack Morey said the company's plan is “the complete and total transformation of a waterpark that is tied into an all-inclusive beach resort.”

Other amenities such as hammocks, more upscale dining options and private cabanas also have been added in the effort to make the waterpark more competitive with not only other waterparks, but other vacation destinations, Will Morey said.

Close to 200 people filled council chambers, spilling out into the hallways and onto the stairs of City Hall, to support their position on the issue.

Opponents said allowing alcohol in the waterpark will both glamorize drinking to young people and create an unsafe situation in a place where safety is paramount.

“A private business interest cannot trump the public good,” said Upper Township resident Michele Previti, a parent of three children who all enjoy trips to the waterpark.

Previti said the sale of alcohol in an amusement park sends the message that alcohol is needed to have a good time.

Others, such as resident Frank Capone, said the Wildwoods have managed to overcome the image problems of the past and create a Boardwalk that is a safe place to be. The sale of alcohol at the waterpark “is a setback,” he said.

Kathy Martin, who organized a protest against the plan, predicted that selling alcohol in the waterpark and at a bar that is outside the confines of the waterpark could only lead to trouble.

“We will hold council members accountable for the alcohol-related injuries that will occur,” Martin said.

Waterpark industry experts spoke on behalf of the plan to serve alcohol in a controlled environment, meaning the consumption of alcohol would be limited to certain areas within the park. A number of residents also backed the plan, which they said would allow the park to become more competitive.

“We need to remain competitive and contemporary,” resident Bill Oakley said.

Oakley said the town cannot afford to become unfriendly to commercial enterprises that shoulder some of the city's tax burden.

“It is tourism that makes this community what it is,” he said.

Council members said they gave the decision a great deal of consideration and they had examined both sides.

Councilman Robert McCullion, who voted for the ordinance, said he was on council when it first allowed alcohol to be served in a restaurant on the Boardwalk. That decision, he said, was a positive one for the city.

Councilman Hank Rice, meanwhile, said his position had not changed.

“I am opposed to any alcohol on the Boardwalk,” Rice said.

Rice and Councilman Walt Larcombe voted against the ordinance.

The city also received 89 letters in support of the ordinance and 98 against, as well as a petition against the ordinance with 79 names.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Wildwood Makeover

2006-05-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

Wildwood's Pacific Avenue makeover expected to be done by Memorial Day

By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Press of Atlantic City
Updated: Tuesday, May 16, 2006

WILDWOOD — Pacific Avenue's latest makeover, stretching along the former Holly Beach Mall area, is scheduled to be complete in time for Memorial Day.

Traditional concrete and blue brick pavers will soon cover the eight-block area once lined with blue and green concrete sidewalks.

“The colored sidewalks were only a part of a major design concept,” said Patrick Rosenello, executive director of the Wildwood Boardwalk Improvement District.

A lack of funding and other difficulties meant that concept was never fully executed, and that left the colored sidewalks and their accompanying rocketship-shaped street signs on their own, he said.

“It's a mistake that everyone pretty much acknowledges,” Rosenello said.

Now, with $200,000 in funding from the improvement district and another $150,000 from a federal grant, that mistake has been corrected.

“It's such a dramatic improvement,” Rosenello said.

Improvement district President William Kurtz said the new, cleaner look is part of an effort to draw new businesses and to help Wildwood's downtown compete with other downtown business districts along the shore.

He added, “You have to clean it up before they will come.”

Kurtz, owner of Neil's Steak and Chowder House, said Wildwood's downtown, once the heart of Cape May County shopping, may not reach that status again, but it can become a popular downtown community.

“The business people are happy. The taxpayers are happy,” Kurtz said of the new look.

The rocketship street signs are expected to be replaced with palm tree-shaped signs like those on Rio Grande Avenue.

Rosenello said the rocketships, meanwhile, may find a new home marking the various streets on the Boardwalk.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Condo Problems

2006-04-29T22:36:00.000-04:00

Condo problems in Wildwoods being ignored, critics complain
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, April 29, 2006
Updated: Saturday, April 29, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said Friday that he was offended by the notion that the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, is ignoring code violations that have affected the owners of several hundred condominium units on the island.

During the agency's regular monthly meeting, resident Maryetta Delahanty, who lives at the Schooner Bay Condominiums on Hand Avenue in Wildwood, said her building and others have serious code violations, and she asked JCOW to stop “brushing off” the seriousness of the problem.

“Our Schooner Bay Condominiums are a fire trap,” Delahanty said.

The state Department of Community Affairs identified about 500 units in 79 buildings on the island that were improperly inspected or constructed based on the construction code for the units.

“We have not brushed off anything,” Troiano said.

Troiano said he was a battalion chief with the Holly Beach Volunteer Fire Department and he would never take an issue of fire safety lightly.

Resident Eugene Sanguinetti, a longtime code official, also spoke and asked the JCOW board to better manage the agency to avoid similar problems and to accept responsibility.

Following the meeting, board member Kevin Yecco, representing Wildwood Crest, said the board delayed adoption of its $1.6 million budget while it awaits a final report from consultant Fred Coldren.

Coldren was brought in at a maximum fee of $5,000 to assess the agency's managements and operations.

As for the code violations, Yecco said attorney Glenn P. Callahan, hired by JCOW, was working to come up with solutions with the people involved.

Callahan said Friday he expects the island's municipalities to come to some resolution within the next few days on how owners of those affected condominiums can rent out their properties. The issuance of mercantile licenses has been suspended for those units.

Meanwhile, he continues to meet with developers, builders, architects and condominium associations to whittle down the list of troubled buildings.

So far, six buildings, with a total of 46 units, are off the list and another seven buildings, with 53 units, are likely to be removed from the list once it is confirmed they were actually built according to code, he said.

Work is being done on at least one building to fix its violations, and the goal is to get as many done before he submits an amended complaint to Judge Steven Perskie, who is handling the management of any legal proceedings in the matter.

Callahan said the problems — related to fire safety and fire suppression — are by their nature serious, but while the initial thinking was that some of the buildings may have to come down, that is not the case.

The remedies will cost at the most somewhere in the tens of thousands of dollars, and in many cases a lot less, Callahan said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Zoning Change

2006-04-29T22:34:00.000-04:00

Wildwood zoning changes may draw more high-rise devleopments
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, April 29, 2006
Updated: Saturday, April 29, 2006

WILDWOOD — City Commission this week approved a series of changes to its land-use ordinance, two years after an initial round of substantial changes.

The lengthy ordinance contains some minor changes related to setbacks and similar zoning issues, while others are designed to draw more high-rise hotel construction to the resort. A handful of high rise hotels, most about 25-stories, have already been approved.

Among the major changes is an adjustment to the permitted floor-area ratio, which refers to the amount of floor space for a given lot.

Under the city's existing regulations, the floor area ratio was six, but under the new rules it will increase to 10.

That means a 50,000 square feet lot which is allowed 300,000 square feet in floor area under current city rules could increase the amount of floor area to 500,000 square feet.

In addition, high-rise hotels will now be considered a permitted use as opposed to a conditional use in the city's hotel/motel zone, which extends from Ocean to Atlantic avenues south of Lincoln Avenue.

Now, developers will need fewer variances when they come before the city Zoning Board. The ordinance will take effect May 23.

East Spencer Avenue property owner Mike Dellavella spoke against the ordinance, which he said would only add to the city's density.

Resident Al Brannen said the city was chasing residents out of town while making life easier for developers.

“It seems like the city of Wildwood is bending over backwards for developers,” he said.

Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said the city was doing nothing of the sort.

The ordinance, he said, actually reduces density, and he added the changes were recommended by the Planning and Zoning boards.

Troiano said tax relief will come in the form of the high-rise hotels, which are expected to yield $8 billion worth of ratables in the next several years.

Brannen disputed the effect the new construction would have, but Troiano said he was not prepared to make budget cuts that would hamper city services.

“I'm not going to cut half of our work force to a point we don't have coverage,” he said.

Another resident asked about the poor condition of the Boardwalk, and Troiano said the famous boards would be undergoing a major renovation starting this fall.

“The Boardwalk is in deplorable condition,” he said.

Troiano said a select Brazilian hardwood, grown in tree farms as opposed to the rainforest, was going to be used to build a Boardwalk that would last and require less maintenance similar to Atlantic City's Boardwalk.

Troiano said vehicle traffic on the Boardwalk is behind much of the wear and tear. The Boardwalk has a weight limit of 5,000 pounds, but drivers with vehicles over that weight often try to make their way up the boards.

“We've had boards snap and buckle under the weight,” he said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

North Wildwood Centennial

2006-04-28T21:14:00.000-04:00

N. Wildwood history put to paper
From Press of Atlantic City staff reports
Published: Friday, April 28, 2006
Updated: Friday, April 28, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — No more wondering what happened when.

The city's history, all 100 years of it, has now been placed in a book in honor of North Wildwood's centennial celebration.

Jacob Schaad Jr., the city's public relations coordinator, and Robert J. Scully, curator of the Wildwood Historical Society, worked together along with longtime resident Anna M. Vinci to put the town's story down on paper.

Although it has been called the first comprehensive book on the resort, Scully noted there is more to be written.

“I call it bits and pieces of North Wildwood,” Scully said as copies of the book were handed out at Margaret Mace Elementary School Thursday.

He joked that would give the town's next generation plenty to write about in 50 years for the next big town anniversary.

North Wildwood gained its name May 16, 1906, after many years of being known as Anglesea.

Schaad said news of the name change, however, didn't reach the state government for another six years, so the town could celebrate a second centennial a few years from now.

Copies of the book are being sold for $5 to support the centennial celebration, which will include a parade and townwide picnic in May.

They can be purchased at City Hall, the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse and at the city's annual Beach Writers Conference in June.

Drinks Anyone?

2006-04-28T21:05:00.000-04:00

Morey's water park closer to alcohol OK
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, April 28, 2006
Updated: Friday, April 28, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Some members of the Planning Board were skeptical when they first heard that Morey's Piers wanted to sell alcoholic drinks at its 25th Avenue water park.

“I thought that the Moreys may have lost their minds,” board member Ed Einhaus said.

But after learning more about the concept and seeing the plans for themselves, they changed their minds.

