Margate’s Mayor Collins sat quietly as residents took turns hammering him about the Sunrise Tequila Roof-Top Party Deck at 9700 Ventnor Ave in Margate.
Insanely loud. Open drinking and weed smoking on street and public urination?
Too many patrons = occupancy violations. Fire trap?
Listen to audio from June 5, 2025 Margate Commissioner meeting:
Owners of the property and Sunrise Tequila Roof-Top Party Deck business are Dana Hiltner (Hartman) and Brian Hiltner.
No crowd control.
Police were called to bar 16 times last Saturday. Margate is becoming Wildwood.
Approx 400 patrons squeezed into bar? Max capacity is 189.
‘Our government has let us down‘.
Margate Commissioner of Public Safety, Cathy Horn, invites input to resolve nuisance bar issue at corner of Monroe and Ventnor Ave.
Margate Mayor Michael Collins called out for his inaccurate defense of the mayhem. Collins claims the ‘governing body is not responsible for granting zoning approvals’.
FYI: Collins hand picks the Margate Planning and Zoning Board.
Isn’t Hiltner a very close personal friend of Mayor Collins? Didn’t Horn Electric provide the electrical work for this project?
Did Collins and Horn disclose the revenues they or their firms received from this project to the public. Didn’t Collins appoint Hiltner to the beach patrol committee overseeing the pension plans?
Didn’t Collins and Horn get to use Hiltner/Hartman’s billboards for their campaign?
Didn’t the planning Board grant many variances to Hiltner’s new home build on May 2023? And then again granting more variances for this project waiving required lot coverage and parking requirements while using “hardship” as an excuse when no hardship existed?
These are insiders being protected by insiders. And you don’t vote here so suck it up because it’s not going to change.
Collins and Horn believe they know better and have the power to do what they want.
No transparency, make important decisions in the winter when many are out of town, and keep smiling as they plan a new Master Plan.
It’s the Margate way.
It’s the Amodeo-Collins-Horn vision and you will like it.
https://www.nj.gov/lps/abc/downloads/abchandbook1.pdf
There are state levels to reach out to if you are not getting assistance on a local level. Hope this helps.
Don’t forget the free drinks/ meals the Mayor and his wife receive here and Lambertis! Real gems these people are!
Contact the new Attorney General in NJ. They don’t tolerate this crap. Investigate.
Yes. Horn Trucks outside of Tequila Bar – we have pictures. Let’s post them.
This administration is dictatorship at its finest. They don’t take any feedback from residents. They know best.
This is not a new administration. It’s a continuation of the past 4 terms with Collins’ father in-law pulling the strings. You got to admit he was a smooth operator – unlike these three clowns .
Owners of Tequila Bar are Dana Hartman and Brian Hiltner, two Real Estate agents that should know better. They’re destroying the residential value of that neighborhood.
Thanking God I left Margate (my home since birth) 10 years ago. What was once the best seashore town has become a joke. Anything goes in this town. To hell with year round residents. The town caters to visitors/seasonal people. Shame on the commissioners and owners of this joint. They know better but they don’t care. Money. That’s all they care about.
Obviously the town and bar is not for you if you moved out Donna. It’s for the people that are dying to move in and dramatically raised the home prices due to the supply and demand. A lot of the comments in here don’t realize the town has passed them by. There’s a new generation of families and young people that absolutely love the town.
The residential value would incorporate the fact that their homes are right next to the commercial district. The residents should have realized that risk prior to buying, or they could have picked somewhere else to live if they didn’t want to take the chance that businesses there would never change.
THIS 100%. Also, don’t take video on the busiest night of the year and pretend its a regular night.
Nothing will happen, it’s Paula Hartman”s daughter!
No wonder Mayor Collins of Margate keeps blocking live ZOOM video of meetings. Keep everyone in the dark. Especially 2nd homeowners who pay all the bills.
Says the 2 disgruntled contractors who present themselves as “margate elite residents” who are apparently the only contractors who can’t get enough work in Margate. Imagine that.
Love your newsletter DownbeachBuzz !
Close the upstairs deck at 9pm through summer. Contain live music to inside the 1st floor.
Conduct diligent fire safety capacity inspections on weekends.
Owners should hire security to patrol area and rowdy patrons to relieve local PD on weekends.
It’s built. Its not going away. The registers are ringing strong.
Lay down rules and enforce with maximum fines that actually affect daily profits..5, 10 thousand as incidents reoccur.
The owners are good people with a smash hit on their hands.
It’s time for them to respect the negative happenings and react as they reap the rewards of their hard work.
Close the deck at 9? lol. That’s the point to have an open air bar at night. It’s a night club. 🤦
The only way tthis bar will change is when they are sued in court, along with Margate officials.
No one in their right mind would think this place was a good idea.
What a shame for the residents who live nearby, and the reputation Margate is now getting because of all this.
A friend of mine went through this with another bar in Margate and here’s what you can do about it… absolutely nothing.
The cops will take notes, send an intern to stand on the corner, but not actually do anything until you give up calling from frustration.
