Margate Planning Board Claims FAKE NEWS About Amherst Water Park

margate water park planning board
Future Water Park? Or Fake News?

Talk about a 50,000 sq ft, floating waterpark along the bay on Amherst Ave in Margate. Just fake news? Or will an inflatable aqua-park soon occupy the water surrounding Sunset Bay Marina?

Margate Planning Board chairman Rich Paterson wants to clear the air. He posed the following questions at the recent AUGUST 23 Planning Board meeting. LISTEN TO AUDIO CLIP:

Transcript:

Rich Paterson: Did any Waterpark people ever come before board, asking for any variances? (chuckles in background)

Margate Zoning Officer Roger McLarnon: I would like to be clear on that. They did reach out to me as a zoning board officer, to meet with me….and maybe a member of the board…and maybe a governing body member, just to present an idea.

Paterson: Did they ever come before the board? Did the board ever have meeting stacked with people in favor of it? Did the board ever take any action?

Mclarnon: There has never been any application. There’s never been any submission. Nothing has taken place, other than a design concept, which we looked at. So when they’re ready to present something, come in with an application.

Paterson: So then, what’s been presented to this city, is just an outright lie?

McClarnon: What’s been in the paper is not accurate.

Paterson: Thank you

Fake news? Fake news? ha ha. Flake news did you say?



What we learned from Press of AC:

The Board of Commissioners on April 19, authorized amending its Feb. 1 zoning ordinance that reclassifies properties on the bay side of Amherst Avenue as a Waterfront Special District.

“We would’ve felt considerably more comfortable had it been more specifically written into the ordinance, had the language been more specific,” Berger said.

The commission adopted the original ordinance to allow developers to improve the bayfront properties, create a boardwalk promenade and replace the bulkhead between Decatur and Coolidge avenues.

Sean Gormley plans to rebuild on the site of former Capt. Andy’s. A new restaurant, bait shop and insurance office.

Jim Leeds plans to rebuild on the former Integrity Marine site. The new building will be higher, and will include two residential units and office space.

Leeds will raise the building and move the original structure footprint, 10 feet to the south.

MBA President Ed Berger, who lives across the street, worries about the loss of view. Especially since the bulkheads are being raised to either 8 or 9 ft….instead of the original 7 ft.

‘Conveying’ the street’s parking spaces to a developer is problematic for Ed Berger and his neighbors.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, Commissioner John Amodeo has said ‘no more structures will be added to the bay side of Amherst’. “The three of us (commissioners),will never allow any development along that strip,”

Margate Zoning Officer Roger McLarnon said that if there is not a building currently on the bay side of Amherst, then there will never be a building there.

2 thoughts on “Margate Planning Board Claims FAKE NEWS About Amherst Water Park”

  1. Elaine W. Charny

    Please, please try to get better access to the beach. We need harder surfaces to get over the “mountains/dunes”. I am older & have the problems of mobility that come with age. I have only been on the beach 3 times & with great difficulty!!!

  2. Aside for the proposed water park, there’s tremendous opportunity (currently in the “missed” category) to get more out of the Amherst waterfront, more people enjoying it and more money to the merchants. And a lot of it comes down to better communicating what’s there. The restaurants seem to “get it”. If I were to land at Amherst and Washington, it would be very clear to me where I can get a nice meal, a snack or some drinks. But I’d have to dig and figure out what’s available to me across the street:

    Can I buy or rent a boat, watercraft, canoe, kayak?
    Can I learn to sail?
    Can I join a fishing trip?
    If I arrive in Margate by water, can I dock or moor? How much? Whom do I speak with?
    Can I take a introductory or boating safety course?
    I’d like to do some catch and release from a pier or the surf. Can someone help me out?
    Can I buy or rent fishing gear?

    To me, an on-site directory and some banners, plus a web-site would be a quick win for the waterfront.

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