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Public Opinion of Margate CRA is Low
• At what point do CRA leaders realize it's time to step down?
Tuesday,
September 15, 2009
Another grassy knoll is in the works at the end of Margate Boulevard as residents and business owners look on in amazement at the demolition of a once landmark shopping center. The Margate Community Redevelopment Agency is 13 years old and the consensus among locals regarding agency performance is poor.
The vision of the Margate Community Redevelopment Agency (MCRA) is to have a thriving downtown district – in and around the area most of us know as the “Old Swap Shop.” The vision has changed over the years and scant few developers have expressed interest in developing MCRA parcels.
Business operators within the MCRA district believe that poor decision-making by the MCRA has brought commerce in the area to its knees. Some operators were driven ‘out-of-business’ during Margate Boulevard Streetscape construction, while leases for others were discontinued so their building could be cleared for demolition and replaced with lawn. Business leaders in the area see the MCRA as politically biased, incohesive and not effective in building commerce in the city.
In talking with residents and entrepreneurs in Margate, I was hard-pressed to find someone who spoke favorably to the MCRA. Many object to the dollars spent on the clock and roundabout and joke lightly about how infrequently people are seen walking the cobblestone sidewalks downtown, or sitting on bus benches – and how foolishly bike-lanes weren’t effectively incorporated into the streetscape design.
A common thread among MCRA critics is whether CRA officials in Margate have the knowledge, foresight and decision-making capacity to switch gears, retool their vision and prepare a downtown for the next generation of consumers: Millennials, born between 1977 and 1998, a generation whose needs vary greatly from Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and the average Margate resident.
What types of businesses will Millennials and their children flock to? What kind of housing will they be looking for and, as entrepreneurs, what types of small business opportunities will be of interest? What types of ‘recreational experiences’ will Millennials be seeking out?
Considering a commercial vacancy rate in Margate of between 30% and 50%, exacerbated by an overabundance of housing; is the mixed-use vision by the MCRA still sensible moving forward? Should the MCRA more strongly consider the impact e-commerce might have on the future of bricks and mortar shopping? (Do we really need more stores in our area when half are unoccupied now and for years to come?)
Has the MCRA considered a ‘one-client’ vision: to sell the Swap Shop property to a large employer such as research or medical facility or tech-savvy company, creating hundreds if not thousands of jobs and boosting value to area businesses and the city’s tax base.
Initially a retirement destination, Margate has a history of missing the boat on growth when compared to neighboring cities. Margate has a torrid political past, a reputation for being a redneck city, a thrift-shopping destination and a center of low-income housing and the retired – serious obstacles to overcome when looking at economic growth moving forward – especially when officials have labeled our city as ‘blighted’ in order to boost opportunities for state and federal dollars.
Through a public records request, I’ve found no written reports from MCRA officials who have attended conferences in Las Vegas and elsewhere at the expense of taxpayers. There is no record of MCRA officials attending educational tracks offered at the conferences and no documents that could be called on to assess the value (to taxpayers) of MCRA officials attending these conferences – hotel rooms, travel expenses, business card transactions and nights on the town prevail.
It may just be that the Margate Community Redevelopment Agency can’t get out of its own way. Run by the same individuals who have created the economic void we know as ‘Margate’; the same individuals who have held positions on the Margate City Commission for decades and have drained the life out of our city.
It’s time for a change – not change as in demolishing buildings and livelihoods, but change as in leadership that involves a broader spectrum of knowledge and insight beyond that of Legacy Park.
Comments from residents.
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