The city suits couldn’t give a rat’s ass and will actually defend the businesses at the meetings.
Noise complaints are pretty much useless since the laws are liberal, poorly defined, and no one enforces them.
And you’re right. The town is going to shit. So make sure to vote all these idiots out next term.
You are spot on! Everyone is connected to someone and that’s why nothing will be resolved. The residents on Monroe Ave need to band together and hire a private attorney.
this is why mayor collins blocks LIVE Zoom video of meetings.
btw, that new margate business admin is useless.
The police were called 16 times last Saturday. The max capacity is 180 people and there were 400 people squeezed into it.
Fire Trap.
Zoning Board controlled by Mayor Collins. His Dad, Tom, is also guilty of this “return to The Barbary Coast”.
Owners of Tequila Bar are Real Estate agents. Go figure.
Do you feel safe with Cathy Horn as Margate Commissioner of Public Safety? Yeah, right.
Don’t forget, Horn still keeping quiet about her abusive boss, LaQuetta Small, the AC School District Superintendent.
Margate taxpayers spend millions to send 33 Margate kids to dangerous and dysfunctional AC high School.
Ha ha ! Margate is the new Wildwood.
The Hiltners are Margate Royalty. Nothing will ever happen to them. They are bullet proof.
Same attorney as the apt next door which is also in violation. It’s a cess pool of slime and corruption.
Protest out front with signs all weekend long.
Give the drinking crowd some action.
I was at the bar on Saturday and I didn’t think it was too bad. I think calling the police 16 times is disgraceful.
The police have better things to do than complaints about noise.
It’s a shore town let everyone party. Life’s short, have fun.
Wish we had more bars like this. Drinks are excellent, pretty bartenders and great music, what else do you want. Party on Tequila Bar.
It’s a good thing the bar is successful. These residents are just being sour that the business district they moved next to became busier, but that’s the risk of living next to a business district.
The owners and the town will work with them and find some common ground, but music off at 9 pm is wacky.
The Tequila Bar Owners, Hartman / Hiltner, released statement through their attorney Eric Goldstein. “We are fully committed to being great neighbors for not only our immediate neighborhood, but for the Margate and Atlantic and Cape May counties community as a whole. We love our town…”
You guys love money and profits or you wouldn’t have destroyed a neighborhood for your personal greed. Don’t tell us your creating a great business which is really an out of control drink until 4am party.
And your disregard for the many community voices during the planning process says loudly to all of us that you don’t care what the neighbors say.
You have created a terrible community problem. You should be embarrassed!
The Margate Planning Board members who voted for this should resign.
Mayor Collins and his sidekick Horn are an embarrassment. Another “is it 6 or 12” disaster. Your greed is destroying the residential community by the Sea.
Will real estate agents ‘disclose’ to potential home buyers that all properties within 4 block radius of Tequila Bar will be negatively impacted by late night noise and mayhem?
I can‘t help but to think of these choice of words in business: conflict of interest, undermining behavior tactics, leverage, navigating the system…. all of which slant “distrust”
When Realtors buy into the business district, especially to the level we read about as it pertains to the Rooftop Bar, I recite these words back again in disgust and anger: Think sleeze balls.
Terrible but true
Destroy the neighborhood to reduce property values. Then buy up the surrounding property cheap? Then build high-rise building in the new Master Plan zone Collins and Horn will be approving in the winter months?
Do our neighbors in Longport have any voice since they are impacted by noise, parking and traffic?
What a total mess!! Margate deserves Better!!
Did Tequila Bar owners, Hiltner and Hartman, pay the many fines for multiple violations when building this nuisance bar?
The local police was able to control teens congregating (Club Wa). Now it seems that the same situation has moved down a few blocks except with people in their 20’s-30’s except now with loud music and alcohol. There needs to be an effort made to fix this problem.
Everyone Saw this coming from the Planning Board discussions , it all came true
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Public portion is open and the following member(s) of the public are sworn in:
• Jeffrey Barnes, Esq. & Louis A Scheiet: On behalf of several property owners opposing the application. Scheiet, engineering and planning expert, discusses deck issues and seeks clarification on variance type. Raises concerns about noise, setbacks, parking, occupancy, and noise accumulation. Reads from the master plan.
• Steve Blum, Royal Palms Condominium, 9711 Ventnor Avenue: Fears a potential nightclub atmosphere and questions crowd control and trash management; Goldstein notes the owners’ proposal regarding security.
• Janet McCarron, 8801 Amherst Avenue: Views the building as an asset to Margate and believes it will bring people to town.
• Pam Girgenti, 9600 Atlantic Avenue: A new resident, expresses love for Margate and walkability; mentions the professionalism of the business.
• Eli Pearlman, 10 S Monroe Avenue: Expresses concerns about noise, police involvement, parking, trash, and the impact on property values.
• Benson Goldberger, 9612 Ventnor Avenue, Unit C: Expresses concerns about noise, trash, and traffic issues.