Einhaus said the Moreys should be applauded for their plan to bring upgraded, upscale facilities to the island.

The rest of the seven-member board agreed and voted unanimously Wednesday night to recommend a new city ordinance that would permit the sale of alcoholic beverages at the water park.

The recommendation, which will be forwarded to City Council for a final vote in mid-May, came after board members expressed their support and audience members expressed their opposition to, or concerns about, the city's move to revamp its ordinances for the Morey's project.

Chairman Charles Brackett took an informal poll at the start of the meeting, and all the members said they were in support of the addition of alcoholic-drink service to the former Raging Waters park. The newly renovated park will operate under the name Ocean Oasis Water Park and Beach Club.

Board member Robert McCullion, who also sits on City Council, said he was among a number of residents who toured the park Wednesday afternoon. He said the tour cleared up a lot of his concerns.

On the tour, visitors were taken around the existing park and shown the new features that are still being installed. They include private cabanas surrounding a fire pit, a swim-up bar, a massage area with a nearby cafe complete with hammocks and an elevated dining area tentatively known as the Bitter End.

Geoff Rogers, operations director, said drinks will be available through waitress service and those with the proper identification will be given a wristband to indicate they can drink alcohol.

Only beer, wine and tropical drinks will be served, and they will come in colored cups to distinguish them from non-alcoholic beverages.

Entry to each area where alcohol will be served will be controlled with those color-coded features, and people will monitor access to the alcohol service areas.

“You can get to every ride without entering an alcoholic service area,” Rodgers said.

Board member Bill Green also took the tour, and he said if Morey's operates the water park as professionally as the tour was run, there should be few problems.

Brackett was similarly impressed. “What they propose to do is a lot more than I expected,” Brackett said.

Planner Stuart Wiser said the ordinance was in keeping with the master plan and the effort to enhance the city's economy.

There was some debate about the wording in a section of the ordinance, but the board voted to send it on to council and suggest that the section referring to restaurants and water parks be amended.

While the board was satisfied, audience member Paul DiFilippo said the city should be careful about changing its zoning and adhering to its master plan.

“Are we going to have a new zone every time somebody wants to come in and do something?” Paul DiFilippo asked.

Resident Jim Koch said the pier should operate a full-service restaurant as was planned several years ago when Morey's purchased the liquor license. He said allowing alcoholic drinks at the water park was not in keeping with the city's regulations.

“You're breaking your own laws,” Koch said.

Don Martin, a former city councilman, said he strongly opposed the plan, in particular the elevated area that would be open to both water park customers and non-water park customers.

Once patrons leave the bar, Martin said, it becomes the city's problem and, in turn, the taxpayers' problem.

And Martin said the city should have had a site plan before work began. “These guys have already built this thing,” Martin said.

Planner Clark Doran, representing Morey's Piers, said the company showed its plans to the city's zoning official and most of the work involved decorating existing structures.

He noted that at least 120 water parks in about 30 states serve alcohol.

The issue is expected to be heard by City Council at its May 16 meeting.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Doo Wop

2006-04-22T22:53:00.000-04:00

Doo-wop museum in Wildwood due this summer
From Press of Atlantic City staff reports
Published: Saturday, April 22, 2006
Updated: Saturday, April 22, 2006

WILDWOOD — The sky was overcast and drops of rain were starting to appear Friday, but Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. could see brighter days ahead.

Standing before a crowd of doo-wop enthusiasts, Troiano said he could picture a summer night under the stars, 80 degree weather and music lovers enjoying a concert in the town's new band shell/amphitheater.

His words kicked off a groundbreaking ceremony for the band shell and doo-wop museum planned for Fox Park on Ocean Avenue.

The band shell and museum will be housed in the steel structure of what was once the Surfside Restaurant, a popular eatery built in 1960 and known for its pastel colors and angular rooflines, a doo-wop signature.

The restaurant was dismantled in 2002 and its steel frame was stored in a warehouse until the Doo Wop Preservation League could find a way to bring it back to life.

Now, the it will be resurrected as a doo-wop museum complete with an open amphitheater and an adjacent “doo-wop garden” made up of the island's classic neon signs.

On Friday, Troiano credited the Byrne Fund for Wildwood Inc. for donating about $425,000 to the project and he thanked the Fox family for the park, which has been here for decades.

Betty Fox, daughter-in-law of the park's namesake, Edward Z. Fox, was thrilled, particularly about the prospect of concerts being held in the park.

The Surfside also was part of her family's history, she said.

“My daughter, Susan, worked there when she was in college. She will be thrilled about this,” Fox said.

Troiano, said the recreation spot would be a place for residents and visitors alike to enjoy.

He also recognized preservation league founder Jack Morey for working to preserve the island's collection of 1950s and 1960s motels and other buildings known for their neon signs, kidney-shaped pools, jutting roofs and exotic themes.

“You saw what a lot of people didn't see,” Troiano said. “It is definitely worth saving.”

And on that note Troiano had to thank neighboring Wildwood Crest, the former home of the Surfside.

“Thanks Wildwood Crest for allowing us to steal their building,” he joked.

Construction is expected to begin in two weeks and Troiano said the museum and amphitheater could be ready for use by the Fourth of July.

Condo Fix

2006-04-22T08:13:00.000-04:00

Judge puts Wildwoods condo fix in local hands
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, April 22, 2006
Updated: Saturday, April 22, 2006

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — The Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods received a green light Friday to find solutions to the construction troubles that have plagued almost 500 condominium units in the Wildwoods.

Superior Court Judge Steven Perskie said he was remanding the issues to JCOW, meaning that office will determine how to resolve the fire-safety and construction problems.

A state audit found 79 properties with about 500 units should have been evaluated as R-2 residential properties, which are required to meet certain standards regarding fire-wall separation, fire-suppression systems and other code standards. Instead, the properties were evaluated using classification and code requirements for a less stringent R-3 design.

The state said the construction of those properties was not properly reviewed by the developers, architects or JCOW.

The result was that permits were issued, inspections were made and certificates of occupancy were issued even though the buildings did not comply with local building codes to varying degrees.

Perskie said some of the condominium associations are prepared to make a deal to fix the problems, but the concern is whether the state Department of Community Affairs, or DCA, will step in and say that JCOW's solutions are unacceptable.

State Deputy Attorney General Julie Cavanaugh said the DCA has the ability to monitor what is being done, but she said the state has confidence in island construction official Mario Zaccaria and will not interfere with his decisions.

“The DCA has no intentions of second guessing the judgment of Mr. Zaccaria,” Cavanaugh said.

She said the DCA will answer any questions related to construction or the materials used, but the resolution is in JCOW's hands.

Perskie said it is now up to JCOW to make whatever deals it is going to make with the various condominium associations, builders and architects involved.

Attorney Glenn P. Callahan, representing JCOW, said now that the DCA has made it clear that Zaccaria and JCOW have jurisdiction, they can focus on the solutions.

“Every building will be made code-compliant,” Perskie added.

Once the decision is made on how to fix each building, the issue of who pays can be decided, Perskie said.

Attorney Michael Hiene, representing condominium owner William Morelli, also spoke. He said his client, who owns a unit at Schooner Bay Condominiums, said there are a number of very serious code deficiencies and he asked that JCOW be left to do its job.

Fifteen of the 16 owners in Schooner Bay agreed to a solution that involved the use of a spray-on fire retardant in the interior, but Morelli opposed the idea.

Since then, the DCA has said it does not approve of the product, called No Burn, but Callahan said other products that do the same job are available.

Claire Herm, president of the Schooner Bay Condominium Association, said she is happy with the judge's decision and she hopes the resolution to Schooner Bay's code violations can now be completed.

“It is just time to get it fixed,” Herm said, adding, “If Morelli doesn't like it, go live somewhere else.”

Callahan said he has met with 15 groups of condo owners, architects and builders in the past two weeks and at least six of those are ready to be taken off the list of problem buildings.

Work on at least one of the affected condominium buildings is expected to begin Monday, he said.

Perskie said Callahan should file a new complaint by May 31 naming any buildings where problems still remain so the court can then address those issues.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Bad News for Condo Owners

2006-04-19T21:55:00.000-04:00

More bad news for condo owners with violation notices
e-published04/04/2006
Wildwood Leader

WILDWOOD – Condo owners who received notices of violation from the Joint Construction Office (JCOW) in February will not be able to rent their properties until the issues are resolved. Condo owner Eric Satterthwaite told The Wildwood Leader that he bought a condominium on Lincoln Avenue in September and planned to rent the property to help pay the mortgage. When he applied for a mercantile license last month, city solicitor Marc Karavan told him that he would not be able to obtain the license or rent his property until the code issues are resolved, Satterwaite said.

City clerk Chris Wood verified that the city will soon be notifying 14 property owners that the mercantile licenses they received earlier this year are being revoked until the life safety issues are resolved. Twenty-one other condo owners who have applied for licenses in the past will also receive notice that they cannot rent their properties. Seventy-nine buildings in Wildwood and North Wildwood were included on the initial list of properties identified by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) as being in violation. About 500 individual units are affected.

According to Satterthwaite, Karavan told him that issuing the licenses would be “ethically, legally and morally wrong.”

“There is nothing I can do until the building comes off the list,” Satterthwaite said.

A spokesperson in North Wildwood’s clerk’s office said last week that they had no way of knowing what properties were on the violation list when owners file for licenses to rent their condos. The Wildwood Leader was unable to contact the city of North Wildwood by our Tuesday deadline.

Log on to www.TheWildwoodLeader.com for more breaking news on the story.

-- Maureen L. Cawley

Bayview Condos

2006-04-19T21:52:00.000-04:00

Board rejects Bayview condos
e-published04/07/2006
Wildwood Leader

By Bill Barlow
Staff Writer

LOWER TOWNSHIP – After a second lengthy meeting devoted entirely to one application, the township zoning board rejected a plan by a 5-2 vote to put a 24-unit condominium project at 8100 Bayview Drive in Diamond Beach, the site of the current Bayview Inn.
Board members made clear at the Thursday, April 6 meeting that they would have been willing to grant a use variance to allow a residential development at the property, which is zoned for business. But while two board members supported the proposal, most indicated the project was just too big for the site.

