ATLANTIC CITY — Despite the objections of the Atlantic City government, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority today approved a sweeping plan that transfers control of a big chunk of the city to the state agency in an effort to revitalize the ailing resort. The final boundaries of the new Tourism District settled on by the agency include a far...
ATLANTIC CITY — Despite the objections of the Atlantic City government, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority today approved a sweeping plan that transfers control of a big chunk of the city to the state agency in an effort to revitalize the ailing resort.
The final boundaries of the new Tourism District settled on by the agency include a far larger swath of the city than the one envisioned by a commission appointed by Gov. Chris Christie and approved by the legislature.
Three council members who addressed the development authority expressed their distrust of a process that they said left them and the city’s nearly 40,000 residents without a voice in planning for the city’s future.
"It’s important to have a partnership to promote Atlantic City any way we can," Councilman Marty Small said. "But it’s the confidence level of the residents that this is a dupe to take over Atlantic City."
In the end, however, Mayor Lorenzo Langford — who has been highly critical of a state-run Tourism District and has called it a form of apartheid — was the only one of the 16 city council members present to reject the proposal.
The new district encompasses nearly half the city — including the entire length of the Atlantic City Boardwalk — stretching from the city’s border with Ventnor to the south and wrapping around to the historic Gardner’s Basin and the Marina District on its northeast border with Brigantine.
In addition, the district includes several major roads at the northeast end of the resort that lead to the city’s casinos as well as Bader Field, the 142-acre former municipal airport owned by the city.
The width of the zone stretches from the Boardwalk to Atlantic Avenue, two blocks inland, and pushes even deeper into the city’s midsection to encompass a shopping district know as The Walk as well as the new convention center.
Minutes before that vote, the board rejected a plea by Langford to remove Bader Field from the Tourism District. He said he was concerned that would give the development agency and state officials complete control over what eventually is developed on the parcel.
"It goes to the fundamental right of self-governance," he said. "There is a feeling that part of (the legislation) is about seizing control of the assets of Atlantic City." The city will continue to collect taxes from its assessments in the district.
Under the arrangement, the state agency will take over the planning and zoning in the district, but the city will continue to collect taxes and provide police services.
In addition, the Tourism District will be treated like a special-improvement district, collecting a separate assessment from commercial properties to make cosmetic improvements. The city will not collect assessments in the district.
The council will manage the remaining sections of the city it owns, as well as receive the proceeds from parcels of the municipally owned land it sells inside and outside the district.
Councilman Moisse Delgado said he planned to fight to overturn the designation, even if it meant going to court, on the grounds that it does not take into consideration the "hard-core infrastructure of Atlantic City — the children, the citizens, the people who work here."
Saying Langford’s "concerns have been very important to us," Susan Ney Thompson, the interim executive director of the development agency, assured the council members that she expected to include them in developing the master plan for the district.
"It’s one of the landmark days that we’ve had here in Atlantic City," Thompson said. "Today we have a new way of working in Atlantic City that’s more streamlined, that leverages a number of resources and gets everybody working in the same direction, And that’s critical."
Previous coverage:
• Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to contribute $1M to rid Atlantic City of eyesores
• Director of Casino Reinvestment Development Authority steps down
• Gov. Christie signs legislation establishing Atlantic City Tourism District
• Atlantic City officials blast legislators' plan to expand CRDA powers
• Editorial: Keeping Casino Reinvestment Development Authority funds in Atlantic City makes sense