Commercial parking is not a deal breaker, suggests entrepreneur D Pastore, MD., owner of the former Margate Burger and Food Truck business.
The following is a Letter to the Editor from Dr. Pastore to DownbeachBUZZ:
Hello Sherrie and Mel, Tami and I tune into your show regularly. We enjoy your real estate reports and we think that they are spot on accurate!
I do, however, want to share with you my comments on the recent notions that have been circulating in Margate regarding mixed used projects and the lack of commercial parking.
I do not believe that these notions are entirely accurate. And, although parking is admittedly very tight in Margate (and in all shore towns) in the Summer months, I do not think it significantly impacts any of our businesses.
I want to comment on what I believe to be the real truth regarding this issue:
The lack of commercial parking DOES NOT impact anyone’s business in Margate.
I have been here 25 years and believe me, all the business owners here in Margate absolutely ‘kill it’ in the summer months!
The cash registers are full of money. Lot’s of it! They pack people into their stores, their restaurants, their coffee shops, their clothing stores, their ice cream shops and the cash registers are ‘chinging’ 24-7.
I know, I’ve been there. I was selling 300 hamburgers a day some days in the summer.
No businesses are impacted at all in the summertime despite the deficit of commercial parking.
Dr. Pastore, Margateburger LLC.
The single number one thing that impacts Margate businesses is called WINTERTIME! In the winter (practically 8 months, Sep thru Apr) the stores are empty, barren, nothing, NADA! And guess what? There is plenty of parking…plenty of it.
Up and down Ventnor Ave, Up and down Atlantic Ave…tons of parking and still……businesses are empty! Truth be told. That’s what impacts the Margate businesses! Its called the WINTER months. Not a single mixed use project! I’m not buying it!
I know how it is in the winter. We were selling four hamburgers a week and my large parking lot on Ventnor Ave was empty, plenty of parking.
Lets face facts. We all have a SEASONAL business with SEASONAL parking requirements. No mixed use project negatively impacts businesses. That’s NONSENSE! In fact, just the opposite.
Mixed-use projects bring additional families to Margate and believe me, you’re very happy when those new families come down in the dead of the Winter and shop at your business or dine at your food establishment.
So let’s stop whining and let’s be thankful that we have successful SEASONAL summertime businesses in Margate.
D Pastore, MD
Margateburger, LLC
Keep up the fine reporting here at the Shore!
Public Comment: Some businesses allegedly ‘gang up’ on newcomers? Keep them out for as long as possible. Bocca, Greens & Grains, Robert’s and Hot Bagels teamed up and hired an attorney to squash site plan for former Chinese restaurant at corner of Ventnor & Douglas in Margate.
The mixed use projects bring more families to the commercial areas where people can live at and walk to/patronize the commercial businesses. The mixed use projects offer parking for the residences. I agree there should be more public parking available for people to drive to and park closer to the commercial area and Margate should look at options to offer parking. Other shore communities have public parking options for their commercial districts.
People will find a way to come and visit our restaurants and shops and they will, indeed, be heavily trafficked in the summer months.
—-
Sherri Lilienfeld
Broker Associate. EXP Realty.
Bravo Dr.Pastore for telling it like it actually is!!
Parking is a problem as most Margate businesses will tell you.
Margate is a very big concern for residents in Margate.
Building a mixed use property without adequate parking effects all business and teh people who live in and around the area.
There needs to be a balance and a working relationship with the homeowners around any new mix use project.
His point was it will only be a problem in the summer, and you can’t come up with solutions that only work 3-4 months a year and would sit empty the rest. No matter what is done for parking on summer weekends, it will still be a challenge.
I stopped going to that area in the summer. I can never find parking. I like going to Colmar for hardware. But even their lot can be full.
You are kidding yourself if you think more development doesn’t have an impact. Unless you live in the area with your own off-street parking
That’s Dr. Pastore’s point, Tom. It’s in the summer that’s the issue, especially weekends. You can’t come up with a parking solution, other than perhaps a Jitney/Trolley that won’t sit completely empty the rest of the year.
Dr. Pastore, the person who buys your property, will they be looking to make it mixed use and ask for a parking variance?
I know you’re kidding Dr Pastore. Your business is offshore so you can’t accurately comment on how businesses suffer from parking insufficiency!
You haven’t operated your burger joint in years either! And not since the pandemic building explosion. And winter still has parking issues.
It was a simple fix and the city fathers could have been hero’s with vacant land in business district in foreclosure. They refused to buy it.
They have parking for 20 plus cars at their hardware store. It was simple, but greed and sleeping killed the opportunity to fix the problems.
And Dr, you live on Amherst… what a parking shit show back there.
So don’t speak for businesses that you don’t have facts on.
You obviously have a motive for this post. Easy to figure out with your burger joint for sale.
I love change. Bring it. But prepare for it’s impact! SIMPLE 🙃🤔🚙🚘🚓
Have you ever thought of getting a spokesperson to handle your communications? Lost amid your rants and word salad are some reasonable points that get lost among your babble. You allege others have motives and yet it’s clear you have a very personal agenda too.
The mixed use projects bring more families to the commercial areas where people can live at and walk to/patronize the commercial businesses. The mixed use projects offer parking for the residences.
I agree there should be more public parking available for people to drive to and park closer to the commercial area and Margate should look at options to offer parking.
Other shore communities have public parking options for their commercial districts.
People will find a way to come and visit our restaurants and shops and they will, indeed, be heavily trafficked in the summer months.
—-
Sherri Lilienfeld, Broker Associate. EXP Realty.