The proposal called for four buildings with six units in each, including two townhouses and four apartments. As proposed, the buildings needed a height variance and other variances.

The application was opposed by neighbors and the borough of Wildwood Crest, which almost surrounds the property, part of which overlooks Sunset Lake. The property is connected to the Diamond Beach section of the township by a narrow stretch of land, although the Crest municipal boundary actually separates the property from Bayview Drive. Access to the land is allowed through an existing easement from that borough.
Frank Corrado, an attorney representing developers JWR Construction, argued that the unique placement of the property dictated some details of the plan. Also, he said, it only makes sense for the property to be zoned residential, given the fact that it is surrounded by residential uses.

He went on to say the proposed project would be a better fit for the neighborhood than the exiting use as a bar and restaurant. Plans called for the restaurant to be demolished if the residential use was approved, but indications were that it would remain open through the summer in any case.

Corrado said after the meeting that he was not sure what his clients would do in light of the rejection.

Doreen Corino, an attorney representing Wildwood Crest, and Jeffrey Barnes, a lawyer hired by a neighbor of the restaurant, spoke against the application.
Corino said the neighbors had no concerns about the Bayview, and did not want to see the proposed plans built.

Plans were also dependent upon access to the county sewer system through the Crest, using the same pipe the restaurant now uses. Crest officials plan to block that use, which Corrado indicated would likely end up in court.

While opponents of the plan cited density, two board members said that compared to what has already been built across the street in the Crest, the proposed project left a lot of room. They said in some areas of the Crest, a person could not stretch out his arms between the houses.

The application was heard at the March meeting, dominating that agenda because of the lengthy testimony. This month, the application was the first on the agenda, with numerous applications set to follow. After 10:30 p.m., however, the board indicated it would not hear any other applications that night, either

Happy Birthday North Wildwood

2006-04-16T09:42:00.000-04:00

NORTH WILDWOOD TAKES THE CAKE
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, April 14, 2006
Updated: Friday, April 14, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Talk about a pound cake.

Weighing anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds, the city's centennial birthday cake would be a challenge for even the heartiest appetite.

(Of course, since it's main ingredient is wood, it would be a challenge for really anyone except a very hungry termite.)

But edible or not, the cake, now sitting at the base of the Route 147 bridge that leads into town, is a fitting tribute for the grand celebration the city has planned to mark the day.

The town, formerly known as Anglesea, assumed the name North Wildwood on May 16, 1906.

North Wildwood residents Charlie Kochensky and Rodrigo Velasquez “baked” the towering cake in the course of several months.

Kochensky, a contractor and longtime mummer, was used to building just about anything for the annual mummer's events in Philadelphia, so why not a giant cake.

“We take on all kinds of crazy things and build them,” Kochensky said.

Some of his work includes a riverboat for this year's New Year's Day parade, mountains and a living flower garden all built for Philadelphia's lively mummers parades.

His wife, knowing her husband's building talent for the unusual, volunteered him for the cake project.

“We took a piece of paper and drew a giant circle on it. Then another and another,” Kochensky said.

The red, white and blue cake complete with glitter — a “mummer's touch” —stands 12 feet tall and has a 15-foot diameter at the base, he said.

And unlike traditional cakes, this one will not crumble.

Kochensky joked that the finished product, made of wood planks and plywood decks, is sturdy enough to hold all 270 pounds of him.

“It's built to last,” he said.

Now, Kochensky is on to his next project — a smaller version of the cake for City Hall.

“I just hope they have a good celebration,” he said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

No Rentals Allowed Yet in Wildwood Condos

2006-04-16T09:40:00.000-04:00

Condo rentals in Wildwoods still on hold
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, April 14, 2006
Updated: Friday, April 14, 2006

WILDWOOD — Several condominium owners hoping to rent out their properties with the blessing of the local government are going to have to wait a little longer.

The state Department of Community Affairs, or DCA, named 153 units in Wildwood as having construction problems related to fire safety, design or construction, along with more than 200 units in North Wildwood and a few in Wildwood Crest.

While the state has told local officials those buildings are not necessarily unsafe, the clerk's office here is not issuing mercantile licenses to owners wishing to rent out their units until it receives formal notice that the problems have been resolved by the state and/or the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW.

Affected Wildwood property owners who already have mercantile licenses will receive letters from the city stating that the mercantile licenses are suspended “until written proof has been provided by the DCA and JCOW that the violations have been removed, and that the premises is safe for occupancy.”

Those without mercantile licenses will not be issued new ones until those same conditions are met.

City Solicitor Marcus Karavan said Thursday that the city is considering a modification to that stance, but as of Thursday nothing had changed.

In neighboring North Wildwood, City Administrator Ray Townsend said his city is in limbo and waiting for a solution to allow the licenses to be issued.

Townsend said a compromise could involve condo owners agreeing to inform real estate agents and renters of their property's status before a mercantile license is issued to them.

They could be given a letter from the state explaining the situation, he said.

Wildwood Crest Borough Clerk Kevin Yecco said the town has only one property affected by the mercantile-license issue. That license is also on hold until borough solicitor Doreen Corino hears from the DCA.

Meanwhile, Glenn P. Callahan, attorney for JCOW, said he met this week with seven condominium associations, their architects, builders and others to come up with solutions for some of the affected properties.

A handful, he said, can actually be removed from the list of problem properties by providing documentation about how they were built as opposed to pre-construction plans.

“We have some built properly, but not according to the initial plans,” Callahan said.

In other cases, Callahan still expects a quick resolution for many of the buildings that are in need of such things as an additional layer of interior sheet rock, automatic door closers, or fire-rated boards on their outdoor decks to bring them up to code.

“The ultimate way to deal with the mercantile issue is to get them off the list,” Callahan said.

A hearing next Friday may speed up that process when a judge will be asked to determine who gets to decide the final resolution for each property, JCOW or the DCA.

“The good news is we're pressing toward resolution,” Callahan said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Taxpayers Suing

2006-04-16T09:38:00.000-04:00

Taxpayers group sues to overturn North Wildwood revaluation
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, April 14, 2006
Updated: Friday, April 14, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — A lawsuit has been filed in state tax court asking that the city's 2006 revaluation be thrown out.

The suit, filed by Alexander and Margaret Schernecke on behalf of the Wildwood Taxpayers Association, charges that the revaluation was riddled with errors resulting in “violations of the taxpayer's constitutional right to be taxed fairly and equitably under New Jersey law.”

Tyler Technologies/CLT
Division performed the revaluation as it has for several other Cape May County communities.

The Scherneckes are among a group of Philadelphia residents who also own homes in North Wildwood and who started to organize after property owners learned of their new home values, which increased two, three, four or more times their previous values.

Since owners were mailed notices at the end of 2005, the group has drawn about 300 people to each of several meetings designed to challenge the results of the revaluation.

Before the revaluation, the entire city was valued at $794.9 million, and after the revaluation, the town is now said to be worth $3.3 billion.

The suit was filed against the city, tax assessor Joseph Gallagher, the Cape May County Board of Taxation, Tyler Technologies Inc./CLT Division and the state's director of the Division of Taxation.

According to the lawsuit, their collective failure to follow procedure “resulted in a loss of the substantive and procedural due process, and violations of the uniformity clause of the Constitution to the detriment of the taxpayers.”

The revaluation “resulted in grossly overvalued, inequitable and inconsistent valuations throughout the city of North Wildwood,” the lawsuit contends.

The suit claims that the process involved “numerous mistakes, omissions, classification errors, or inclusion of business value or personal property” that tainted the revaluation process.

Montclair-based attorney Philip J. Giannuario, representing the Scherneckes and the taxpayers group, said such lawsuits are rare, but he expects that as the case moves forward it will uncover substantive errors in the revaluation.

He is now waiting for a response from the parties named in the suit.

Mark Seibert, a senior project supervisor for Tyler Technologies/CLT Division, said the company is consulting its attorneys and has no comment at this time.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Ongoing Condo Problems

2006-04-15T01:51:00.000-04:00

Wildwood Condo Problem

2006-04-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

Wildwood condo fix no good, state says
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Saturday, April 8, 2006
Updated: Saturday, April 8, 2006

WILDWOOD —The state has rejected a plan to use a chemical fire retardant to resolve the ongoing problem of several condominiums that were not built to code.

The Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, had proposed using a product called No-Burn Plus to replace a party wall, which is used to delay the spread of fire and delay a structural collapse, according to a March 31 letter from the state Department of Community Affairs.

The letter was sent to attorney Glenn P. Callahan, who represents the JCOW.

In the letter, Gerald E. Grayce, a supervisor of investigations, wrote that no information has been provided to indicate No-Burn Plus meets fire-exposure standards.

“Documentation from No-Burn Plus indicates exposed applications require reapplication every 10 to 15 years. No such estimate has been provided for applications in unexposed areas. No-Burn Plus believes it MAY last longer,” Grayce wrote.

He continued: “It is my opinion that this product is unacceptable for this situation.”

Grayce then asked whether the possible use of an additional layer of drywall had been considered.

The letter comes as a disappointment to condominium owner Clare Herm, one of 15 residents of the Schooner Bay Condominiums on West Hand Avenue where No-Burn had been offered as a solution.

“We're hopeful they will come up with another solution very quickly,” Herm said Friday.

Callahan had said previously that in Schooner Bay's case , No Burn would be sprayed into the rafters to bring the building's fire-suppression ratings up to code and a layer of fire-rated sheet rock would be added to meet fire-separation standards between the units.

Now, Schooner Bay needs an alternative, something resident William Morelli said didn't surprise him.

Morelli is the lone Schooner Bay owner who did not support the plan to use No-Burn.

“You don't put a Band-Aid on a laceration,” Morelli said.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., who is one of two of the city's JCOW representatives, said he wants the state to be straightforward and offer solutions to get the matter resolved.

About 500 units in 79 buildings were built according to the wrong code, and according to a lawsuit filed by JCOW, the mistake is shared by the buildings' designers, developers and JCOW.

Troiano said Callahan is scheduled to meet, starting Monday, with representatives of the various buildings to find solutions to the problem.

Meanwhile, the city is looking at how owners can still rent their condominiums this summer. The city is not currently issuing certificates of occupancy or mercantile licenses for that purpose.