• Marissa Keddis, 2B S Coolidge Avenue: Raises concerns about parking, noise, and safety.
• Stephen Baglivo, 8005 Atlantic Avenue: Admires the design of the proposed project.
• Ed Berger, Margate Business Association, 9402 Amherst Avenue: Supports the project, emphasizing the importance of a healthy business community.
• Maryanne Murphy, 9711 Ventnor Avenue: Raises concerns about fitting the scale of the neighborhood, infrastructure maintenance, and overflowing recycling bins.
• Jeff Hoffner, 5 S Monroe Avenue: Appreciates the building’s beauty but expresses concerns about trash and parking; inquires about the fate of the bus stop and loading zone.
. Joel Goodman, 9612B Ventnor Avenue: Raises concerns about parking.
• Greg Lorenz, 5 N Monroe Avenue: Expresses concerns about parking, traffic safety, and noise from the building’s speakers.
I never thought it would happen, but the Tequila Bar is making the Baglivo project look better.
If you haven’t listened online to the recent Commissioner’s meeting, you should. Residents are up in arms about the noise, crowds, public urination and safety concerns occurring at the Tequila Bar. And what did our commissioners say? They’ll look into it and zoning isn’t their responsibility. Isn’t everything in Margate their responsibility?
This train wreck was predictable from the beginning. All the problems that have raised their ugly heads, were brought up by residents and neighbors at the Planning Board when they came for their approvals.
The Hiltners (Hartman) and their attorney (Goldstein) downplayed potential issues while speaking to the virtues of their alcohol fueled, high intensity project that required nearly every variance known to man. They assured public and their neighbors that noise, crowd control, overcapacity and all other nuisances would not be an issue. What a joke!
The police have been called regularly and often with complaints.
The members of the Margate Planning Board raised few if any concerns. Did any of them read their very own engineer’s review letter or pay attention when individuals in the audience spoke? I doubt it. They already knew it was a done deal.
The vote and rational given by those Lemmings made it clear the outcome was preordained.
At least one member said the project was a “hardship” for the owners based on the additional money they had to spend. He obviously wasn’t paying attention when he was taught what constitutes a “hardship” in land use terms. It has nothing to do with the finances of a project.
I guess sympathy for the owner’s finances is more important than concerns expressed by the public.
The only “No” vote was offered by John Pitts, who didn’t fall in line with the wishes of our dear town fathers and insiders. He realized the problems and pointed them out.
Many in Margate think this abomination was only given complete approval due to the close ties between the Hiltner / Hartman family and the Collin’s regime.
Would an outsider been given approval for this project without extensive scrutiny? Highly unlikely.
At last week’s Commissioners’ meeting, our illustrious leaders got hammered but offered no assurances that they would use their positions to alleviate the obvious problems. All they promised was to look into it!
No one is asking the Tequila Bar to go away. It has the right to exist as a place for residents and visitors to enjoy themselves. What is expected however is that they live up to all the promises they made to obtain approval and take measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their patrons and the surrounding community. Is that too much to ask?
Is it too much to ask that our Planning Board consider the merits as well as the potential problems of each and every project regardless of who is behind its development?
And is it too much to ask for our Commissioners to listen to the public, do what’s best for all the residents of Margate instead of what’s best for the chosen few in town who supported their election.
And is it too much to ask that our Commissioners take action when trouble arises instead of blaming others. After all, they wanted to be in charge.
Wake up residents of Margate. Go to meetings. Voice your concerns. Demand answers and action.
Let’s not settle for “we will look into this” or “you voted us in, so we will do what we want to do”.
And lastly, keep an eye out for the new Master Plan. It needs to address real issues such as parking, flooding and the preservation of our waterfront on Amherst Ave.
Beware of attempts to rezone or spot zone areas that would allow for more development detrimental to most of us, but advantageous to a few of the “in” crowd.
If they continue not to listen, there is always the next election.
Time for the Margate Fire Chief and Margate Public Safety Commissioner Cathy Horn to step up and take charge. They know the potential dangers of overcrowding a building (potential fire trap) Never forget: Mayor Mike Collins controls everything. Planning, Schools, Zoning, Police, etc.
Real Estate agents take note: make sure to ‘disclose’ these issues to potential buyers considering anything within 4 block radius of this nuisance bar.
There are actually laws written by the State of New Jersey that state the following: If noise levels exceed legal limits and are violated multiple times, a jail sentence can be administered up to 90 days.
This is written in the Department of Environmental Protection statutes.
The DEP will actually send an investigator to check on violations if they are recurring.
That means if it’s a Friday or Saturday night, an investigator will come to location where violation of noise level exists.
A violator can concurrent jail terms if violation isn’t corrected.
Has DEP been notified? Is it just a matter of a phone call or letter to get them to the site?
Who didn’t see this coming! No parking, open air bar in a residential community
A recipe for all the problem issues stated in the planning phase! We year round generations of residents don’t want this bar ruining our Longport
Certain Real Estate agents and elected officials.
Good luck people of Margate, you have no voice when it comes to the $ they exchange.