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A Decade of Decline - Part I
• Margate to rise again one day
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Friday,
April 10, 2009
Sweeping the past under the carpet is nothing new. Wounds heal quicker this way and new beginnings are much easier to jumpstart. However, one can hardly ignore the fact that the Margate small business economy has been in decline for more than a decade, which beckons a question or two.
Why was it that back in the mid and late 1990s, when cities grew up around Margate and the Florida economy was thriving, Margate was in decline?
Why was it that during the boom years 2003-2006, when businesses were moving into neighboring cities – businesses were moving out of Margate?
The answers depend on who you ask. From city officials to Margate residents and business owners, everyone has their own spin on Margate’s shattered economy. Some agree and some don’t. Some are fast to point fingers while others are more insightful and analytical in their assessment of ‘who is to blame’ or how or why it happened.
Following is the first in a series of articles covering the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA and the more recent MCRA) from inception to present, through the eyes of the media, a commissioned author, public records, and the people that were there then, and who are here now.
A Decade of Decline – Part I
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The wife and I moved to Margate the same year the city set aside $165,000 for economic development initiatives;1995. Mayor at the time, Arthur Bross, said the city’s new CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) would work to find investors to build a hotel and conference center along the State Rd. 7 corridor.
“We’re excited for any redevelopment, “Bross said. “We want to…attract outsiders. We’re not going to do that with three more pizza parlors…” – as quoted by Staff Writer Lisa J. Huriash of the Sun-Sentinel.
Bross said that the hotel would be one of the first projects pursued by the Community Redevelopment Agency when formed. Gerald Damsky, vice chairman of Margate’s Economic Development Advisory Board at the time, said a hotel would be great for Margate. “It will bring a whole new level of business to Margate,”
he said.
In December 1995, Margate officials announced their plans to form a CRA. Despite concerns over officially labeling CRA neighborhoods as “blighted” – which city officials said might negatively impact the morale of residents living in those areas – the city said it would do what it needed to qualify for federal and state assistance.
City Manager at the time, Len Golub, predicted that Margate’s future would be bleak without improved economics.
Margate elected officials November 1995: Arthur Bross, Mayor; Frank Talerico, Vice Mayor; Commissioners Pam Donovan, Joe Varsallone, Mitch Anton
Commissioners Donovan and Varsallone voted against Mayoral and Vice-Mayoral appointments, according to William P. Cahill’s Story of Margate.
1996
A Margate study is conducted by Sarasota firm, Design Studios West, to identify blighted areas of the city. Among the findings:
Margate was being outpaced by Coral Springs in terms of retail shopping opportunities
Margate’s tax base was in decline
Strip shopping centers in Margate received poor ratings in areas of landscape and building maintenance
Street improvements were needed throughout the city
Margate was one of the fastest growing cities in Broward County. At the same time, businesses were moving out and the city had no publicly announced plans for a high school moving forward.
Commissioner Pam Donovan said about the study, as quoted by the Sun-sentinel on March 8, 1996:
“This book [study] makes the city look like idiots,” she said. We approve building site…designs when they were being built. Now five to 10 years later, we come back and say everything is poor. Then why did we allow it in the first place? People are going to look through this book and say why be in the city.”
Economic development coordinator for Margate, Jeffrey Oris, announced that there would be another round of public workshops to decide how to redevelop Margate. City Manager, Len Golub considered the study “realistic” and the first major step in getting something done. Still, no CRA had been formed as of April 1996, but formation of a civilian-based CRA board was anticipated by October.
“If we don’t do something to revitalize Margate, said Mayor Bross, “it’s going to continue to slip. We’re trying to save the community form going downhill.”
Commissioner Donovan voted no to commissioner raises in 1996. She was the only one in dissent.
1997
The city commission decides that bonds sponsored by the newly formed CRA must be approved by voters. Naysayers of the CRA, Rich Popovic and Peter Dennison, proclaimed that the issuing of CRA bonds wouldn’t fix the city’s floundering economy.
City Manager, Len Golub announced that basic services such as road and bridge repair have been left out of the budget for several years and that without an expansion in the city’s tax base, the city would not be able to balance its budget in the future without either massive reductions in programs and services or a tax increase.
“The CRA is going to help the city…to insure the future well-being of the city…in new businesses, more people,” Golub said. “That’s the intent of the CRA. A more vibrant city.”
In April, the city agreed to pay Design Studios West $66,500 to create a community redevelopment plan.
“Some of the earlier places in town are now 40 years old,” Bross said. “We don’t need to bulldoze them. We just need to revitalize them.
In October 1997, Preston Henn announced a $6 million asking price for his roughly 18-acre Swap Shop property. Not that he would sell the property to the city, but if he did sell it, that’s how much it would cost, he said. Labeled a civic activist at the time by the Sun-sentinel, 15-year Margate resident Rose Paper said, quote, “We’ve got to lift Margate out of the dust. I am afraid it is really going down the drain,” - as reported by Sun-sentinel Staff Writer, Sallie James on October 12, 1997.
“I don’t like it because it looks cheap,” Paper added regarding the Swap Shop.
Commissioners, alongside the new CRA, approved an 88-page community redevelopment plan that focused on upgrading blighted areas along State Road 7, Atlantic Boulevard and targeting the Swap Shop property. Commissioners projected that CRA plans would approach completion in roughly 20 years, reported the Sun-sentinel.
City Manager Len Golub said CRA plans would be a hard sell.
“One reason is…the public trust of government officials is not the greatest,” Golub said. “Before the CRA, we were not doing everything right. Obviously not. We have to go back and correct some of the things from the past.”
Commissioner Donovan lost her seat to Arlene Schwartz in the 1997 election. Schwartz had been on the city commission three years earlier.
Summer of 1997, Margate held resident workshops for input on redevelopment planning.
- END PART I
Sidebar: Esteemed City Manager, Len Golub passed in June 2006. Rest in peace
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Highlights from a Decade of Decline - Part I
Margate’s CRA was formed 12 years ago. It was civilian-based. Today, the CRA board is comprised entirely of city officials, four of whom occupied city commission seats 14 years ago. Now Margate City Manager, Frank Porcella, is the acting Executive Director of the Margate Community Redevelopment Agency (MCRA).
One component of the original CRA vision was a hotel and conference center on State Road 7.
Arthur Bross was Mayor in 1995. 14 years later he’s Mayor again for the 7th time.
14 years ago, Margate was officially labeled as blighted. It still is today.
14 years ago, elected officials Donovan, Varsallone, Bross and Talerico sat on the dais. They demonstrated concern over resident morale.
In 1996, Margate was considered one of the fastest growing cities in Broward. At the same time, businesses were out-migrating and the city had no official plans to build a high school. Statistics confirm that the retention of families in cities and towns with high schools is significantly higher than cities with none.
In 1997, the city might have purchased the Swap Shop for $6 million. Nine years later, the city paid $15.3 million, or 250% more. When compared with 2009 commercial land comps, it appears that the property is holding between 60 and 90 percent of its purchase value, depending on comp.
In 1997, City Manager Len Golub announced that basic city services had been left from the budget for years. He said trust in public officials had eroded and things from the past needed correcting before selling residents on a CRA plan.
Based on initial projections, Margate has roughly seven years to complete CRA plans.
Margate no longer has an Economic Advisory Board.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this first of a three-part mini series on Margate’s CRA. Feel free to email your opinion or submit information that will enrich public understanding. If your name appears in the series and you see facts as incorrect, please email MargateNews.net and we’ll post your correction.
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Copyright Cassius Group 2009
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