Cherry Hill resident Eric Satterthwaite said he is among the owners who need to rent their properties in the summer.

“I have to rent to offset my mortgage,” Satterthwaite said Friday.

He is concerned about finding a way to fix the six-unit building his unit is in before June 23, the day the first of his renters is scheduled to arrive.

When the unit is not being rented, it serves as a get-away for Satterthwaite, his wife and two children.

Satterthwite said there has been talk of finding a way to allow the units affected to be rented, but he worries about the safety of his renters and his liability should something happen.

“Shy of fixing the building, there's not a lot I can do,” he said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Doo-Wop League

2006-04-05T13:16:00.000-04:00

Doo Wop League wants change in CAFRA rules
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, April 4, 2006

WILDWOOD — The Doo Wop Preservation League hopes to convince the state that the Wildwoods need their own rules to encourage preservation of the island's aging doo-wop motels.

Architect Richard Stokes, a league member, suggested special Coastal Area Facilities Review Act, or CAFRA, rules should be created to make expansion and renovation of existing doo-wop buildings financially feasible; otherwise owners might sell or see their properties turned into condominiums.

The new rules would also support the development of new properties with doo-wop architectural features.

League President Dan MacElrevey said Monday that the league is asking the island's mayors to meet and reach agreement on what needs to be included in the rules, then the island's municipalities can propose the changes to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

He compared them to the so-called Atlantic City rules that permitted the development of that city's high-rise casinos.

In particular, the league wants existing motels to require only one parking space per unit to allow for expansion on properties of limited size instead of two spaces per unit.

The league proposes reducing the on-site parking requirement through a program that would instead allow owners to receive credits for contributions to a parking fund and for doo-wop design features.

The Greater Wildwoods Hotel Motel Association has proposed similar rules to encourage hotel renovation and construction.

Jack Morey, of the preservation league, said he is particularly concerned that the state encourage “unique, playful ‘Wildwood' architecture” in both the buildings and their signs.

Morey said the small motels and the new high-rises planned in Wildwood can co-exist and at the same time maintain the island's doo-wop flavor.

“The world has lots of different types of consumers. Big hotels, little hotels — there's a market for all if they're good ones,” Morey said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

School Board

2006-03-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

Four compete for 2 seats on Crest school board
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, March 28, 2006

WILDWOOD CREST — Shared services versus too much sharing is a central issue in this year's school board elections.

In 2005, Wildwood Crest and Wildwood agreed to share the services of Superintendent Dennis J. Anderson to save administrative costs. Now, the four candidates for school board are looking at what role sharing should play in the school district's future.

Incumbents Judy L. Huber and Frank Accardi are each hoping for a second consecutive term, while Fred Spiewak and Donna Osborn-Long are hoping to return to the board they have served in the past. Two seats are open.

Accardi, 54, is a motel and restaurant owner and is a director on the Boardwalk Basketball Tournament committee.

He said the current board has successfully operated the school and kept spending low, and he pointed to news that the tax rate will remain stable for the coming school year. The rate is expected to be 37 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation.

“I feel we've done an excellent job in the last three years saving taxpayer money, and we will continue to do that,” Accardi said.

Accardi said he supports efforts to share services such as purchasing with other districts, but he said local residents will continue to run their school.

He said sharing allows the district to save money in one area, such as administrative costs, and make use of it in the school's educational offerings.

“Regionalization is totally out of the question.” Accardi said. “Crest Memorial will stay Crest Memorial.”

But Accardi is looking ahead to the issue of school enrollment as student populations continue to fall in shore communities throughout the region. Many young families are turning away from resort towns as property values continue to rise.

The district already brings in students on a tuition basis from outside the borough and that will continue to defray some costs, Accardi said.

Huber, 44, is a Wildwood High School graduate and recently sold the retail business she and her husband started in Lower Township. She is now starting a new career in real estate and also coaches youth sports.

“You have to be concerned with the enrollment issue. Where will we be in three to five years?” Huber asked. According to school officials, the school district has an enrollment of 284 students.

Huber said sharing superintendents and other services is a good beginning, but she added, “It helps, but it's not the answer.”

Huber wants to look at ways to cut the budget in areas not directly linked to the classroom, such as reducing heating/air conditioning bills, anything that would allow the district to preserve its strong educational programs.

“The bar for education does not get lowered,” Huber said.

While sharing remains on the table, Huber said she, too, does not support regionalization or joining other school districts. “I believe the community has stated loud and clear they're not for it,” she said.

Osborn-Long, 46, is a learning consultant with the Cape May County Special Services School District and will have two children in the elementary school in the 2006-07 school year.

Osborn-Long said “many good things can come out of shared services,” but some aspects of the school's educational program should not be open for sharing.

For instance, she said, the school should continue to have its own child-study team to ensure students get the attention and continuity they require.

But if sharing is going to continue, “We should go to the voters,” Osborn-Long said.

She said Crest Memorial School has a solid reputation and high test scores and that should be maintained. “I know what a wonderful school Crest Memorial is,” she said.

Fred Spiewak, 48, is president of Licensee Services Inc., a distribution company, and has two children at Crest Memorial School. He is a past board president and has a background in accounting.

Spiewak, who is running with Osborn-Long as a team, said he is concerned that the school board is handing over control of the district by sharing essential services.

“If this is what the community wants, let them tell us. I would put the vote to the people,” Spiewak said.

Spiewak said sharing does not equal a cost savings, and he said he would review all of the school district's inter-local sharing agreements. He said it makes sense to share in some areas, such as in the area of building maintenance, but not educational staff.

“We would take a step back from where they're going,” Spiewak said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Wildwood School Taxes

2006-03-23T16:38:00.000-05:00

Wildwood residents likely to pay higher school taxes
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 22, 2006

WILDWOOD — If the school district receives the same amount of state aid that it received in the current school year, the school-tax rate will likely increase 7 cents in the 2006-07 budget, school Business Administrator Sandra Becker said.

Becker and other school officials throughout the state are waiting to hear what those state aid figures will be following Tuesday's budget address by Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

“School aid for most districts will be flat,” Corzine told the audience assembled at a joint session of the state Legislature in Trenton.

Becker said she expects to know later in the week how flat the aid will be.

In the 2005-06 school year, Wildwood received $4.34 million in state aid in the general budget along with more than $751,000 in early childhood aid and $427,000 in demonstrably effective aid, both considered special revenues.

If those aid figures stay the same, Wildwood's local tax rate is expected to increase from 46 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation last year to 53 cents in 2006, a 16 percent increase, Becker said.

The owner of a $100,000 home would pay $530 in school taxes, compared to $460 last year.

That would also mean the tax levy, or the amount to be raised by Wildwood taxpayers, would rise to $9.37 million, a $1.36 million increase over last year. Meanwhile, the total budget is expected to jump from $14.96 million to $15.77 million.

Becker said most of that $800,586 increase is due to contractual obligations such as salary, insurance and health-benefit increases. Utility or energy costs are also expected to increase in the coming year.

“It's those big categories. Things the district doesn't have a whole lot of control over,” Becker said.

The district expects to have 882 students from grades pre-kindergarten to 12. There were 857 students in the district as of October 2005, Becker said. The increase is expected in the elementary grades.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for March 29 at the high school.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

2006-03-23T16:32:00.000-05:00

Ready to shine
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 23, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 23, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — A cool wind was blowing outside the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse on Wednesday as public works crews went about their business tidying the landmark's popular Victorian gardens.

“It's the ‘clean up the pine cone' stage,” joked lighthouse manager Betty Mugnier.

Inside, the lighthouse gift shop was having a sale, as much as 50 percent off to make way for this summer's inventory of lighthouse souvenirs.

At this time of year, the lighthouse sees a trickle of visitors come through its doors, but now is the time the staff begin to prepare for the summer tourist season and the excitement that follows.

Mugnier has worked here since 1998 and the building's popularity has “grown by leaps and bounds,” she said.

An estimated 30,000 people visit the lighthouse each year.

So work begins for the new crop of visitors. Mugnier has ordered new items for the shop — the lighthouse's biggest moneymaker — and she is ready to get her staff back to work leading tours up and around the circa 1874 lighthouse.

Lighthouse commission chairman Paul DiFilippo said he hopes this also may be the last summer that visitors walk through feeling the heat.

The lighthouse, which sits on the inlet on Central Avenue, has undergone several rounds of restoration as architect Hugh McCauley works to return the beacon to its historically accurate former self.

Now, DiFilippo is waiting for phase four to begin. That project, funded by $356,000 in federal and state grants, will include restoration of much of the interior and some behind the scenes work to strengthen the top staircase and upgrade fire safety.

It will also include the addition of a missing veranda and staircase that once graced the exterior.

Mugnier recalled a visit by a local man who asked if she would like to see some pictures of the lighthouse's early days. One showed two men holding a fish, but the fish wasn't the most interesting part of the picture.

It showed the missing veranda, Mugnier said.

The change visitors may notice most, however, will be the addition of air conditioning, which will help preserve the artifacts now housed here.

If all goes as planned, work on phase four could begin this fall.

This year, several events are planned to add to the lighthouse's notoriety and to help with its fundraising. They include the installation of a bronze plaque in June by the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century noting the building's significance and an invitation-only dinner in May at the Abbey Holmes Estate in Clermont.

He said the Friends of the Lighthouse, a non-profit group with about 700 members, will also be expanding its efforts to preserve the lighthouse.

DiFilippo, a real estate broker, said the community must continue to support the lighthouse and strike a balance between development and its history.

“We don't have much history about when this island began. This is a national treasure,” he said.

DiFilippo is also busy trying to get the nearby State Police building turned over for use as a museum to compliment the lighthouse and he is working with the city to preserve open space that might otherwise be developed around the lighthouse.

He is still amazed at how much he continues to learn about the lighthouse.

“It's an ongoing thing. Someone will remember something and bring us pictures of stories about the lighthouse,” he said.

And he expects great things in the coming season.

“I think it's going to be a good year,” DiFilippo said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Ponderlodge Update

2006-03-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

Golf balls, birds may both fly at Ponderlodge
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 16, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 16, 2006

LOWER TOWNSHIP — The state has pretty much ruled out allowing an 18-hole golf course to remain on land it recently purchased for a bird sanctuary in the Villas, but it may allow nine holes.

