By Pary Lion Tell

A Lack of Sustainability

To make Wildwood a vibrant town, with a sense of community, again, we need to attract year-round residents, including families.  In my own case, I wouldn’t move back to Wildwood until they address the threat to the city caused by the lack of environmental and economic sustainability.  I see with every big storm, that parts of the town that never in the past flooded, are now routinely under water.  I don’t see any effort by the city government to address this issue, which is made worse by current redevelopment efforts.   The most “green” way to redevelop a city is through alternative use of existing buildings, not the tearing down to build new, all look alike, condos that will attract primarily second home owners.  This also leads to a “dead” community for 6 or 8 months a year, with no local support for businesses and failure to address the flooding will inhibit property sales. 

Ratables Don’t Solve Everything

People keep going on about new ratables.  My father was the City Comptroller for the City of Wildwood for 32 years.  He used to remark that the great revenue stream from new ratables was a fantasy.  He often said for every new ratable, there is a corresponding demand for more municipal services, be it police protection, fire protection, trash pickup, or increased school enrollment.  New ratables are not a cash cow as many politicians seem to think. New ratables often actually INCREASE taxes.

Embracing Our Identity

The pedestrian mall, which was modeled after Cape May’s successful mall, failed because the government didn’t take into consideration all the factors that contributed to Cape May’s success, beginning with a commitment to its history.  It began with the Historic Landmark designation, which gave it its identity as a Victorian town. The mall then preserved storefront architecture that contributed to that identity, making a place for small boutique type stores and restaurants.  Wildwood should have enforced Historic Landmark designation for its Doo Wop architecture and worked to bring that to the mall.  It should have also looked for stores that would appeal to tourists instead of local retail businesses. It should have focused on working with the Doo Wop identity, or whatever other historic era they wanted to highlight in addition to Doo Wop. Cape May also built a reputation as a town with good food and nice restaurants, an attraction for families.

What is the Plan?

For a politician to make a blanket statement that no one wants old stuff, they all want new, is pure opinion.  I think politicians need to poll residents before making statements like that.  The people (voters) should demand to be presented with a complete plan, which seems to be pie in the sky at the present, for the redevelopment of the city, with all costs associated with it that are going to impact their taxes.  Instead, it seems like there is no plan and things are being done haphazardly.  If I wanted to buy a block on Pacific Avenue and tear it all down and build condos, I would probably get approval.  If the town turns into condo town, where will people shop and eat?  I know the answer – they’ll travel over the bridge to Cape May.

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