Administrator John Flynn of the state Green Acres Program told a crowd of more than 200 people at Township Hall on Wednesday night that even with nine holes there would be strict conditions.

“If there is golf we would want it scaled back to a nine-hole course. We would require wastewater be used for irrigation and stringent best-management practices for golf courses be used,” Flynn said. “Any proceeds for golf would roll back into environmental and recreation programs.”

Most of the duffers packing the meeting left feeling pretty good about the compromise: Since the state bought the bankrupt Ponderlodge Golf Course for $8.45 million, there had been talk of managing it for migrating birds with limited recreation.

Flynn said a golf course would be worse for the underground water system than the housing development the purchase prevented. He also noted that golf courses are going bankrupt, and golf course owners are coming to Green Acres seeking help.

But there also is a trend to manage golf courses using less water and pesticides and offer a more natural terrain. The Lower Township sewerage plant is right next door to the Ponderlodge site.

Flynn disputed an argument from Steve Sheftz, who organized civic groups to fight a proposed 409-unit housing development at Ponderlodge, that a bird sanctuary would endanger planes at the Cape May Airport. Flynn said the geese attracted to golf courses pose a bigger threat than migratory birds the sanctuary would draw.

The meeting included statements by many of the civic-group leaders who fought the housing development. The goal was to get state and county funding to buy the course but have the township manage it for golf and recreation. Many felt the state pulled a fast one when it stepped forward and purchased the 239-acre tract.

Flynn said the state took action because developers wanted the property and deadlines were set by the bankruptcy court. Cape May County Deputy Administrator Steve Hampton put this in perspective when he reminded the crowd the primary goal was always preserving the land, and Green Acres did this.

“These are not the bad guys,” Hampton said of Green Acres. “You have 239 acres of preserved land you're not going to have to worry about.”

State Sen. Nicholas Asselta, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, drew cheers when he said he is a golfer, but he urged a compromise for golfers and wildlife. Freeholder Ralph Bakley, a Ponderlodge member for 10 years, agreed.

“I think there's room for both, the nature side of it and the recreational side of it for golfers,” Bakley said.

Flynn, called “a brave man” by Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, for coming to the meeting, surprised everyone when he said the Ponderlodge owner approached Green Acres in 1996. This made it clear Green Acres has been interested for a long time.

Flynn said there is room for recreation — indeed, it is one reason Green Acres exists — but he noted the state also knows the significance of the location for migrating birds and how it could provide critical habitat.

“We don't want it open just for the golfing community. We want to enhance habitat. Together we preserved that property. We achieved that and should be celebrating it,” Flynn said.

The bulk of the meeting included individuals testifying that the township needs cheap recreation because of a large population, low per-capita incomes, many seniors and a major shortage of recreation acres.

“With 25,000 residents we should have 250 acres of land and we have 40,” said Steve Morey, who heads the town's Recreation Advisory Board.

Ponderlodge golfer Jane Senico noted the Cape May County's large senior population compared to that of other counties with multiple golf courses. She said many can't afford golf at privately owned courses.

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

Crest Taxes up Slightly

2006-03-17T09:02:00.000-05:00

Crest faces slight hike in school-tax rate
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 15, 2006

WILDWOOD CREST — The school-tax rate is likely to increase about a half-cent under the school district's 2006-07 budget.

That would bring the rate to 37.2 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation compared to 36.8 cents in the previous year.

The tax bill on a $100,000 property would increase from $368.45 last year to $372.30.

In a statement issued Tuesday, School Superintendent Dennis J. Anderson said the $5.97 million budget holds the line on spending while maintaining current educational programs.

Anderson said the district is still waiting to learn how much state aid it will receive and whether the amount of aid will remain flat or be decreased. “We built this budget anticipating a decrease in state aid. Hopefully that will not happen, and we can reduce the local levy,” he said.

As proposed, the budget makes use of slightly more than $5 million in taxpayer money, up from $4.8 million in the 2005-06 spending plan.

Anderson credited the school board's “frugal management” with making it possible to maintain the school's existing programs. He said that no additional staff positions are planned.

“Inflation accounts for the increase in our budget,” Anderson said. He pointed to the rising cost of utilities, tuition, salaries and insurance.

He continued, “We are committed to providing programs of study, activities and facilities that are diversified and flexible, so that all children will benefit from their school experience.”

A public hearing will be held March 28 at Crest Memorial School.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

High Rise Hotel

2006-03-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

Wildwood OKs two-block-long high-rise hotel
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 15, 2006

WILDWOOD — The Zoning Board has approved a high-rise hotel that features two towers and covers nearly two city blocks.

The project by Riviera Holding Co., LLC, includes one tower that will feature 67 hotel rooms, 138 residential units, 2,000 square feet of retail space, a pool and a health club. A second tower includes 50 hotel rooms, 128 residential units, 2,640 square feet of retail space, a pool, health club, a juice bar and a spa.

One tower will border Ocean, Spicer and Spencer avenues, while the second will stretch from Atlantic to Ocean avenues between Spencer and Youngs avenues. The 240-foot hotel, which will sit in the city's hotel/motel zone, replaces several existing properties including one of the two buildings that make up the AA Heart of Wildwood Motel and the Riviera Resort Motel.

Six Zoning Board members approved the project in a unanimous vote Monday.

Board member Todd Kieninger said he welcomed the first-floor retail space that will front Ocean and Atlantic avenues and enhance retail options in the area.

Kieninger added that one of the towers features an indoor pool, which is an amenity that the year-round guests the city is trying to draw will appreciate.

While the new construction means the end of a couple of the city's older motels, Kieininger said the hotel rooms more than makeup for the number of lost rooms.

“We are adding rental units to the pool,” he said, likening the arrangement to similar projects in major metropolitan areas such as New York City.

The residential rooms, at the choice of the individual owners, will be placed in a rental pool just like the motel rooms.

Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., who has long supported bringing high-rise hotels to the island, said the city will continue to see new high-rise projects as long as the market can sustain them.

“These people are investing hundreds of millions of dollars. Someone's not going to build if the market is saturated,” Troiano said.

While some oppose demolition of the small motels that the Wildwoods are known for, Troiano said many of those motels have seen better days and were not well-maintained.

“They outlived there usefulness,” he said.

He expects designs for the towering high-rises that will replace them to become Wildwood's new signature.

“Some people don't think change is for the better. I think it is,” Troiano said.

The Riviera project belongs to East Sussex Holding LLC and Pro Re Developers Wildwood 1 LLC. Among the principles is former professional football player Bart Oates, Garry J. Merritt and Gallagher Family Holdings LLC.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Code Problems

2006-03-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

Progress made on settling Widlwoods code problems
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 15, 2006

WILDWOOD — An agreement has been reached on how to fix fire-code related construction problems at the Schooner Bay Condominiums on West Hand Avenue.

The resolution is what attorney Glenn P. Callahan, representing the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, hopes will be the model for resolving similar troubles affecting about 500 individual units across the island.

On Feb. 10, owners of those units were told that their properties were incorrectly designated and then inspected under the wrong construction code. That meant fire-suppression systems and other requirements that should have been part of their construction were missing.

On Tuesday, Callahan said JCOW, the developer and the Schooner Bay Condominium Association had reached an agreement on how to fix the problem at that property, meaning those 16 units can be made compliant with state building codes.

In Schooner Bay's case, a product called No Burn will be sprayed into the rafters to bring the building's fire suppression ratings up to code and a layer of fire-rated sheetrock will be added to meet fire separation standards between the units.

Callahan said the improvements, barring any objection from the state Department of Community Affairs, should then meet the requirements of the local code official who can grant a variance and designate them as up to code.

In February, JCOW filed a lawsuit, naming Schooner Bay in particular, and asked a judge to decide who is responsible for making the needed repairs, but Callahan said the goal was to solve as many issues in as many units as possible before the lawsuit proceeds.

Clare Herm, president of Schooner Bay's condominium association, said Tuesday that 15 of the 16 unit owners approved the repairs.

“We just want it resolved,” Herm said, adding the issue has been a problem since June 2005.

Herm credited the developer, architect and JCOW with working to find a solution, but she noted that the association will not pick up the cost of the repairs.

Meanwhile, Callahan said a March 25 meeting between the condominium associations, the developers, architects and building officials should be helpful in finding solutions to the violations in the other affected buildings.

City Fire Official Capt. Mark Gose said the city's fire inspectors are noting the problems in their reports, but it is up to local construction officials to resolve the matter on a building by building basis.

“It really comes under their jurisdiction,” he said, noting the problems range from buildings that are missing exit signs to missing firewalls and sprinkler systems.

“Some of the solutions are simple, but there can't be a single solution that solves every problem,” Gose said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

West Wildwood Taxes Up

2006-03-14T14:16:00.000-05:00

West Wildwood school-tax rate up in budget plan
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, March 14, 2006

WEST WILDWOOD — The school tax rate is expected to increase about 3.5 cents under the district's 2006-07 budget.

The district does not operate a school, so the increase is primarily due to rising tuition costs for the borough's students, School Business Administrator/Board Secretary Rosemarie Millar said Monday.

The borough sends its children to North Wildwood's Margaret Mace School and Wildwood High School, as well as the county's technical high school.

The town expects to send 11 students to the high school in the next school year.

Millar, who works part-time for the district, said tuition for West Wildwood's estimated 65 students, grades pre-kindergarten to 12, will jump from $1,099,515 for the 2005-06 school year to $1,128,247 for the 2006-07 school budget.

“(The cost of tuition) definitely does concern us, but it is something we have to contend with as a sending district,” said school board President Stephen Cava.

Cava noted that the borough has some input in North Wildwood's decision-making because the town's students make up at least 10 percent of that school's population.

Meanwhile, the total budget comes to $1,177,141, including transportation and administrative costs. Cava said the district must also pay tuition it owes for previous years when West Wildwood underpaid.

According to the Cape May County Board of Taxation, the borough's school-tax rate was 50.2 cents last school year and the new rate should be about 53.5 cents. County Tax Administrator George R. Brown III said the borough's current value, which will be finalized next week, is $206 million.

Millar said the amount to be raised by taxes comes to $1,106,083 for the upcoming school year, compared to $1,010,280 in the previous school year.

Voters will be asked to support the budget April 18 during the annual school board elections.

One seat on the school board is also open, but no candidate met the filing deadline to appear on the ballot.

Cava urged residents to attend board meetings, which are held the fourth Tuesday of every month at Borough Hall.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Wildwood Signs

2006-03-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

Wildwood gets the go-ahead sign from CRDA
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, March 14, 2006

WILDWOOD — The city has signed an agreement with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to accept $300,000 for construction of a series of decorative signs along the city's Rio Grande Avenue corridor.

Redevelopment director Lou Ferrara said the money will be combined with funds from the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority set aside to add an electronic gateway sign at Rio Grande Avenue, an entryway sign on the Boardwalk and convention center and informational signs along the busy street.

“We've already seen the rendering. It's pretty cool,” Ferrara said.

The project has been on the drawing board for quite some time and will have to stay there a little longer because the project has to go out to bid again.

John Siciliano, the authority's executive director, said three bids were received recently. The low bid was missing one of the requirements of the bid specifications and the other two were at least $250,000 more than the $900,000 set aside to pay for the project. A total of $1,050,000 is budgeted with the additional $150,000 coming from a sponsorship.

Siciliano said the project will be rebid, but any work would not begin until after the summer tourists are on their way home.

Work could then begin this fall and be completed by the spring of 2007, he said.

In other business, the city is advertising for bids to clean up the soil around a home it owns in Middle Township. The property was sold as part of a conservation project, but the city must first rid the property of contamination from a leaking fuel tank.

Wildwood and its water utility sold 382 acres adjacent to the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge off Route 47 in Middle Township to The Conservation Fund, based in Arlington, Va.

The group purchased it for nearly $2 million as part of its mission to permanently protect wildlife habitat, wetlands and recreation lands in one of the country's top birding areas

Gary J. Ziegler, director of the Wildwood Water Utility, said the leak did not affect neighboring wells used by the utility or water quality.

“There was a limited amount of contamination on the top soil,' he said, noting the wells are several hundred below ground.

The city also approved a $500,000 bond ordinance to fund water-utility projects such as meter replacement, well and pump repairs, vehicle purchases and water-main replacement.

A vote on the ordinance to bond $3.5 million for a community center at Maxwell Field was delayed.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

North Wildwood Taxes Drop

2006-03-14T14:13:00.000-05:00

North Widlwood school-tax rate drops with reval
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, March 14, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — The effect of this year's dramatic decrease in the school-tax rate will vary from house to house due to the city's recent revaluation.

The rate under the proposed 2006-07 school budget comes to 18.1 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. Last year's school tax rate was 72.5 cents.

But School Business Administrator/Board Secretary Mary Ott said it is difficult to make comparisons to last year because of the town's new values.

“There's a lot of confusion in town,” Ott said, adding, “The whole town quadrupled (in value).”

The city's ratable base has topped $3 billion. Prior to the revaluation, it was valued at $866 million.

Ott noted that the school tax bill for a $100,000 house was $725 last year, which is about the same as the bill for a $400,000 home this year.

The amount to be raised by taxes, including money for the general fund and debt service, comes to $6.1 million.

Meanwhile, the actual budget comes to $8.9 million, an increase of $260,708 over the previous year.

It does not include any additional programs and provides for increases in salaries, tuition and other annual expenses.

The school estimates it will have 325 to 350 students next school year. On Oct. 15, 2005, there were 296 students, but that number has increased to 325 now, Ott said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Wildwood Crest Building Ordinance

2006-03-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

Wildwood Crest wants building boom to continue, but more quietly
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, March 14, 2006

WILDWOOD CREST — The construction boom will continue in Wildwood Crest, but not on Sundays.

Borough Commission has introduced an ordinance that will allow construction to continue through the summer Mondays through Saturdays. In the past, construction was banned on both Saturdays and Sundays.

“It's more realistic, and there is still one day of rest for the residents,” said Borough Clerk Kevin Yecco.

Demolition and pile driving, however, are still prohibited in the summer, Yecco said.

The changes are part of a series of alterations to the town's construction-site regulations.

Construction will be allowed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday as well as on designated holidays, Yecco said.

The ordinance also specifies rules for keeping construction sites that require they be kept free of trash and debris. Penalties for violating sections of the ordinance range from $100 to $2,500 per day.

The borough is also moving forward with plans to challenge construction of a residential condominium complex at the site of the Bayview Inn.

Yecco said the commission authorized engineer Ralph Petrella to compile a report on the building plan and its permitting issues.

Borough Commission has also asked solicitor Doreen Corino to come up with a short list of attorneys who could take on the case for the borough as special counsel. The cost of hiring an additional attorney has not been determined.

In addition, the borough is waiting for news on its application to the Cape May County Open Space Board for money to purchase the home of the town's first mayor, Philip Baker.

The home is being sold for about $1.5 million, and the borough hopes to buy it to preserve the Pacific Avenue home.

Commissioner Don Cabrera said the measure was tabled on the board's agenda and he has received no other information on the project's status.

Meanwhile, Yecco said the town is looking for alternative funding sources such as state grants.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Doo-Wop Wildwood

2006-03-13T20:21:00.000-05:00

Doo-Wop Revival
by Warren Hynes

When Robert Hentges started his sign business in Wildwood, N.J., in 1964, most of his work involved designing and installing the large flashing neon signs that attracted motorists to motels along the southern New Jersey shore.

Today, his son, Randy, carries on the neon tradition in Wildwood (pop. 5,211), North Wildwood (4,801) and Wildwood Crest (3,862), thanks in large part to local efforts to preserve and celebrate the region’s glitzy architectural style.
“Neon glass-blowing is difficult to learn, but once you have it mastered, it’s pretty easy,” says Randy, 40, owner of ABS Sign Co.

Over the years, the Hentgeses have created and serviced hundreds of neon signs for motels, restaurants and shops in the seaside resort communities collectively known as the Wildwoods. The towns, located along a seven-mile stretch of beach, contain a peculiar and stunning array of modernist architecture featuring pulsing neon signs, angular roof lines, bright colors and plastic palm trees.

In the Wildwoods, the flashy architecture of the mid-20th century has been dubbed “Doo Wop” after the popular 1950s musical style. And with business owners and nostalgic residents leading the way, a powerful movement is afoot to preserve and build upon the area’s kitschy, postwar architecture. In fact, the towns now feature Doo-Wop motel tours, Doo- Wop-themed building renovations and a 1950s music festival.

“We just want to keep what three or four generations have enjoyed,” says Dan MacElrevey, 64, president of the 125-member Doo Wop Preservation League.
“Doo-Wop” architecture is not easy to define. With its big, bold signs and daring designs, it dabbles in different architectural styles and features everything from boomerang-shaped roofs to faux-lava facades. Still, the objective is basically to attract the attention of passing motorists.

As Americans drove their cars to vacation spots in the 1950s and ’60s, the Wildwoods offered more than 250 roadside motels from which to choose. If you wanted cars to pull into your motel, you had to stand out—thus, the emphasis on unique names, signage, colors and building designs. The result was motels celebrating the Space Age (the Satellite), exotic locations (the Singapore), other resort areas (the Cape Cod) and the automobile itself (the Bel Air).

Vacationers flocked to the Wildwoods, as did the nation’s rock ’n’ roll icons. It was a tour stop for pop stars such as Bill Haley and the Comets, Chubby Checker, Buddy Holly and Bobby Rydell, who celebrated the area with the 1963 hit Wildwood Days.

“You name it, they played here,” says Ernie Troiano Jr., Wildwood’s mayor.
Atlantic City now dominates the Jersey Shore entertainment business, but tourists still come to the Wildwoods for its wide beaches, dazzling boardwalk and funky motels. People still want to see the rotating lighthouse atop the Cape Cod Inn Motel, or stay in their favorite room inside the Singapore Motel’s pagoda.

The Wildwood-based Doo Wop Preservation League was founded in 1997 when a group of local business owners and residents sought to preserve and expand upon the towns’ glitzy architecture. Local businessman Jack Morey asked Philadelphia-based architect Steve Izenour to study the motels. Izenour and a group of university students found that the Wildwoods boast the nation’s largest collection of mid-century commercial architecture. His advice: Celebrate and accentuate the towns’ kitsch. Motel owners heeded his counsel, leading to new and creative neon signs for Randy Hentges to design and more orders for plastic palm trees and retro furniture.

Today, a new convention center welcomes boardwalk visitors with an angular roof, curved entranceway and neon signature; a Doo Wop museum, featuring vintage furniture, neon and street signs from the 1950s, is being developed thanks to a combination of community activism and corporate support; and last October, Chubby Checker headlined the second-annual Fabulous ’50s music festival.

“It’s part of the culture and character of Wildwood—the plastic palm trees and neon,” says Tom Byrne, a lifelong Wildwoods resident whose family insurance business is paying for museum construction. “Driving down Ocean Avenue, you can fantasize you’re in Las Vegas.”

Visit www.doowopusa.org or call (609) 729-4000.
Warren Hynes is a freelance writer in North Plainfield, N.J.

Ponderloge Tract

2006-03-09T08:20:00.000-05:00

Audubon opposes golf course on Cape site
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 9, 2006

LOWER TOWNSHIP — The New Jersey Audubon Society is going on the offensive against turning the 239-acre Ponderlodge tract into a public golf course.

Eric Stiles, the society's Vice-President for Conservation, said in an interview this week that golf courses are too environmentally unsound to be on lands managed by the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife. The bankrupt Ponderlodge Golf Course was recently bought by the state Green Acres Program with the intention to turn it over to the division to manage.

“It's not the Division of Fish, Wildlife and Golfing,” Stiles said. “It's the Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Stiles said golf courses “pump tons of water” and use toxic chemicals that “turn male frogs into female frogs.” He said the golf course now is a “biological wasteland,” but the division would turn it into a “wildlife oasis.”

Stiles said the society, which has 23,000 members in the state, including 3,000 in the 1st Legislative District that includes the township, will oppose local civic groups that want a public golf course on the property.

The society supports a Fish and Wildlife proposal to turn the tract into a bird sanctuary and public park. Stiles said he would even support active recreational uses such as bicycle riding and not just passive recreation such as nature observation. A park, Stiles said, could be used by everybody, while most people do not play golf.

“I'm middle class. I can't afford to go to a golf course, but I can take my kids to the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge or the Forsythe Refuge.”

“I'm asking for a park for people and at no cost to the residents. If somebody comes to your home for Christmas dinner, parks a Cadillac in your driveway and gives you the keys, you don't yell at them for not bringing a bottle of wine,” Stiles said.

The offensive comes a week before a public meeting where the future of the Ponderlodge tract will be discussed by local civic groups and state lawmakers, including Republican state Sen. Nicholas Asselta and Democratic Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, both of whom represent Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic. The meeting is at 7 p.m. March 15 at Township Hall in the Villas.

Mayor Walt Craig and 12 local civic groups, representing more than 4,000 people, are pushing for a public golf course. Craig hopes to get township revenue from a public course and have affordable green fees, perhaps $35 in winter and $55 in summer, which is much cheaper than most area courses.

“My first goal is to have it still maintained as a golf course with the understanding we bring in a professional to run it. There is an 18-hole golf course there that people are used to playing,” Craig said.

A park and birding area would increase local property values and bring money into the local economy, Stiles argues. While “the golf trend” is declining, Stiles said, nature-based tourism is increasing rapidly.

He also notes the property, because it is within the southern 10 kilometers of Cape May County, an internationally famous area for migrating birds, would be a key acquisition for wildlife. People would come to see this wildlife.

“It is truly a field of dreams. Build it and they will come. It's a home run for wildlife and the local economy,” Stiles said.

Craig is not convinced. He said birders by and large stay in Cape May and eat their meals in the Victorian resort, even if they would drive to Ponderlodge to bird.

“Maybe they will run to Papa John's for a pizza and make Ernie happy,” Craig joked, referring to Papa John's owner, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano.

The mayor, however, has a back-up plan. If the state will not allow golf, he at least wants the Ponderlodge core area — which includes a clubhouse, lake and Olympic-sized swimming pool — for a municipal park and conference center. He would also like to open a new entrance to Cape May Beach residents.

Asselta said he is coming to next Wednesday's meeting to listen.

“The meeting is to find out where everybody wants to be on this. The reason we want a meeting is to nail down the public usage,” Asselta said.

Van Drew said he doubts a public golf course will happen unless Cape May County decides it wants one. Van Drew had supported preserving the property and now that that is done, he wants to hear the consensus on what to do with it.

“If we have everybody on the same page, we will throw some weight to try and do that,” Van Drew said.

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

Diamond Beach developer buys Pier 6600 Motor Inn

2006-03-09T08:18:00.000-05:00

Developer buys Cape motel for resort project
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 9, 2006

LOWER TOWNSHIP — Diamond Beach developer Eustace Mita has purchased the Pier 6600 Motor Inn and plans eventually to turn the oceanfront site into part of his $250 million Grand Resort and Spa project.

Mita, reached on his cell phone Wednesday afternoon while he was on a commercial airliner, said he would operate Pier 6600 as a hotel for several more years. Eventually. it will be demolished and become the second phase of his project.

“It's a great piece. It really completes the whole puzzle,” Mita said.

The first phase, which recently got local approvals but still needs a state environmental permit, is to tear down the old Grand Hotel and build a 12-story structure that will contain 125 condominium units. The units are already being marketed in a price range from $899,000 to $4 million.

Mita said the second phase of the project is three to five years away. Mita did not want to disclose the purchase price from owners Charles and Margaret Masciarella but said it was “tens of millions of dollars.” Besides the hotel, the purchase also includes the beachfront.

Although Mita credited the Masciarellas with taking great care of the hotel, he said 1970s-era buildings, including The Grand, don't fit in with all the new construction in Diamond Beach.

“I'm excited. The Pier and The Grand are the only buildings that did not add to the beauty of Diamond Beach.

By tearing down The Grand and doing something with the Pier, you'll have buildings no older than 1984 and 1985. It's the beautification of Diamond Beach,” Mita said.

The Grand Resort and Spa project still needs a state Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) permit. Mita hopes to begin the demolition of the old Grand Hotel by May 1.

Mita said he had been trying to buy Pier 6600 for three years and finally closed on the deal about three weeks ago.

Reval in North Wildwood

2006-03-08T07:27:00.000-05:00

Reval raises ire in North Wildwood
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 8, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — Hundreds of frustrated taxpayers packed the Community Center on Tuesday night looking for answers from City Council.

Many came from out-of-state, some even came by bus, and all were eager to know what they could do to fight what they believe are unfair assessments of their properties.

None had a good word to say about Tyler Technologies/CLT Divison, the company which performed the city's revaluation, and some had what the applause indicated was the only real solution.

“I think we should throw them out and start all over again,” property owner Ron Shelly said to a round of applause.

The city has withheld its final payment to the company, which has a $450,000 contract with the city to complete the revaluation. City officials added that Tyler was the lone company to bid on the revaluation and was authorized by the state to conduct revaluations.

Shelly said the process has been fraught with problems, including the unsatisfactory informal meetings between property owners and Tyler, and news that those same owners can meet with Tyler again.

“Aren't we all excited?” Shelly joked.

“Everybody's heads are spinning (over the process),” Shelly said. He recalled instances where one owner was credited for having a cottage on his property. It was a storage shed. Others were assessed for having homes with heat that in fact stay cold all winter long, he said.

Following the revaluation, the city's value jumped from $866 million to about $3.35 billion. Most property owners saw their values jump, many of them more than four times their previous value.

Shelly said real estate sales appear to be slowing down, and owners are being penalized for the past boom in the market.

“We're paying for what happened,” he said.

Joe Brennan, another property owner, said the new values and the tax increases that would follow were changing the face of the city.

The city's tax rate is expected to drop from a total of $2.56 per $100 of assessed property valuation to 70 cents, but what individual taxpayers pay will vary.

“Do you realize you are forcing out some of the people that built this island,” Brennan asked City Council.

Brennan said he met with Tyler twice, once for his property and then for his mother's. One was assessed at $736,000. He argued it was too high and Tyler agreed, he said.

Brennan expected to receive word of a reduction. Instead, his assessment went up some more.

Council President Patrick Rosenello and Mayor Bill Henfey did offer some answers for many of the issues raised, particularly involving the appeal process conducted by the Cape May County Board of Taxation.

Owners can meet a second time with Tyler, as well as the local tax assessor, and if the two sides come to an agreement the city will reimburse property owners for the appeal filing fee which ranges from $25 to $100.

The deadline to file an appeal with the county is April 3 because April 1, the normal deadline date, falls on a Saturday.

County Tax Administrator George R. Brown III said Tuesday that 1,743 people participated in the first round of informal reviews with Tyler. So far, 40 people have filed formal appeals with the county.

Another taxpayer, Marge Schernecke, said she was looking for consistency.

Schernecke, unofficial leader of a new Wildwood Taxpayers Association, said she was shocked the city had no plan that would have made the revaluation and its aftermath easier for all involved.

The revaluations and the process itself have been “full of errors and mistakes,” she said.

As the evening went on, some of the group started to head home, many promising to be on the phone with Tyler or the local tax assessor the next day.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

North Wildwood Beach

2006-03-07T23:47:00.000-05:00

North Wildwood receives $3.8M for beach fill
e-published 3/3/2006 - Wildwood Leader

NORTH WILDWOOD -- Mayor Bill Henfey announced Friday the confirmation of a $3.8 million state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) grant for a beach fill project from Second to 26th avenues.

The money will come from the DEP’s Shore Protection Stable Funding Program and will cover 75 percent of the total project costs.

With the city responsible for engineering design and permit drawings, the DEP’s Bureau of Coastal Engineering will provide assistance with the Army Corps of Engineers, permit applications and on-site inspection.

City Council President Patrick Rosenello is optimistic about the project.

“The process has been long, but with all of the agencies working together, we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

The finished project calls for 6,900 feet of shoreline replenishment that will include the creation of a storm protection berm.

Henfey is happy with this most recent grant, which caps off a three-year shoreline protection endeavor by the city.

“We’re a city that is known for our beautiful beaches and this project will benefit our community for years to come,” he said. “This latest grant brings the total participation from the state to more than $7 million, which is a major commitment to our city and the people who live and earn their living here.”

A permit processing meeting is scheduled this week in Trenton and Henfey plans to be there.

“Patrick Rosenello, city administrator Ray Townsend, city engineer Ralph Petrella and I will all be there to make sure we expedite the process and get going on this project,” he said.

New Construction

2006-03-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

A new dawn for Crest motel as condos
Pair's experience with motel helps redesign property
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Sunday, March 5, 2006
Updated: Sunday, March 5, 2006

WILDWOOD CREST — Long before Joseph Pirri could talk or walk he was spending summers at the New Jersey shore.

"My mother's been bringing me down (to the Wildwoods) since I was 5 months old," Pirri, now 61, recalled.

His wife, Alice Pirri, soon joined in, coming to the Wildwoods with her husband since they wed in 1975.

Not long after, in 1977, the couple, along with Joseph Pirri's parents, Adele and Carmen, carried on a family tradition of not only visiting but working on the island when they bought the Cavalier Resort Motel on East Toledo Road and the beach.

Pirris have operated rooming houses or motels on the island since the 1940s.

"We worked so hard at it as a business. We raised four kids there. The beach was their playground," Alice Pirri said.

But while the motel was a part of their lives for so long, Joseph Pirri said the couple saw what was going on around them as the island's motels make way for new high-priced condominium complexes.

"You can't build a new motel with all the conveniences people want and make it affordable," Joseph Pirri said.

So, the couple decided their 42-unit motel, built in 1966, had run its course and they started looking around for what to do next. They decided to take advantage of the motel's prime beachfront location and have received the last of the approvals needed to build a luxury 18-unit condominium complex called Aurora Condominiums.

While the Pirri children, now grown, will miss their childhood home, the couple is ready to make the change.

"I had no qualms about it. It was 24 hours a day from May to September. It was a lot of work," Joseph Pirri said of running the seasonal business.

"And we'll still be in the same place," Alice Pirri added, explaining they plan to keep one unit for themselves.

The simple, but neatly kept motel rooms of the Cavalier are being replaced with units that come with as much as 3,361 square feet of living space, most with four bedrooms, plus roomy balconies and private garages.

The largest unit comes in at 4,536 square feet including the garage and balcony space and is priced at just over $3 million. The least expensive unit is priced at $1.39 million.

"We didn't want it to be like all the typical condos. We came up with the idea of private residences that won't have the hustle and bustle of the weekly turnovers of rentals. Space on the beachfront is limited and the beachfront should be premium," Alice Pirri said.

Architect Rhett Jones of RHJ Associates in King of Prussia, Pa., designed the seven story building that will be made of reinforced concrete and come with hurricane shutters, curved, private balconies, a swimming pool, fitness center and other amenities.

Buyers can customize their kitchens and bathrooms, while standard features include ocean views, fireplace hook-ups, security systems and 9-foot ceilings.

What also distinguishes the property is experience, according to the Pirris.

They were able to draw on their 29 years as motel operators in the design phase.

"We've lived on the oceanfront. We know what salt air can do. That's why we have the private garages and materials made to last in this environment," Alice Pirri said.

That first-hand knowledge means they know which light fixtures will last and the building materials ideal for a spot so close to the Atlantic Ocean.

"We've lived through it. We've been through hurricanes. We know which way the wind blows," Alice Pirri said.

The couple believes their experience is essential to the building's success.

"We had a couple of calls from investors and real estate developers. We'd get calls asking, 'Is the Cavalier for sale?'" Alice Pirri said.

But they believed the work should be done by people familiar with the area and the environment.

They started the work in 2003, survived the state's arduous permitting process, and just won the last state approvals through the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act, or CAFRA, process on Feb. 10.

"We wanted it to be a notch above," Joseph Pirri said.

"If you make something ugly …," Alice Pirri said. "It's going to stay there," her husband said as he completed the thought.

And while some mourn the loss of the island's doo-wop motels of the 1950s and 1960s, the Pirris, who support the creation of the island's doo-wop museum, say there are ways to remember the past while moving forward.

They donated the motel's neon signs along with some paneling from the motel to the Doo Wop Preservation League.

Telling their longtime guests that the motel was closing was probably the hardest part of the process, Alice Pirri said.

"We sent letters in November telling them and so many sent cards and letters. Some asked for our address, they just wanted to send us Christmas cards," she said.

Joseph Pirri said the guests were the biggest part of the business.

"If they wanted room 110, they got room 110," he said.

And the Pirris are happy to help their longtime guests save a piece of Cavalier history as the motel goes through the last phases of demolition.

"I've got to go down there today," Joseph Pirri said during a recent interview. "A woman from Reading asked me to send her some bricks from the building."

The Pirris expect the Aurora Condominiums to be ready for occupancy in spring 2007.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:

TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Ponderlodge Golf Course

2006-03-03T13:19:00.000-05:00

Cape golf course goes to birds for open space
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Atlantic City Press
Published: Friday, March 3, 2006
Updated: Friday, March 3, 2006

LOWER TOWNSHIP — Weekend duffers here at the Ponderlodge Golf Course used to line up putts hoping for birdies, but those closely cropped greens soon may turn to rough for an entirely different kind of birdie.

The birdie the state Division of Fish and Wildlife envisions catering to is the kind that flies in during a long-distance migration.

The state Wednesday closed the deal to purchase the course for $8.45 million. On Thursday, John Watson, deputy commissioner for natural resources at the state Department of Environmental Protection, released new details on plans for the 239-acre tract.

“We purchased it primarily for its habitat value, to create grasslands and savannahs and to protect woodlands for migrating birds. It will be a nice new initiative to convert a golf course to natural habitat. This will be a first for us,” Watson said.

It may be a first, but it probably won't be the last. Watson said the department has its eye on other golf courses. Golf enjoyed a surge in popularity a few years ago, but some would argue too many courses were built. Bird watching, meanwhile, is enjoying a similar surge in popularity.

The Cape May birding community, which has been known to go long distances just to see a rare species, is excited about such a large tract so close to home.

“We'll venture all over to where things are found, and Ponderlodge is close. It's a perfect destination for birdwatchers, nature walks and nature photography,” said Patricia Sutton, program director for the N.J. Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory.

Sutton already has been into Ponderlodge for a field trip she does on the biggest trees in Cape May County. Many are in Ponderlodge. She said some oaks are 300 years old.

“It's good habitat with big trees. It's yesteryear. It's old Cape May back there,” Sutton said.

The deal does not sit well with everybody. The township applied for Green Acres funding hoping to turn the site into a public golf course and park. That was before Green Acres decided to buy the tract itself and turn into over to Fish and Wildlife to manage. Mayor Walt Craig said the state even encouraged township officials and civic groups to pressure the county to help fund the acquisition, and indeed, they did heavily lobby the county freeholders.

“I'm extremely disappointed in the way the state handled the entire transaction. Promises were made that were not kept,” Craig said.

The mayor is hoping for at least a portion of the site for a township recreation facility. He had even thought about moving the township's recreation operation to a big clubhouse at Ponderlodge and then giving the police the current recreation center in the Villas.

“At least they could offer us a portion of the land,” Craig said.

Green Acres Administrator John Flynn said the state wants to work with both the county and the township.

“We're not closing out any possibilities at this point,” Flynn said.

Watson said the primary objective as far as human use is to make Ponderlodge a “wildlife viewing destination,” but he added that the DEP is not opposed to other types of recreation on portions of the property.

Craig also is upset about losing a ratable worth $103,503 in taxes last year. The township faces a 10 percent tax hike this year and he had hoped to get income from a public golf course.

Flynn noted there will be a payment from the state in lieu of taxes. It will be 100 percent of the tax bill the first year and the payment will decline 7 percent per year for 13 years. After that, another program kicks in that pays the township $2 per acre. That program pays based on the percentage of land preserved in a municipality. The township is at 19.54 percent. If it can get above 20 percent, the payment would increase to $5 per acre.

“Dennis Township is 48 percent preserved, and we pay them $10 an acre,” Flynn said.

The deal also could fend off some water-supply issues. Flynn said Ponderlodge was operating without a state water allocation permit.

There is some good financial news to come out of the deal. Ponderlodge was in bankruptcy and owed back taxes. Township Manager Kathy McPherson said a check for $291,983.77 arrived shortly after the Green Acres deal closed.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:

RDegener@pressofac.com

North Wildwood Property Owners

2006-03-01T14:41:00.000-05:00

N. Wildwood hopes to ease burden on property owners
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 2006

NORTH WILDWOOD — City leaders are hoping to give local property owners a reprieve.

The deadline to file a tax appeal with the Cape May County Board of Taxation is April 1, but homeowners are encouraged to meet with local Tax Assessor Joseph Gallagher first before taking their disputes to the county level.

The problem, Councilman Joseph Duncan said, is there are too many unhappy owners and too little time to meet with the local tax assessor before April 1.

“It's an expensive proposition to go to the county. We want people to have time before they have to take that step,” he said.

The concern about the tax appeal deadline was among the many issues addressed Monday at a meeting of North Wildwood property owners who first met in January.

“We had another 300 people,” organizer Marge Schernecke said.

She said many owners received second notices on their property assesements and most were still dissatisfied with their property assessments.

The group, named the Wildwoods Taxpayers Association, plans to bring a couple of bus loads of people to next week's City Council meeting to voice concerns about the appeal process.

Duncan and Councilman Robert Maschio both attended the meeting in Philadelphia.

Maschio said he told the audience the city is completing its 2006 budget and the tax rate will likely be 70 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation, down from last year's total tax rate of $2.56. Maschio noted that the figure could change before the final budget is adopted.

He added the city is talking with the county, Tyler Technologies/CLT Division, the revaluation company, and local officials to resolve the issue of the new assessments and pending appeals.

Meanwhile, Schernecke said news that the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, sent violation notices to at least 500 condominium units because they were improperly inspected was also on the meeting's agenda.

On Tuesday, JCOW attorney Glenn P. Callahan issued a formal statement about those notices. Callahan said JCOW will suspend any fines which would otherwise accompany the violations, and it has eliminated any time requirements for filing an appeal. JCOW is also submitting an amended lawsuit that will be more detailed.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:

TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Summer Program Home Closed for now

2006-02-27T08:19:00.000-05:00

N. Wildwood summer-program home needs rebuilding, will stay shuttered
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Monday, February 27, 2006
Updated: Monday, February 27, 2006

There will be no laughing or singing at the Children's Fresh Air Home this summer.

The home, which sits at the corner of 11th and Surf avenues, has hosted thousands of children through the years as part of a Christian ministry that offered lessons in responsibility, daily devotions and fun times under the summer sun.

The children came from southern New Jersey families that could never afford a holiday at the shore, or they had experienced hardships such as the loss of a loved one.

But this year, while there are still children in need and volunteers eager to help them, the building is in no condition to hold them.

The rambling, four-story home was built in 1923 and is showing its age. There are cracks in the walls, the plumbing and wiring are in need of repair and the foundation has shifted.

Laura Burgoon, a member of the home's board of trustees, issued a news release Friday asking for support to get the building back in shape.

The board, she wrote, “made a painful decision not to open the home for the summer of 2006, due to the condition of the building.”

Karen Wille, who along with her husband, Craig, served as superintendent of the home for the past three years, said the board's engineer found it would be unwise to try to patch up the broken building.

Instead, it must come down and be replaced with a new facility at a cost of about $5 million, money the home doesn't have.

“I'm just heartbroken,” Wille said Friday.

The group traces its beginnings to 1896 when a woman named L. Ida Dukes started bringing children to a recreational area along the Delaware River. The organization was incorporated in 1911 and rented sleeping quarters were used until the current home was built.

Burgoon said this marks the first summer in more than 100 years there will not be a Children's Fresh Air Home for southern New Jersey's children.

Wille encouraged anyone who wants to help, both private individuals and businesses, to get involved and preserve the program.

“I became superintendent so I could work with the children and let them have some fun. To teach them right from wrong. This year we won't have that chance,” Wille said.